Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-07-26
HOTTEST PLACE IN COUNTRY
In Yuma They Can't Keep Track Of
Tho Mercury on q Warm Day.

The Mercury on q Warm Day.
Down in Yuma, on the border be-
between the new state Of Arizona and
the older one Of California, they revel
In the distinction Of possessing the
hottest place under the Stars and
Stripes. When the rest Of the republic
has been gripped by winter, thermo-
meters in Yuma register 100 degrees
Just how high they go in the summer
no man has yet vouchsafed.
That Yuma is inhabited by human
salamanders, goes without saying
people who like such heat would come
there from choice, and would not try
to get away after they do get there.
There are several things at Yuma
that excite the attention Of a stranger
It seems just the sort Of place you
pictured 1t before you came. Most
interesting are the Indians. Here
alone, of all places under the flag, Un-
Gle Sam allows polygamy, and the
Yuma buck Is permitted to maintain
as many wives as he can induce to
live with him in the wigwam. The
prison at Yuma is different from any
prison west Of Gibraltar, and the only
counterpart Of the village Jail, which
Is a sort Of stepping stone to the pris.
on, is in the heart Of Turkey. The
people of Yuma are otherwise so typi.
cally Mexican that one wonders almost
II ones under the rule Of the Stars and
Stripes.
To get to Yuma you leave Tucson
Ariz., at $40 at night. At 6:15 in the
morning you are at Yuma. On the
map the journey seems nothing, but ir
the west distances are startling ir
their magnitude.
The hotel is what Dickens might
have described as a depot restaurant
built over the station itself, and with
its porches looking down into the tur'
bid Colorado River. There Is bridge
with the Indian woman trundling past
constantly. A boat landing is neal
by, while on the opposite bank Is the
Government Indian School. Every
where there are the young Indians. The
gay garments and the blankets they
wear are genuine, and not put on sim.
ply to attract the tourist. AS a mat
ter of fact, the Yumas hate the whites
and while they sell trinkets to them al
the station, too few sightseers visit the
town to win them over to affability
The bucks, who squat along the
changing river banks in their straw
hats and jeans, idle the year round
are, In fact, positively discourteous tc
the stranger.
After one has left ones belong
ings at the hotel and started to ex'
plore, Yuma Is found to be interesting
for what 1t lacks in modernity. There
is practically but one long street
This is lined with low one and two
story cottages, built Of frame, and
housing, almost without exception
saloons and shops, in addition to the
homes Of the householders.
There is a fair public school build
ing and a Catholic church. The latter
is interesting for it's Indian communi'
cants, who come there as did the red
men to the missions'in the preMexi-
can days in California.
At the time Of day that you are out
Yuma Is still half in its slumbers
Aside from a flight of crows on the
main highway, the quiet Of dawn
reigns supreme. You can walk over
the entire place In an hour, and you
do so while you may, unobserved
There are lemons growing in one gar.
den, the first you encounter. Today
1t is cold, until the sun has risen, but
then, and in summer, Yuma is, next
to Death Valley, the hottest place In
the world so you may look for tropi-
cal foliage.
You wonder at the foolish custom
Of the milkmen of Yuma, who knock
at each door until told by the tenants
to leave the milk outside, a custom
whose origin lies shrouded in mystery
Two women, seemingly Intoxicated
attract your attention. They are fol-
lowing a man, expostulating as only
Mexicans can.
1t is to the Jail that the women are
directing their footsteps. One Is weep
ing, the other seems angry. Both be-
gin pleading with the jailer. Last
night the husband Of the weeping
woman came home furiously drunk
and began using the knife upon her.
So the police were called and now he
Is here. She, however, had no idea
it was so vile a place. and now she
has come to beg his release. Finally
NM 1C