The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1912-08-08

between the new state OF Ari-
IONA and the older one Of Cali
D fornia, they revel in the dis
tinction of possessing the hct-
test place under the stars and stripes.
When the rest of the republic has been
gripped by winter, thermometers In
Yuma register 100 degrees. Just how
high they go in the summer no man
has as yet vouchsafed.
That Yuma is inhabited by human
s~alamanders goes without saying.
Only people who like such heat would
come there from choice, and would
try to get away after they do get
there.
There are several things at Yuma
that excite the attention of the stran-
ger. 1t seems Just the sort Of place
you pictured it before you came. Most
Interesting are the Indians. Here,
alone, of all places under the flag,
Uncle 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 pris-
on at Yuma is different from any pris-
en- 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
IL ones under the rule of the stars and
stripes.
How to Get to Yuma.
To get to Yuma you leave Tucson,
Ariz., at $40 at night. At 6:15 in the
morning you're at Yuma. On the map
the journey seems nothing. but in the
west distances are startling in 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-
gid Colorado river. There is a bridge,
with the Indian women %trundling past
constantly. A boat landing is neal by,
while on the opposite bank Is the gov
eminent Indian school. Everywhere
there are the Yuma Indians. The gay
garments and blankets they wear are
genuine, and not put on simply to at
tldCI lhc ouiio <hp q ldltS VI ldCl,
the Yumas hate the whites, and while
they sell trinkets to them at the station
too few sightseers visit the town to
win themselves to affability. The
bucks, who squat along the changing
river banks in their straw hats and
jeans. idle the yea round, are, In fact,
positively discourteous to the stranger.
After one has left ones belongings
at the hotel and started t. explore,
Yuma is found to be interesting for
what 1t lacks In m~odernity. 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 its Indian commune
cants, who come there as did the red
men to the missions In the Pre-Mexi-
can days in California.
At the time Of day that you are out
Yuma is still half In It's slumbers.
Aside from a flight of crows on the
main highway, the quiet Of dawn reigns
supreme. You car walk over the en-
tire place in an hour. and you do SO
while you may, unobserved. There
are lemons growing In one garden, 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 that you may look for tropical foil
age.
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 mys-
terry. Two women. seemingly intoxi-
Gated. attract your attention. They
are following q expostulating as
only Mexicans can.
1t is to the Jail that the women are