Show TRAMPS IN DESERT WEARY WILLIES OF THE MOJAVE A VERY DISTINCT TYPE Heat and Thirst Slay Many but Ceaselessly Cease-lessly They Wander from Oasis to Oasis More Brutal Than Most of Their Class Los Angeles Cal Tramps are one of tho many strange features of tho Mojavo desertthat land of myths anti mirages a part of which Death Vnlloy is tho hottest place on earth Tramps aro found In this valley even In summer when the thermometer Is 137fho kl The renegaOc whites live with tho Pluto Indiana and are locally known ns Arabs Notwithstanding tho burning wastes scarcity of water discomforts dis-comforts and many dangers from animals ani-mals they aro found in all parts of the desert Mining camps and ranches are far distant from each other and tho country produces little food but theso tourists find no dlfllculty in getting get-ting n living cither by begging or stealing They will not work yet manage to live llko their brethren In civilisation They are of n different species moro woithless 1C possible than the others of their tribe and arc an Interesting Inter-esting study Tho desert has evolved a curious typo of humanity seen nowhere else In I the world Ills clothes are usually castoff garments that he has found hogged or perhaps stol nIllded frayed and full of holes and his broken shoes are usually wrapped In cloth so as to protect his feet from tho burning sands Ho carries n bundle consisting of provisions and a foil empty beer bottles On reaching a ranch he will make for tho spring and after drinking his fill lie down on the shady side of the house and sleep for hburs or until ho smells tho odors of a meal Then ho patiently waits for a handout anIs rl an-Is off for the next ranch Thus ho keeps up his rounds from ono end of the desort to tho other with no object In view no hope fo t t tho futttie only that ho may live from day to day At night ho will sleep In 1 an alfalfa field or In a shallow brook with his head resting upon a rock for a pillow Arising from his cool bed he fills his beer bottles with water eats his breakfast am again begins his long tramp t which IB never to end Ho follows and lows tho troll having no compass knowing little or nothing of ho country coun-try beyond except that It is w0 mlle that distance and twice to tho next spring Lance to the next ranch Ho may reach his destination and ho may not Frequently ho falls u victim to heat thirst or thirst for men have died of though having Jars of water In their out possession The heat has burned tho the spark of life or literally bursts head open Skeletons are found In tho victims sands and among the rocks somo thins of thirst others of tho thieving Tho of provisions tramp In quest than desert tramp Is muro desperate his brother of civilization The fierce climate bus brought edt his brutal nature na-ture und his hand Is against anyone ho meets In this desolate country where everything In nature Is at war even the elements According lo the experience of mining min-ing prospectors who have traversed the worst parts of Death Valley tho desert has a peculiar Influence upon Its dwellers It turns the brain of many and those who have once Journeyed Jour-neyed across It become fascinated und return It seems to exert an Influence that never can be overcome The prospector Is another desort type half mining prospector and half tramp He shuns civilization until his grub stake Is exhausted when ho returns for another supply Theso grubstake enters are a curious study In human nature more so than tho ordinary desert tramp for they are shrewd possess somo business capacity ca-pacity out talk Intelligently or persuasively I per-suasively I Tho prospector expects to unearth a rich mine and lives In expectancy and hope Unless he finds n mine his only reward re-ward is bacon Hour henna and coffee his grub stake Ills home Is on tho desert where night overtakes him When he visits civilization It Is to got another hacker n grub stake or provisions sufllclent to last him two or three months and perhaps another burro This costs about GO He does not go to the tenderfoot 1 but to the merchant or mining man They are the easiest The city man who knows Is moro often taken In than the countryman who usually Is suspicious of everything The tramp prospector tells the mining operator a story about rich Indications perhaps I per-haps It Is the longlost Gunslte mlno or the Hreyfogle Hundreds of men have gone out to locate these bonanzas and scores of them never returned Yet the story is fascinating and the search continues Every prospector has a new story U really Is the lost mine all he wants Is a grub stake In most Instances tho tramp prospector has taken the specimen speci-men which ho exhibits from a mina In one of the camps He has not been near the place where these lost mines are supposed to be When ho has received his grubstake grub-stake ho returns to the desert and camps In n rocky cavern or under a clump of stunted bushes and there remains until his provisions are nearly near-ly exhausted when he returns to civilization civil-ization In search of another victim a 1 another grub stake and with tho same story of lost mines |