HOOKER'S HOT SPRINGS
Arizona has several hot springs within her borders but, perhaps, none are more valuable nor picturesquely located than Hooker's hot springs. These springs are located in the foothills on the western slope of the Galiura mountains in southeastern Arizona, thirty-five miles west of Willcox on the Southern Pacific Railroad. The spot is beautifully situated, commanding an extended view of valley and mountain scenery.
There are a dozen springs, big and little, in the group and are scattered over several acres of hillside. The temperature of the water is 130 degrees Fahrenheit and too hot to drink but, if sipped slowly, it makes an admirable hot-water draught. The springs evidently have their source deep down in the earth and the flow of water never varies. When the water from the different springs is all united it forms a good sized brook. The water is conducted through pipes into the bath house, where it supplies a row of bath-tubs with water of any desired temperature. The surplus water flows into a large earthern tank or artificial lake and is used for irrigating a small farm that produces grain, fruits and vegetables.
The water from these springs is in great demand and is not only sought by the human biped, but is also in favor with the equine quadruped. Every morning after the stable doors are thrown open and the horses turned loose they invariably, of their own accord, proceed to the lake, wade out into shallow water and take a bath.
They lie down and splash the water about like a lot of schoolboys taking a swim.
The water from all the springs is perfectly soft and pure. It cannot be called a mineral water, as an analysis shows that it contains only a trace of any kind of mineral matter. This peculiarity of the water is no damage to the springs, since purity is the best recommendation that any water can have. Water that is heavily mineralized may be medicinal, but is not necessarily remedial, or even wholesome, notwithstanding the popular belief to the contrary. Water that is charged with much mineral is spoiled for drinking. Moderately hard water need not be injurious to anybody, but is especially beneficial to children. The assimilative function in the child appropriates mineral water tardily and sometimes absorbs it altogether too slowly for the child's good. Its absence in the system causes a disease called rickets, in which, from all lack of lime, the bones of the child become soft and yielding. The bones of a rickety child will bend rather than break. It is slow to walk and inclines to become bow-legged.
It is entirely different in old age. As the years multiply the system absorbs an abnormal and ever increasing amount of calcareous matter. The bones become unduly hard and brittle and are easily broken. Bony matter is liable to be deposited in and about the joints, when they become stiff and painful. It also lodges in the various soft tissues of the body, and ossification of the valves of the heart and walls of the arteries sometimes happens. It weakens the blood vessels so that they easily rupture, which causes apoplexy, paralysis and death. Calcareous concretions in the kidneys and bladder, also, come from the same cause, and are called gravel. Such deposits are not only annoying and painful to the patient, but in time may prove fatal if not removed by surgery.
Middle-aged and elderly people should never drink anything but soft water. If a natural supply of soft water cannot be obtained distilled water should be substituted. If neither natural soft water nor distilled water are available, and there is doubt as to the purity of the water that is being used, it should be boiled and then let stand to cool and settle. Boiling not only destroys and renders harmless any organic germs that may be present, but also precipitates and eliminates much of its inorganic salts.
A few drops of a weak solution of nitrate of silver added to a glass of water will quickly determine its quality. If the water that is being tested is free from mineral matter no change is produced, but if it contains mineral it turns the water opaque or milky.
