The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-09-17 00:00:00

INTENSE HEAT IN THE UNITED

STATES.
The New York Correspondent of the Standard, writing on
he above subject says :

. -
The meteorological phenomena last week have been
so extraordinary that the week will be noted in history.
The heat at Long Branch has been greater than any
previous record, and at New York it has been the
greatest for ten years. Throughout an enormous area
the Fahrenheit thermometer steadily registered 100
deg. The extensive forest fires in Michigan were a
natural consequence of the drought, which has ravaged
entire counties; and in several townships whole
families have been burned to death. In one district
the least estimate of the number of lives lost is two
humdred, and some place it as high as six hundred.
An epidemic is now feared in consequence of the large
number of unburied carcases of cattle which have been
partly burned, and which there are not people enough
to inter.

Some of the peculiarities accompanying this almost
unexampled heat were very singular. At Saratogu
the needle of the compass remained in any position
in which a bystander might place it, without reverting
to the north.

In Massachusetts one day darkness set in at noon,
although there were no clouds. One could not Fee to
read, and the schools, shops, and factories were closed.
The Providence Journal describes the grass as assum-
ing a bluish hue; while in Boston, the Journal says,
the grass was like verdegris, and the people's com-
plexions resembled saffron. In some places the gas
burned blue in others the flame was white. The sun
in the cloudless sky mat no shadow, and might almost
have been mistaken for the moon as it appears when
it is above the horizon in the forenoon.

In Rhode Island at midday bir-ds-- went to roost, and
the chirping insects which begin their hum at night
were heard in the fields. At Toronto the appearance
of the heavens was compared to a great orange-coloured
dome.

A New York telegram says that a committee of the
citizens of Port Huron, Michigan, headed by Mr.
Conger, a member of the Senate, are appealing for
help on behalf of the sufferers by the recent forest fires
in that State. They say that they have already re-
ceived reports according to which over 200 persons
have perished, and state their opinion that thrice that
number have probably been burned to death. Thou-
sands of persons have been rendered destitute and
homeless. In twenty townships there is scarcely a
house or a barn left standing, nor are there supplies of
any kind. Cattle, sheep, and pigs have been burnt in
the fields, and there is a terrible scarcity of water
owing to the drought.

The bush fires in Michigan are abating, having been
partially checked by the rain. The loss of life during
the two days is estimated at from two hundred to
three hundred. Besides the villages mentioned in
previous despaches, three others were partially de-
stroyed. The telegrams from the devastated district
describe scenes of an appaling
.nature. The shore of
Lake Michigan is crowded w4h refugees and c attle
The full extent of the calamity is even yet not know n

A Renter's telegram, dated New York, Sept. 12,
says : —The Relief Committee formed at Port Huron
(Michigan), having visited the devastated district in
Huron and Sanilac counties, report that 200 victims
of the fire have already been buried, and that more
boaies are being daily discovered. Fifteen hundred
families, making a total of 10,000 souls, are destitute,
and many must die of exposure and famine unless they
are speedily relieved.

Subscriptions for the relief of the unfortunate suf.
ferers have been opened in the principal towns of the
United States.