New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1865-08-04
moRALurY OF THE WEATHER.

certainty on e1aSperallnS annOunccAheHt. We
w. Holmes, whose NJ. d. may be interpreted
"Merry Doctor" has recorded in one OF his
drollest lyrics that, during certain cheated
term" in Boston, there were "many black
guards kicked and caned because they said
Keep coolr" The dog-star has o bad reputa-
ton as great promoter Of violence; and it
must be admitted, rs the general result Of OBJ
servation, that there is more of murder and OF
similar amusements in hot countries and in hot
months than in cold ones. People strike, stab
and shoot in July; they poison and otherwise
deliberately do to death in December. 1t is
only little knot of folk up by the North Pole
who figure hell as cold place. All nations
who are often obliged to perspre maintain it to
be hot. The peculiarly Of an extremely low
temperature is, that it is easier TO escape from
its effects by artificial appliances than from those
of high one. In the Winter we can, at least
in our houses, command the thermometer. We
say the diping-room atmosphere shall stand at
100, and at 200 it stands; but when we come to
contend with heat we are at fault, and the
moro we struggle, the hotter We grow. We
take off our garments to catch the chance
breeze-we put them on again to shut ont the
ambient, glowing dir. By advice Of somebody
we close all the windows, and by advice of some
body else we open them again. Upon one theory
We betake ourselves TO acid drinks, and upon
another theory to hot tea or toddy. Some are
for warding off sun.strokes by wearing thick
hats, and Others by wearing hats of straw. The
sky il red and coppery above; the pavement
blisters our feet. We are "baked and broed
and stewcd and toasted, and fried and boiled
and grlled and roasted, the! day is torture,
and the night brings no relief. The weather as
a staple of conversation has been sneered at by
the supercious but what topic can there be,
We will rot say more important, but more
obviousl 1t concerns everybody comfort, and
it appcrtains TO everybody's health; it affects
everybody's temper, and it is the foremost thing
in everybody mind. 1t is natural phenom-
cnon as palpable as an earthquake or q thunder
gust; and to ask mankind not to talk about it,
when mankind can think of nothing else is
simply impertinent. We must talk Of that
which most concerns us; and that which most
concerns US in,Midsummer is the weather.
1t is a singular fact, considering our ordinary
economical shrewdness, that, while We live in
climate which for several weeks in the year
may be set down as almost tropical, We learn
nothing from experience and make no provision,
or next to none, for the vcissiludc Those who
can, 90 to watering places-others seek brandy
and-watering places-somo manage to battle in
the salt seas, and some in tubs-.he wise
bctakc themselves to q fruit diet, but
the majority stick to the fcsh.pots, and con-
tnue to live aud toll through the months of
June, July and August just as they lived and
toied in the months Of December, January and
February. II is no wonder that tho bills of
mortality mount. II We were as careless Of
ourselves in tho Winter as We are in the Sum-
mer, consumption would sweep through the
land with cholera-lke celebrity. Naturally we
are no moro sensitive to cold than to heat; but
custom and habit have made it easier for us to
deal with the one than the other just rs, while
we have reduced warming to science, we are
nero children in the art of ventilation. When
We build houses, we are always thinking OF
north-eGstcrs and snow -storms-nevcr of hot
winds and vertical suns. In the Havana, with
Summer climate not hotter than ours some
times is, merchant finishes his business in the
cool Of tho morning, before breakfast, and then
closters himself until shutdown and tho sea
breeze come. He would regard with feelings
of pity and amazement one of our Wall-st.
men, running up and down with fire in his face
and his fist full negotiable paper, still toiling,
perspiring, shouting and shaving notes at high
noon, and with no resource against the solar
fervor except Panama hat, linen coat and a
clarct-cobbler. No wonder they have an coca.
sional apoplexy at the Brokers' Board-the only
wonder is that the whole Board is not reduced
to cnder. From IL o'clock to 3 p. IN. is just
the time in dog-days when men should do no.
thing-and it is just the time when great
many Of our men are tho busiest.
The art of keeping warm, as We have said,
We have carried to great perfection; and it now
remains for us to sec if something cannot DO
accomplished in the art Of keeping cool. A