New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1868-07-23
THE HEATED TERM.
A Terrible Day and Horrible NIght-A
Stided city.
From The New York Times, July 1911

From the New York Times, July 49,
| The bald statement of the range in the
shade OF the thermometer for the past three
days conveys but faint idea of the blister.
ing heat rpon the city, of the sitting atmos-
| phere that weighed upon it. The days were
the hottest of the year, and the succeeding
nights were exceptional and terrible in dis
comfort. The days baked the city-the
| nights s5orched it.
AS evening came on the heat grew more
powerful, and night came bringing torture
instead of relief. There was no relief any
where. On the housetops or in the eel
lar; in the densest part of Baxter street
or upon the piers stretching into the
soundless, CLASSY rivers, was heat, allper-
vadiug, all.prostrating. Men escheWed
the conventionalities Of hfe-dung neck
ties, collars, vests, and coats angrily away
and searched wildly tor something cool.
The ladies stirred not beyond the precincts
of home, and the devices they adopted can
be imagined but not stated. Children
walled with extreme discomfort and with
seeming dread of something worse; horses
fell prone and ifeless on the streets.
Evening business came to a stand-still
save about the soda fountains and in ice
cream saloons. Driven to desperate eX-
tremities men swallowed these in sheer
despair; but without hoping for the relief
that did not come. Whoever could walked
and avoided the street car ovens; whoever
was forced to take stage clambered to the
roof, and these vehicles went up and down
Broadway crowded on top and empty in
side. A few desperate people entered the
several thesters, allured by the placard;
This is the coolest place of amusement in
the CITY," The announcement was cool
enough, and there was hope that some of
its frigidity might have permeated the audi
forums.
To many homes of honest toll the torrid
Z ~ nj
men went out in the morning to do siren
uous battle for daily bread, and with the
evening came not home. The missing ones
were found in the wards of the hospitals
gasping, unconscious, or already dead. The
records of the days were CHASTITY. The
books of the Coroner's Office at noon yester-
day showed thirty.four cases of sudden
death, and with every hour the casualty
roll increased until with the close of bust.
ness hours it had mounted to fifty.four.
Since 1924 the average heat during the
month of July has been about eighty-seven
degrees. In 1883, howeve~, it averaged
ninety-two degrees. The general belief that
August is hotter month than July is not
borne out by facts, as the average tempera-
ture during August sincels24 has not exceed
ed eighty-hve degrees. During many years
the average temperature during August was
seventy-nine degrees.
Since 1925 the hottest days of the year
have occurred in July ard the latter end of
June. The two hottest days experienced
since that time were June 80, 1855, and July
10, 1893. On each occasion the mercury
rose to l03 degrees.
, 1t will be remembered that the July of
1866 wac extremely hot. Professor Loomis
says: 'The hottest month at New Haven
since 1878 was the month ofJuly, 1925. The
heat of the past thirty days DULY, 1860,
has been somewhat higher than that of
July, 1925, so that we seem authorized in
saying that the heat of the recent period
has been more intense, and the extreme
heat has been longer continued than has
occurred before in eghty-nine years, and
probably for much longer period