The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1870-07-25
The Heut Phcnomcua Of tbs Pre'sst
Year.

Tho Heut Phcnomcua OF tbs Pre'sst
Year.
When we WROTE some days ago, in reference
to the fearful drought and heat which have
almost destroyed the crops on wide belt OF
the European Continent, we laid the fattering
JUNCTION to our souls that the hot spell OF our
atmosphere was at an end. But the solar fer.
vors have returned upon US during the past
week with redoubled ferceness. While the
temperature in New York city has ranged, be-
tween six o'clock in the morning and six o'clock
In the evening, from ninety degrees to ninety
eight degrees Fahrenheit, in the shade, and
therein has exceeded the rate at Galveston,
New Orleans, Key West and Havana, the heat
has been even more extreme at several points
In the West. At st. Louis it sent the mercury
up to one hundred and four in the shade on
the Esd, while at Peoria, Ill.,, 1t drove the
tickle fluid to one hundred and six on the 2lst
inst. These are rates almost beyond human
endurance, for it must be remembered that in
the greater number Of the homes occupied by
the poorer classes the heat ascends from ten
to fifteen degrees above the outside tempera-
ture, and that there the aged and the juvenile
members of the household have chiefly TO re-
main. It is impossible not to fear that long
continuance Of such more than African tor
ridity must result in widespread epidemic.
An increase of but very few degrees would
materially impair the chances of existence for
thousands whose daily avocations call them out
Of doors. AS it is, while we write this Sunday
afternoon, the colossal marble image of St.
Paul. in the niche on the facade of the grave
old church directly opposite the HERALD
Office, on Broadway, seems, with half open
mouth and upturned face, to pant, not merely
through exhaustion, but with an expression
of awe, as though beholding apocalyptic por-
tents in the glowing armament The stone
walls Of the adjacent buildings radate the heat
like huge burning glasses, and while It daz2zles
the gaze to look at them the reflected beams
of heat thrown back from them strike on the
skin like fiery darts. Were the entire City
proportions, but fully restored and converted
into one vast cluster of sparkling water jets
and fountains, the thirsty, FACILITATING multi
tude would well nigh drink 1t dry. Poor
humanity actually suffers at every motion and
with every step, and the real death roll is
steadily increased far beyond the ordinary
returns.
Upon examination of our exchanges we find
that this intense heat extends over zone in
America of about eight hundred miles in
width, north and south, and reaching from
here to the Pacific in longitude. AT nearly all
points within that zone the temperature is
admitted to be higher than was ever known
there before for the same length Of time, and
up to the latest moment Of advice there
seems to have been no dimnution.
If we now turn our attention to the Eastern
Continent similar state of things confronts
US tn~I0. nc as..;,-a. &C Dn-e s,pnlters ,,naar
heat of ninety-fye degrees in the shade, the
PARKS OIL LOnovn barod of horbae-
exhausted of water that their deer are half fed
upon foliage and twigs clipped from the trees,
and the SUBMITS of the Alps, where they are
seen, CLEAN with wavering and baleful elful-
fire darting up from the earth in its agony.
The European belt Of fervent heat corresponds
almost exactly with our own, and, no doubt,
the ocean link between is glowi ng with nearly
equal severity, the relief there, if any, result
ing from the fogs and clouds, accompanied
by gusts of wind and dashes of rain which
such intense evaporation must occasion.
Astronomers and Psychologists are busy en-
deavoring to study out the causes Of this excep-
tional condition, the aggregate effect of which
upon our planet is equal to forces so stupen-
dous as to strike the unaccustomed mind with
terror. The general conclusion is that the en-
tire solar system is passing through region
Of the starry heavens, in its sublime circuit
around the remoter centre, that exerts peculiar
electrical effects upon not only all the attend
ant orbs, but on the vast luminary which
furnishes our chief supply Of light and heat. The
main question now to thoughtful minds is how
much longer these heat phenomena are to last,
and what will be the summing up of their re-
suits to the nations directly affected? That
they are to be followed by further disturbance
of the elements, great storms of wind, thunder
and lightning, and possibly by visible electrical
manifestations in the heavens, of remarkable
splendor and power, it is quite natural, on
scientific principles, to anticipate. But we
may have confidence that the Power in whose
presence ''the channels Of the sea appear" and
'the foundations of the world are discovered"
has ordained and governed all these dispense
tons for the best.
DULL IN THE CITY.--Busness in the city
was never more dull than it is at present.
With the exception of the little hustle that
is going on among the wholesalers, who are
putting things in order and getting ready tor
brisk fall trade, there is literally nothing
doing. The fashionables are all at the watering