Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-07-15
THE HOT WEATHER
Produces Several Gases Of SunstrOke
Both to Man and Beast-Interest.
ing and Official Information
About the COlOrIc At
mOsphere.

from the effects Of the heat. Different,
however, with mules and horses, for we
have already noted several deaths OF
horses from the effect Of sunstroke. Only
last night a street.car mule fell opposite
Coart Square, but the life Of the quad
ruped was saved by the application Of
fifty pounds Of ice. Saturday afternoon
workmen on the Main street cotton shed,
South Of Vance, had to leave Of
their task because OF the intense heat.
Fortunately none of them sustained
serious effects by exposure to the broiling
sun. A most uncomfortable feature Of
the prevailing weather is the intense
heat at night. Even a fig leaf is a super
huous and oppressive ~appendage, while
the bath tub and river invite citizens to
an indulgence Of pleasure and duty.
We are indebted to Sergeant McElroy, of
the United States Signal Service Office at
this station, for valuable and interesting
weather information. While the Madi
son street thermometer, which is Of al
coholic base, aud has no acquaintance
with the subtle fluid mercury, gets ex.
cited and rams up as high as l0l0, our
citizens must not be deceived by this
erroneous instrument. The instruments
in the signal Office are correct and relia
BILE, for they are intelligently located and
judicionsly watched. The present heated
term began several days ago, and from
Sergeant McElroy we learn that on
Tuesday, July ID, the heat was only &c
degrees. Since then there has been a
constant increase of heat, which to-day
is &c degrees, the minimum being 81.
Last July, in this city, the maximum
heat was Sc degrees, this being so on
the 4th and 9th. In the month of
June, 1876, the maximum vas 81.
Thursday, June %, 1876, the maximum
temperature was 81. AT 10 o'clock this
morning the temperature was 90.
"What is the cause of the heat being
so oppressiye2' we inquired of Sergeant
McElroy.
1.-THE most %southerly winds, together
, with the abnorml Al hight Of the barome.
ter or pressure Of the atmosphere. One
Of the unusal Accomplishments and the
cause also of this heat has been the high
s barometer, which has extended westward
O of Memphis to the base Of the Rocky
h mountains. 1t is an unusual, indeed an
extraordinary fact, that the pressure O.
!, the barometer in the country mentioned
. is the same from here to the Rocky
s mountains, and no change in the temper
I. ature may be expected until a breal
occurs in the high pressure mentioned
The pressure continuing stationary anC
moist, the air weighs upon US as if We
/. had a half dozen layers Of atmosphere
This humidity c~ondenses the atmosphere
. and hence it is oppressive. Until 4
break occurs in this there will be no re
lief. The heated term in the middl,
Atlantic coast, which includes the coas
Of New York, Maryland, Virginia and a
far northward as Eastport, Maine, wa
I, broken last night. Northerly winds
lower temperature and threatening
weather prevail. The heat along tn
upper Mississippi has been much create
in the last few days than in Memphis
e For instance. at $40 pm. last Friday
u the temperature was 80 at Keokuk, Will
u at Memphis it was but "a. When tn
a. thermometer gets up TO 80 it take
q great deal of heat to send it up one d
s. gree, and every additional degree is fell
's There will scarcely be any change i
d. forty eight hours; still a desirable chang
Is possible. Last July there were onl
III two days in which the temperature wa
S60. This is the anne now, but last yea
o. it came earlier, and present indication
~ are that it will 60 higher. la 1876 th
us maximum temperature came in jun
In 1875 the maximum exposed thermou
eter was $50, this being Friday, Jul
10th, at 3;43 pm.
THE mean temperature in Nashvill
q. this year has not been as great as it ha
been in Memphis. In 1873. the year
the yellow fever epidemic, the maximuI
temperature was 96o, This was Jul
18th. In August. 1873. the mean ten
=, perature was about 80, the highest beiu
90 $40. September ID. 1873, the day tn
yellow fever was declared epidemic, Il
/, mean temperature was 63 8 TO-, Ii
\. highest being ~ and the lowest $50"