American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1879-08-02
HOT WEATHER STORIES.

HUT WEATHER. SIOhlESs
"Well, it's purity hot" answered 6
lake Captain in one of the ferry docl
Saloons yesterday, &c but it isn't nothing
to the summer of 1886. We had it Al
least twenty degrees hotter than this
right along for six weeks. was run
ming the Mary Jane between Chicago
and Buffalo then, and I've seen the Their.
mometer stand at $50 degrees in the
middle of Lake Huron"
I" That was awful" sighed one OF the
sitters.
"Well, it was fairish, but we didn It
call it very hot till we got into the St.
Clair River and the mercury went up to
$50 degrees when hanging against the
water-butt. The boys used up 1928 palm
leaf fans on one trip that year. On one
of our trips down we were becalmed for
three days on Lake Huron. We got it
there and no mistake.''
"Purty hot, ehp''
Well, I'm an old man, and I don't
care to go to lying at this day, but I'll
on that schooner smoked and smoldered
till they fell to pieces on deck and left
US under bare poles! Yes, sir, we had
not rag aloft as big as your hand.
That was just at sunrise in the morn
ing, and within an hour we had to wet
down decks to prevent them burning.
went down stairs to consult the ther-
mometer, and it lay on the floor, all
melted into a chunk of glass and tin!
Then began to realize now hot it was
and got frightened
"What could you doP''
"Well, not much. We had begun to
rig lines over the lee side, so that all
could take to the water, when the top
sail yard came down and killed the
cook. The links in the chains had
melted right out! never knew a case
like it since, but then the weather has
cooled off greatly since 1885,"
"And about the cookP"
"Nothing about him. When we
picked the body up to heave it over
board it had spread out in a mass about
shovels before we got through. He was
a good young man and a perfect gentle
man, and his mother never blamed me
in the least for scoop-shoveling his re-
mains over the rail. We finally rugged
our lines and got overheard"
Sand it was much cooler?"
"Ah! young man, how little you re-
porters know of the great lakes spread
out before your gaze on the mapsi
Cooler! Why, the minute we struck
the water we begun squirming like SO
many cells. The lake was red-hot. The
water would have cooked an egg in four
minutes. was blistered from head
to heel in no time. Some day will
take off my coat and vest and
show you my back. The flesh was az
tually cooked to depth of two inches,
and for over two years the dogs used to
scent cooked meat when walked out,
and follow me by dozens. Five sur
yeons tainted away in heap at the
sight of my left shoulder, and the only
man could get to dress my back was
butcher under sentence of death"
at must have been terrible. How
lid you come out of the calmP''
"Well, while was squirming in the
water a white squall struck the schooner
md down she went. 1t was all over in
! minute, and air and water were hotter
han ever. 1 struck out for the Canada
Ihore, over a hundred miles away, know
ng that it was sink or swim, but in half
IN hour was safe''
"Picked up?"
"Well, no." replied the Captain as
lie scratched his leg, 81 struck an ice
,erg and climbed up into cave near
he top! 1 tell you i. was grateful
'hange to me, and that's one reason
Why can never see a hunk of ice and
emon without feeling grateful to the
nan who invented both-with a very
title gin in mine, if you please. DE
rOit Free Press.