The Weston Democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1875-current, 1879-08-02
The Summer of 80.


q lake captain in one of the ferry
dock saloons yesterday, shut it
isn't nothing to the summer of'1S9G.
We had it at least twenty degrees
hotter than this right along for six
weeks. 1 was running the Mary
Jane between Chicago and Buffalo
then, and I've seen tho thcrmomc-
ter stand at 100 degrees in the mid
dlo of Lake Huron"
"That was awful" sighed one OF
sittcrs.
swell it was fairish, but we
didn't call it very hot till we got
into tho St. Clair River and the
mercury went up to 15o degrees
when hanging against the water
butt. Tho boys used up 72S palm
leaf fans on one trip that year. On
one of our trips down We were be-
calmed for three days on Lake Hu-
ron. We got it there and no mis-
take"
"Purty hot, ch?'
"Well, I'm an old man, and |
don't care to go TO lying at this day,
but I'll tell you o few solemn
facts. Every sail on that schooner
smoked and smoldored till they
fell to pieces on deck and left us un-
der bare poles! Yes, sir, We hadn't
a rag aloft as big us your hand.
That was just at sunrise in the
morning, and within an hour we
had to wet down docks to prevent
them burning. l went down stairs
to consult the thermometer, and it
lay on the floor, all melted into O
chunk of glass and tin! Then l
began to realize how hot it was and
got frightened
@lYhat could you do?"
swell, not much. We had be-
gun to rig lines over tho leo side,
SO that all could take to the. water,
when the topsail yard camc down
and killed the cook. The links in
the chains had melted right out
I never knew a case like It since,
but then the weather has cooled of
greatly since 1856"
"And about the cook?"
Nothing about him. When we
picked the body up to hcaye it
overheard it had spread out in Il
mass over four feet square, and We
| had to use shoyels before we got
through. lie was Il good young
man and Il perfect gentlemen, and
his mother never blamed mo in the
least for scoop.shovoliMg his re-
mains over the rail. We finally
riggcd our lines and got overheard. y
"And was il much coolcr?'
"Ah! young man, how little you
reporters know of the great lakes
spread out before your gaao on the
maps! Cooler! Why, the minute
We struck water We began sQuirm-
| ing like 60 many GELS. Tho lake
WAS red hot. The water would
have cooked an egg in four minutes.
/ was blistercd from head to hool
in no time. Some day | will take
of my coat and vest and show you
my back. The flesh was actually
cooked to q depth Of two inches,
and for over two years the dogs
used to scent cooked meat when l
walked out, and follow mciby doz-
els. Five surgeons tainted away
i'll heap at tho sight Of my left
shoulder; and the only man l
could get to dress my back was u
butcher under tho sentence Of
DEATH"
1T must have been torriblc.
How did VOW come out Of the
calm?"
"Wcll, while I was squirming in
the water Il white squall struck the
schooner and down she went. 1t
was all over in u minute, and air
and water were hotter than ever.
| struck out for the Canada shore,
over u hundred miles away, know
ing that it was sink or swim, but
in half Nn hour was SAFE
"picked up?"
"Woll, no." replied tho captain
as he scratched his leg, Il struck
an iceberg and climbed up into Il
r,vn nopr ,hn tnrl 7 All vnu Il,