The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-06-09
NINETY IN THE SHADE.


A Few of the Discomforts of a Hot Day in
New York City.
Herald, Wednesday,
New York was an unroofed oven yesterday.
Details thermometrical are of no special use,
although it may interest the hyper-curious
to be told that at 8 o'clock the Thermometer
registered ninety degrees in the shade! We
all know how it was. 1t was hot. And
everybody knows where it was hot. 1t was
everywhere. In olden times when trouble
and disaster threat sned the earth the people
"hied them to the mountains" just so
now, only more SO, because there are more
people to ''he." New York as a summer re-
sort is ne plus ultra. But why? Because it
is so easy to get away from. Trains here
trains there, boats everywhere. So multi
tudinous are the delightful places and mos
4ultoes hereabout that publishers are not
content with a time table of A B
z, but going through the entire
alphabet wind up with x g. We have had
hotter weather than that of yesterday. Mer-
curys upward career has ere this bounded
up among the hundreds. Why, then, this
fever, this craze, this excessive prostration2
Because, as the man in the fit remarked 1T
was SO awful suddint"
Moliere, when asked what were the most
interesting features on certain great occa-
sion, replied, 1.-The human features" So
they were yesterday, and queer features, too
some, not all. In the earlier hours of the
morning 1t was amusing to see how thought
fully passengers on the "L' cars selected
their seats on the shady side of the cars, and
1t was more amusing to see how provoked
they were when all those seats were taken.
Later on, when the Up became decidedly
L-er, the huge plate glass windows in some
F.. OF the cars transformed them into rolling
ovens. Gracious hevings" and Goodness
mel" remarked many fair dame from the
country, as she mopped her red face with
bandana and took seat in front of white
hot pane of glass Precisely why the end
doors of the front and rear cars are locked no
brakeman can explain. If opened, there
might be draught of air through, which,
when closed, is physical and aerial impos-
slblllty. In case of accident there is no one
at hand to unlock the doors, and at present
they are used as conveniences by extra train
hands who are socially inclined and prefer
exclusion to crowd. However this may be,
the fact is that there were no hotter places
on the planet than the sunny side of the
IL cars yesterday, and when after 4 o. clock,
they were crowded with the weary and the
ctlrty, the mechanic and the clerk they be-
came vehicles of discomfort, whose disagree
able condition cannot be exaggerated in
words.
And the horse-car?
. Crackeyl but weren't thew Cooking hot?''
The poor beasts who drew them suffered in
tenselv. Sweat rolled from them in winrows
OF lather and they painted for breath They
got the breath, but it had no life, and they
trndged away, conscious only of toll and
burden The drivers and conductors had
hard work too but the horses are fed for
theirs and the!employes are paid for theirs,
which is a little, if but little, comfort,
while the public which pays for an accom-
mediation that is not furnished, has the
hardest time of ALL Travel on all lines was
excessive yesterday. Why women "shopped"
on such a day women only knew They
fba Of
prlsingly and to such an extent that when
the overtasked men went home vacant seat
wasa rarity,
New York's streets are absolutely white in
hot weather. The sunbeams dance as though
they struck hot plates The glare that fared
from white walls and metal roofs and paint
ed domes was frightfully intense, and the
5000 Immigrants who tum bled in and out of
Castle Garden in velvet coats and corduroy
trousers dumped their feather beds on the
sidewalk and wondered what sort of milk
and honey they could find in land where
even the stones were hot. The Public Works
department has numberless subordinates,
one OF whom finds time to notify occupants
OF houses that they are fined IS for washing
their sidewalks, but has no time to watch the
drivers OF watering CARTS who waste gallons
OF water at the hydrants and flood the gut
tiers, breeding mosquitoes and starting ma
laria This feature was conspicuous YES
terday, especially on the Fifth avenue line
where corner after corner was kept in dis
graceful condition by these careless fellows.
Other streets, like Broadway for instance,
near the Herald office, are not sprinkled
at all, although the bills are presented with
commendable regularity. The streets yester-
day were an added source of discomfort
smells here, puddles there, and dirt every
where. The poor
Heaven help the poor in this weather!
The poor sought relief from their over
heated overcrowded homes They went to
the shady side of the street. to the wharves,
to the docks, TO the bridge, to the ferries. to
the parks and to the Battery. What did thew
find? More heat and greater discomfort.
Babies, dear little dirty-faced babies, uncom-
fortably clad, cried themselves sick with
heat. Red pimples, red blotches, red skins
were their portion. Who would be a baby
a-purpose on such day? A hot baby in the
hot arms of hot nurse is bad enough, but
hot baby on baked pavement in broiling
sun is worse. There are tens of thousands of
them exposed all day long Sometimes New
York has a lovely breeze. Yesterday there
was breeze among the trees but not a whis-
per of stir among the olive branches on
the streets.