Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-09-16

Asa contrast, on the 18th Of the month
the New York World spoke OF the
weather in that city and at other points
in this way
Even the Signal Service man sue
cumbed to the heat and humidity yester-
day. He lay back in his chair gasping
for breath. His collar had melted away.
His clothes hung limp about him, a
stream of perspiration poured down ms
face and his hands hung mo;icnless by
his side.
On a screen behind was written these
words:
OF all the sad words that mortal can spell,
The saddest are these: it's hotter than -,
well.
Just below in big letters was written
Please do not say it's hot
The man who said it last got shot,
And it was no wonder than even the
iron. bound. rock-ribbed, cast-steel,
double plated signal-service men were
gone, for the humidity was something
awful, and like an invisible vampire
sapped the vitality OF man and beast and
made them weary of life. Everywhere
the people said 50 they told it to one an
other as they hurried through the swelt-
ering streets they talked of it in the hot
restaurants where they tried to eat and
drink and forget their misery, and up IN
the great high factories and workshops
Down on the Stock Exchange the bro
kers stopped in their wild chase aftel
money and found the weather a unlver
sal meeting ground where bull and bea
could stand together, and the women IL
, the big tenement houses painted ant
wondered to each other if it would eve
be cool again.
The thermometer at the top OF tn
Equitable building at o'clock in tn
morning marked II degrees. Ih
: humidity then was rs, and the air bel
thick and sticky. AS the day advanced
heavy clouds hung like blankets over tn
! earth. Men found the air sitting. 1t
; doubtful if a more distressing hour thai
that between 80 and 2 80 has been ex
perienced in this city this summer. Th
' air became closer and closer, and tinall.
the big drops of a thunder shower begal
> to fall. The shower lasted about al
0 hour, and during that time .06 OF an incl
Q of water fell. After that the air percep
y tibly cooled, and at O'Clock last nigh
: the official tube registered rs degrees
: The air was still full of moisture iron
!, the rain, for the humidity was so.
t While New Workers sweltered, how
ever, people at Moorhead, OAK, wor
S overcoats and shivered over fires. Th
: thermometer was just eight degrees abov
S freezing point. Last night Feathe
Point, on the St. Lawrence, was tn
: coolest place. the thermometer shown
4S degrees. A hot wave seemed to b
sweeping along the Atlantic coast, for al
the indications from Maine to Florid
Q were unusually high. The weathe
mems prophecy of "cooler weather soon
is too vague to bring much comfort.
But while some joked and tried t
make light of the terrible oppressiyeness
sorrow and death were borne to other
0 homes on the humid atmosphere. Ann
, Fitzpatrick, 80, of No. 332 East Fifty
S fourth street; Daniel Shea, AS, OF No. s
/, Baxter street; Kate McGovern, l
/ months old, of No. 503 West Thirty-sixt
! street. and Louisa Kurtz, months ole
d of No. 673 East One Hundred and Fifty
e sixth street, died from the effect Of th
. heat. The prostrations unattended wit
X fatal results were as follows
e Mary Flaherty, thirty-fve, OF No. "a
e East Sixty-frst street, overcome :
q Broadway and Park place; taken
# Cham mbers-street Hospital.
Peter Conway, twenty four, of No. 2.
n East Thirty first street, at No. 170 Hest'
street to Cham bers-street Hospital.
$. John Matchet, forty-five, OF No. A.
4 West Thirty-sixth street, at Tenth av
= nue. and Twenty-second street; to Ne
2 York Hospital.
Q Hugh Tracey, sixty, of No. II Tent
% avenue, overcome at Forty-sixth stree
e and Ninth avenue; to Roosevelt Ho
IL pital.
r Mary Lally, eighteen, domestic :
the Grand Union Hotel, overcome whi
s at work; to Bellevue.
g Joseph Tasker, thirty-fve, of No.
e Cherry street, at No. "a Wall street;
e Chambers street Hospital.
II James Mccall, thirty, of No. 506 We
Twenty-fifth street, at No. 531 We
Twentieth street; to New York Hospita
t. John Barry, twenty-eight, of No.
Jones street, at Morton and West streets
taken home.
a. That our climate is better than IL