The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-07-27
SAYING MOREABOUTHEAT
WHERE AN AMERICAN SUMMER
WOULD SEEM a COOL WAVE.


When weary mankind swelters In the
sitting summer heat, and refuses 70 De
comforted by the predictions OF the signal
service they may find relief in the thought
that men have to live in places which,
after all, are much hotter even than CHI
capo in the middle of July. By comparison
they NAV imagine themselves almost cool,
and il their imagination is sufficiently
vivid it results in measure of comfort
indepepdent of the readings of the Their
mometer.
Hottest of all torrid spots upon the sum
rner earth is Alden, at the mouth Of the Red
sea. where the English government main
tains a coal pile for its navy, and force OF
soldiers to watch the pile lest 1t be set atre
by Jealous powers. They lead the life OF
lonely salaInauderS upon their isolated rock,
with a view Of an almost boiling sea In ore
direction. with wide stretches OF baked sand
in the other, and behind them rugged
ranges of mountains, dry and red, where no
green thing is ever seen TO grow. no mat
ter whence the wind may blow, 1t brings no
moisture TO the straits Of Bah ell Mandeb-
even dew is a rare phenomenon, for the
clonds which appear in the sky at sunset
serve as blankets to make the night ST g.
nant with heat more uncomfortable than the
blazing sun by day. About once in four
wears the thermometer registers as low as
90 in the coolest part of the day just be-
fore SUNRISE The lowest point OF ordinary
nights is full five degrees warmer. But with
the sun returns the heat; hour by hour the
mercury in the thermometer emulates the
course of the sun in the sky; it climbs
higher and higher, and brings more dlscom-
forts to suffering humanity. Shortly after
midday it reaches its highest notch, which
il maintains until nearly sunset, and it
is never lower than 1l5', and fire.
uuently travels many degrees higher vt,
and has been known to register 1876 in
the shade. 1t rains on this bllstered military
post about once in three years, and that is
the sole water supply, for there are no
springs, and well bOrlngs tap nothing but
seams of eternal drought. AS for much else
in Arabia, King Solomon IS credited with
the responsibility for the Alden reservoirs,
and TO this day they are called King Solo
mons wells. Wells Of the neighboring
mountains have been damned at some re-
mote antiquity, and The work is so enduring
that it may well have been done by afrites
under the mighty spell of the mystic seal.
Here is collected the water of the triennial
shower, and by economical use it may be
made to last until the rain comes again.
THIS Is sTILE WORSE.
Bad as the case is at the southwest corner
of Arabia, it is even worse at the southeast
angle, where lie the Bahrein islands, Just off
the coast of Oman. 1t Is as hot here as at
Alden, and there is the additional discom-
fort that it never rains at all. Dates grow
upon the islands and provide food for the
population; Tor their drinking water they
are forced 10 seek it in the sea, which
is the last place where one would
expect to fud fresh water. Strange as
it may seem, not drop of water is drunk
by the Bahrein islanders which has not been
brought from the bottom of the sea. Springs
eXis, at depth of several fathoms, and tie
only way OF getting a drink is to dive for
it. Water-bearers 60 down with empty
skirs aud bring them up full to peddle the
precious contents.
Australia is probably the hottest of the
temperate lands inhabited by white races,
and it is at the same time almost the driest,
excluding such absolute deserts as a large
portion Of the Pacific coast Of South
America. From the time when its summer
begins III September until the coming of
winter in July. not only does no rain fall,
but during those nine months there is
scarcely a cloud to shade the eartl. The
earth gives up all its moisture, almost the
Target bodies of water dry up. the air is
dry, and day by day the sun sends down
ever tiercer beams. Adelaide, which is
upon the south shore of the con-
tlnent, finds 1l5o no unusual
temperature for Christmas, aud an addi-
tlonal ten degrees scarcely calls for COM
ment in the journals. Strangers to the
climate are Frustrated, and vet retain ami
nation enough to be filed with anazement
thai the natives seem so little affected by
the heat. Not content with the appalling
state OF the thermometer in the shade, they
expose 1t to the sun and find to their dismay
temperature of anywhere from 1909 to
l990. The native colonials go about their
business unaffected by the heat and lock
not at all at the thermometer, but most
religiously at the weathercocks. When
the wind shows disposition to get into
the north they begin to trembe, and by the
tiihe the vanes have united in pointing to
the invisible pole star Adelaide is like cjtv
OF the dead. Doors and windows in every
mouse are tightly closed to keep out the heat
borne by the wind from the northern desert.
workmen leave their work and idlers vanish
from the streets; even the cabs are driven
home to stable. Then the wind begins
gentle at first, as though trying TO mask its
real Ieroclty. Little gusts of breeze snap
ABOUT the corners, little throbs of heat
steai upoa one as though innocent, vet
every pulsation of heat, every whistler
OF the wind, brings lassitude with il
IN about three hours the wind
comes steadily from the north. the
me- comes directly from the furnace
Inc stranger who finds the heat intoIerabIe
IN his closed room thinks to enjoy greater
comfort by throwing open the windows to
eaCch the breeze which he can hear. whose
force he can measure by the bending tree
Uops ana the tossing boughs. The idea is
1TT1uucUlVe, the execution is destructive
an!ough the open window comes the wind.
Mnlch Is not breeze, but heat in motion
WIN IL comes the gritty sand of the desert
WIN 1t come flies which bite and STING and
suck suck 10 the flesh. So long as the wind blows
from the north people can do nothing but
maIch the vanes and long for a change, their
y enuS dry, their lips parched and peeling.
HOW THE INHABITANTS LIVE.
Inc difference is all in the way in which
nme taxes the heat. The English griffin
o e.ehes no concessions to Indian life. He
Gus and drinks as he did in his native eli
nate. lie even plays cricket, which should
t t;ea, 10 any right-minded individual. mar
Tr{cularly out of place within the tropics
,.d me natural result of this is death in two
Tneais OF the Anglo-Indian in twenty. The
DulChInan renounces Holland and all its
p potAS from the instant he steps ashore at
tILaeaVla. In their stead he assumes ali |
outlgs JaVanese, and thus lives in comfort |
S Ten ~ greater heat that India can show
d 1ne ume-honored divisions of the dav are |
overl ufned to suit the new order Of |
s ~ Broad daylight is the time for
iireep Inc twilight of morning and even |
-s are the time for work. when there is |