Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1891-09-29
HEAT AND DROUGHT
PLAYING SAD HAVOC WITH TEE POPULATION
CENTRALLY.
Pasture Fields Drying Up and Streams Disappear
ing-DaDgr Of Forest Pirss-NO Rain for
twenty-five Days-Ths Record.
Oh, for a big rain |

Oh, for big rain
Unless the present drought is broken
by rain within the next few days, the
loss to the farming element Of the COM
munity will become serious matter.
For several days past complaints OF
pasture fields being burned up by the
sun, Of springs and small streams run
ming dry, and Of incipient forest fres'
have been coming In, and these IN
pleasant and dangerous conditions will
be greatly intensified in another week
unless relief is afforded. Another
source Of complaint is from river
men, who are tied up hand and foot by
the low water. All but the smallest
boats are barred-to make pun OF the
frequent situation-and last night there
was less water than at any time since
September 1, 1889, when there was out
nine inches by the marks-or rather by
guess, for the marks are not any more
reliable at the lower end OF the scale
than they are at the other extreme.
The autumn of 1889 was very bad all
through for rfvermen, there being
but fourteen inches OF water Septem-
Der 5th of that year, and only from
fifteen to eighteen inches for week or
ten DAYS prior TO that date. Another
bad wear was 1897, when the masks
showed but foot on September Sth, and
but thirteen inches on October 5th, with
very low water during most OF the time
between those dates. Last evening
there was but about twenty inches OF
water In the channel, with decidedly
downward tendency, and the bottom OF
the stream was visible all the
way across, even in front OF
the wharf. The water Is very
clear, and very bad, people crossing in
the yacht ferry remarking a decidedly
fsh-like and stale odor, while at inter-
walls along the shore, on the bars, there
are large areas Of green scum and
mould.
Another very unpleasant feature OF
the heated term is the dust. In most
places several inches Of the earth's
crust has been reduced to an impalpable
powder, which penetrateS through ev-
cry crevice into dwellings, stores,
offices, and, in fact, every place
where dirt is Objectionable, covering
halls, furniture, carpet, etc., with
grayish powder, which is at once the
horror and the dispair OF the housewife
and servant alike. Every breath OF air
sends this stuff in unpenetrable clouds,
and in some portions of the city, along
unpaVed streets, and along the pike, the
inhabitants are threatened with the
fate of the unfortunate denizens OF
Pompeii and Herculaneum.
In the country the leaves are falling
before their time, and being as dry as
they could well be, this side OF a GER
tain disputed region, there is grave dan
ger Of disastrous fires. The poetic and
descriptive terms of James Whitcomb
Riley
"The autumn leaves is fallin
Fallin' everywhere;
They're fallin' in the atmosphere
And likewise in the air.
They're fallin' in the twilight,
=. They're fallin' in the dawn
The autumn leaves is fallinb
Fallin' pro and con-"
will describe the situation. Fortunately
there is not, as yet, that great shortage
of water throughout the surrounding
county characteristic of the drOughts of
1887 and 1889, when water had to be
hauled in tank cars for the locomotives,
and stock suffured intensly, but unless
rain soon comes these scenes will be re-
peated within a very short time. The
last rain worthy Of the name in this
vicinity, fell on the 9th OF September,
although there was a sprinkle at 1870 p.
m. on the 18th, and ditto at 10
a. M. on the 14th, making
twenty-three days of uniformly clear or
fair weather. During the whole Of Sep
TENDER the mercury has ranged very
high, there being but seven days when
the maximum was less than rs degrees,
and for the past seventeen the heat has
been intense. During the whole OF this
period the barometer has scarcely
moved from 29I inches, an exception
being yesterday, when there was fall
of about a quarter Of an inch. The
record of the thermometer, as kept by
Mr.. Schnepf, from the 18th Of Septem-
Der to date, is as follows: