New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-07-29
THE GREAT HOT WAVE.

THE GRE1I HOi Vh'I
The undue prolongation of stormy winter
has boen more than of set by the phenomenal
heat which for several days has affected i'm
partially the greater portion OF the Ohitcd
States. Habtuated 10 violent changes and eN-
tremcs Of temperature, Americans have not for
many years been called on to suffer such
sudden and fierce intensihcation OF sub-tropcaI
conditions The Tallahassee man who was
once driven from New-York by the summer
heat would have Jared no better during this
week In Boston. Philadelphia or Chicago, where
night has brought comparativel! little respite
to the painting multitudes, and every exaS-
perating atmospheric vagary has combined with
a persstcntly high mercury to try the temper
and exhaust endurance. Mere locomotion has
been made penance and hard work an or
deal. CITY and country alike have furnished
long catalogues of death and sunstroke. and
the distress among young children ana IN the
crowded tenements Of the poor Is subject OF
painful contemplation. In Chicago hordeS OF
the humber inhabitants have actually camped
for two nights on the sidewalks. stricken
horses have caused temporary strcct-blockadeS'
and on Wednesday no less than fifty people
were reported 10 have died from the heat.
PHILADELPHIA and New-York on the same day
each noted eighteen deaths from the same
cause. besides numerous cases Of prostratIon,
and the ultimate dctrmcnt tO the general health
of the population is not exprcssihlc IN figures.
Scientific records Of tho extent Of such vista
tons assume vast importance in seasons where
the consequences are 40 destructive and far
reaching The present hot wave was generated
in the Gulf Of Mexico. and with every access
of barometric depression has snged norhward
and cnveloped I'm its parching embrace The whole
country between the Rocky Mountains and the
Atlantic. In Southern Kansas the standing
corn is turning brown. and in Nebraska apd
Dakota the heat. il is feared. may affect tho
wheat harvest. In Chicago, on Tuesday, the
mercury, as officially noted, stood at SO degrees
in the shade in Cincinnati. At az degrees IN
Hartford. Conn. and in Philadelphia. at 100.
I'm Indiana for seventy-twO hours. II varied
between 90 and l0G ogrecs and in this city
the range was from 81 IL on the roof Of the
Equitable Building to 0s IN the shade on the
sidewalk or 100 In the sun. The humidity
has been corrcspondingly excessive. ranging
from 81 and ~ per cent in Boston, G3 and 50
per cent in Philadelphia, and 40 and 20 per
cent in New York, 10 nearly 100 per cent. the
point of complete saturation, ut Albany. II is
this alliance of heat and humidity, continued
unremittngly during several days and nights,
which has proved so deadly. Tuesday night
in this city was the hottest Of the year, and
next to the hottest on record and at clocl'
on Wednesday morning the thermometer stood
at ~ degrees, or 81 degrees higher than the
greatest average heat Of July - for fifteen
years, and . degrees higher than the record
at New Orleans at tho same hour.
Reference to the lowest temperature regis
tered in this ncighborhood during recent win
terS indicates the severe strain our climate i'm
poses on animal vitality, and the exceptional
importance Of meeting its demands by sound
hygienic preparation and the good-tcmpcrcd OBJ
servance Of common-sense rules. An ESqui-
maux comfortable in his skins or an Ashantoc
in his cowrie-bclt the year round is exempt
from any such climatic cyactlons and while.
happily, our extreme seasons are usually OF
short duration, they are sharp enough and fire.
1uent enough 10 make a study of adaptability
worth while. The present hot wave it is al
ready confidently predicted, will be agrccably
tempered before Sunday by cool carnations
from the Northwest, where grateful showers
are relieving the oycrchargcd atmosphere and
welcome brcczeS arrest the aspiring Their
mometcr. Business has not suffered apprccia-
bly, during this ')rrid spell, although a few
mills and brickyards have temporarily shut
down, and the disastrous experience Of 1876,
when thousands succumbed to furnace heat
which burned up garden-crops and produced a
dearth in the city markets. il is hoped we may
now escape But careful dieting. a seasonable
variety of apparel, moderate exercise. avoid
ance Of haste, and above al the cultivation OF
an equable frame of mind are once more en-
phasyed as essential to the enjoyment Of srm-
mer life in this division Of the hemisphere.