New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-02-02
A LONDON DAY.

| The fortnight of extreme cold with which
human kind in this latitude was favored last
month could only be adequately appreciated
after such a day as yesterday. The low tenn
perature then was not only toleIable. but even
invgorating and exhlarating in comparison
with the higher temperature of genuine
London day. with stagnant, humid atmos-
phele and a suffocatng fog sulcharged with an
accumulation of city smoke. Through the
dense medium of impenetrablc mist and noxious
fog the retrospect Of that cold fortnight. with
its clear light, dry air and wholesome tonic for
cnfccblcd lungs and pulse was refractcd as a
blessing unappreciatcd at the time, but none
the less real.
The New-YOrk climate is not without its
flaws. but it is ordinarily exempt from the
characteristic evils Of London weather Such
fog as that of yesterday is SO rare as to
excite a>tonshment and dismay here, but it is
very common experience in English cities.
Turner was perhaps the only Englishman who
ever found it picturesque. lie loved tho worst
London weather, and was content TO mount to
his housctop where he could draw inspiration
from endless viStas of fog, without form and
void. The more practical instinct Of nvcst-
brooding presence of sickness and mortality in
these prevailing fogs. The dcath-ratc is al
ways highest in London during such vista
tons. During the memorable winter Of
1s79-sO, when the fog did not lift for weeks
the mortality was as high as it ever was dur
ing the scvcreSt outbreak Of cholera. "This is
pneumonia weather ~ was an exclamation fire.
qucntly heard yesterday in the streets of New
York. which were as dark ut noon as they are
ordinarily nj dusk. II was moro scientific than
the conventional comments of the weather
wise usually are.
il is fortunate for New-Yoll, that il Is Il
wind swept city during the greater part Of the
year. and almost invariably during the winter
With its thousands Of chimneys dischaIging
smoke and other products Of combustion into
the atmosphere it requires the most favorable
conditions for the dispersion Of SCOT. carbonic
oxide and SulphurouS gases. When the wind
dies ont and a dense sea fog settles upon the
town, the foul breath of all these thousands
of chimneyS minglcs with the mist and in
crcascS the volume Of watcry yapor in the
lower air 1t is the stagnation OF smoke and
gaseous products on foggy day that initiates
sensitive lungs and induces laryngtis and bron-
chitiS. for fog at sea does not have the same
effect upon the respiratory organs This is
why sanitary investigators in London have
been convinced for a long time that the NOR
tally Of the city cannot be reduced until some
substitute i, found for coal combustion in heat
ing houses and keeping factory wheels in
motion.
DiSagIccabc as was Yesterdays experience
in New York. not a little consolation can be
drawn from tho fact that while the atmosphere
is ordinarily humid and filled with the fumes
Of combustion. the winds are constant and the
conditions seldom admit Of a visitation of
genuine London fog. 1t is at least one of the
redccming features Of climate which receives
at all times undue cenSure and too little an
prcciaton that it offers exemption from fog.