Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-06-19
N | D S U M M Err NOTES
A Triad Of Interesting hot Weather
Memoranda
The Sun-Baked Capitol Lawn, Which
Bushels of Canada Flies.

The days when the thermometer bubbles
bring business to many citizens, but to
none more than the gentlemen whose duty
1t is to keep the lawns Of the Capitol
grounds trimmed. The advent Of hot
weather means to them the coming of q
frenzy Of Joy. They gloat in the prospect
of shaving the blades Of grass from day to
day, until the parched and yellow lawns
cry out In protest against the torture A
glimpse of the sward at the north END of
the building. which is viewed probably by
more people daily than any other section
of the grounds. will serve to demonstrate
the avidity with which these professors of
the scythe and the lawn mower spring to
their tasks. 1t would appear that little or
no judgment is used in the work, for from
the earliest of the hot days until the cool
Of autumn the surface Is kept trimmed
down to the roots, which bake in the sun
and turn yellow long before their time. The
mown grass is raked off as carefully as
though every blade were Of gold, and thus
the natural protection which the cutting
gives to the bleeding turf II left to lie I'M
disturbed for twentyfour hours is taken
away, and the bruised ends Of the blades
are fairly cooked. Then, too, not q drop of
water is put upon the lawn from the be-
ginning to the end of the season. the sward
is left to the mercy Of the droughts, and as
a consequence it has the appearance of the
head Of a youngster who has lust passed
under a hairclipper. The north lawn Is the
worst sufferer, for 1t is so laid out that the
water that falls from the skies cannot sink
very Deep as 1t Is inclined to run OF in the
central trough or valley that the landscape
gardener devised. There Is no shrubbery to
give shade and the great white wall on the
south seems to reflect additional heat. A
line Of perforated pipes running through
the lawn and kept running morning and
evening, or a series Of those water tops or
vvhi "a that q 20 fu a
ditions to large stretches of turf, would
avoid much of the difficulty, but meanwhile
the drivers of the lawn mowers must be
made to restrain their ardor. Grass IL far
too precious to be thus slaughtered.
A notable event Of the earlier summer
days is the coming Of the pretty little Can
ada flies, more commonly called May flies
in this region. These dainty and harmless
visitors fiutter here with their long twin
tails at the first burst Of heat and remain
for some weeks. They meet early deaths
around the electric lamps. however. and
their fluttering and scrambling at night to
get within the glass globes that surround
the arcs form a pretty spectacle The tall
trees that line some of the streets give
them a shelter during the day. and they
come forth In swarms at the first sputter
Of the current. Thenceforth until the cleo
trlcity Is turned off these poor victims OF
and gradually fall to the spavements. Many
Of them get inside and are killed by the
heat. Larger bugs great buzzing beetles
and June bugs, are also slain by these ter
rible machines. and their bodies lie with
the lighter corpses at the foot Of the lamp
poles. In the morning there are easily two
or three quarts of these dead flies scattered
on the ground at the foot of some of these
posts In the downtown regions. and they
make great feasts for the sparrows tina,
swoop down upon the piles Of slain with
the first sunlight. Sometimes these bodies
are burned to a crisp and again they are
not singed. In Buffalo there Is curious
spectacle whenever there has been a strong
wind from the northwest, which brings
across the narrow end Of Lake Erie mil
lions of these flies. which have their home
among the sandy shores of the Canadian
Side of the lake. In the morning the pave
ments are strewn to quite depth in the
business region Of the city, and at places
there are bushels Of the flies scattered over
the sidewalks.
A bright Washington woman has Jus,
made discovery. For some seasons she
fas been In the habit in summer of carry
Ing parasol to keep the sunbeams from
her head. and she has been wondering OF
late why 1t was that she seemed to be Just
as warm when she raised her shade as
when she forgot 1t and allowed II to re-
main unopened. The other day she was
walking along Pennsylvania avenue and,
acting upon the impulse Of her habit. she
raised her parasol as soon as she emerged
from store. Then she noticed that her
breathing was difficult and that her face
was burning. Suddenly 1t dawned upon her
that she had noticed this before and she
set to work to reason out the cause. For q
time she pondered, growing warmer with
each step. until she moved in the shade of
tree and snapped her parasol into its
folded state. In moment her face was
bathed with fresh cool air and she was i'm
mensely relieved. 1t then flashed across
her that she had been unconsciously i'm
prisoning all the hot air rising from the
sidewalks and asphalt pavements beneath
the dome-like top Of her shade. which, in
stead Of acting as protector as intended,
was really serving as a hood to surround
her face with the hottest atmosphere of the
street. AS long as she held her parasol up
the air had no chance to circulate, and this
was the more uncomfortable because she per-
sisted in holding 1t quite low. So she ex-
perimented, and as a result found that she
was really more comfortable when she
walked with her parasol folded than when
she opened it, and now she has quite ia
booed that dainty article except as a means
of defense against dogs and cows and other
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