Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-09-23
THAT COLD WAVE
Not Here Yet, But It is Evidently
on Its Way.
WEATHER NAN SAYS HONEST MJUN''
Yesterday a Record Breaker and
Today About as Bad.
NINETY-SEvEN DEGREES

NINETY-SEvEN DEGREES
1t may be that the weather bureaus cold
wave that Is to bring relief to suffering
washingtonians Is a good deal like Ito
morrow" which never arrives The hot
Sunday that was promised came on time
with a vengeance. But the relief that was
expected to get here by today Is not on
hand yet. Still, there Is reason to hope, for
ali over the west cold weather prevails.
and, strange as 1t may seem there Is snow
in Colorado, and frost in Kansas. overcoats
are in vogue in Iowa, while Chicago is
shivering.
This morning the cooler line had appar-
emily reached the region just west Of the
Allegheny mountains, and in all probable
ity it will get here by tomorrow. If local
folk are weary of waiting for this delight
full advent, they should think Of the poor
Chicagoans, who were promised cool wave
five days in succession by Prof Garriott,
the new local forecaster out there. before
he finally hit it straight. Five days, one
after another, he told the people that the
good time was at hand, and every time he
missed the bulrs-eye. The sixth time he
struck IT.
So IL the local forecast was a little "shy"
in the mere matter of few hours, no one
should be disposed to object.
Sunday a Record Smasher.
But when the bureau said Saturday morn
irg that Sunday would be hot day no one
had any idea that the record for the year
was going to be broken. 1t was thought
that there had been enough record-breaking
at the athletic games In New York Satur-
day afternoon, but notwithstanding all this,
the sun went to work early and kept 1t up
ur Ill the legal limit to his operations and
succeeded at o'clock in smashing the best
previous achievement In 1895, by attaining
the awful height of 0S degrees In the shade.
in the cage on the weather bureau roof
wtere the official thermometer Is located:
Ninety-eight degrees In the shade! The
people did not have to be told in mournful
numbers that 1T was scorching day. They
had been warned in Saturdays Star that
they might expect q hard experience, and
they went to work to be as cool as they
went down the river in search Of a breeze.
Thousands more rode out on the electric
cars, knowing that they would ride fast
CROUCH to create an artificial current Of air,
at any rate. The majority of the residents,
however, stayed at home and made believe
tfat 1t was cool and pleasant Those who
drums early in the morning and did not
open them until after the sun had gone
down were the most comfortable. The air
Of the streets was too hot to be permitted
to enter the houses.
A Great Rum Up the Scale.
At 4 o'clock yesterday morning the mer-
curry stood at IS degrees. At 8 it was at
81, and then, finding that 1t could ascend, 1t
kept going at a frightful pace. By 10
o'clock It registered 80. in itself high
summer temperature. At noon the intrepid
fluid had gone up to 90 degrees. and then
the obsel vers at the buIe knew some
thing would have to give way before the
end Of the day came. for the sun does not
attain the maximum of its strength until
or o'clock in the afternoon. At o'clock
81 had been marked by the automatically
recording instrument, ard the worst of all
came at 8 O'Clock. when 9s was shown.
Then the drop came, slow and reluctant.
The night, though, was hot and sitting,
with no breeze to aid the would-be sleepers.
This record of 9S degrees beats by three
tenths Of a degree the hottest day of the
summer u0 to yesterday, which was June
B, when 977 was recorded. 1t also made
Washington one Of the hottest places in the
yecSes aS cities 'hf
Lynchburg and Charlotte shared the du-
bious honor with Washington.
A Bit Cooler Today.
Today was not quite so bad, but 1t was
bad enough. The thermometer in The
Stars composing room showed 81 degrees
at 80 o'clock, with slightly upward ten
dency.
There Is a certain degree of comfort in
the thought that within twenty-four hours
one may De wearing an OVeTcOat, whereas
the prevailing cos tune of today Is that
which obtained such popularity away back
In June, when the record that has just been
broken Was established. Indeed, If the real
desires Of the people could have been al
lowed full sway Of their bent yesterday the
average attire would have been quite un-
conventional, viewed from present stand
ards, but it would have been proper judged
by those which are understood to have
been quite the thing before the fall Of the
race.
The cool weather has acquired a bad
fabit during the last few days of descend
Ing like cyclone upon a community and
taking 1t by surprise Some Of the drops in
the thermometer have been almost beyond
credence In some places folks who went
to church clad in linen and waving palm
leaves emerged couple of hours later to
find furs desirable. 1t is to be hoped that
Washingtonians will take warning from
these experiences and prepare for the COM
ing of the blast
Thunder Storms Perhaps.
The forecaster thinks that the conditions
will be favorable to thunder storms this
afternoon in this vicinity. This will pre-
cede the drop in the temperature which is
expected to strike town during the night.
If there Is fall of eighteen degrees the
city will have only about so degrees of
heat. 1t is more than likely that the fall
will be even greater than this, and so there
Is every reason to expect a day on the NOR
row that will revive the dropping spirits of
the dwellers in this region.
Ninety-Scven Mt z O'Clock.
When the bureau forecasted cooler
weather for today it did not mean much
cooler. The fact Is that at o'clock it was
Just cne degree cooler than the maximum
of yesterday, and that did not make any
assurar ce that yesterdays frightful record
would not be equaled. At the same hour,
2 o'clock, The Stars composing room was
supplied with ali at 30 degrees with an
upward tendency.
1t would seem, therefore, that the hot
wave is determined to die hard, and to
quit business without iinchinS. There may
be some folks who admire this character
istic. Others will probably disagree with
them.
No Cases of Sunstroke.
Notwithstanding the excessive heat of the
past few days there has been almost an