The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-08-26
A FATAL T0RRlD WAVE,
The Whole Country Frustrated by
FrighHuI Heat.
NEW YORK'S LONG DEATH ROLL.

sixty-two Fatal Prostrations In Gotham
and vicinlty---The Whole Country
South of the Great Lakes and East of
the Missouri in the Grasp OF tho
NEW YORK City, August 10.-YesterdaY was
the fifth and most fatal day Of the hot wave.
Between p. m. and p. m. the thermometer
marked ninety degrees, and at that hour
there were eighly-nine degrees Of humidity
in the atmosphere. It was the combination
Of heat and humidity that swept the town
like plague, and while the sun was In the
zenith 1t was unbearable. At least sixty-two
persons died directly from the effects Of the
heat in and around New York. Some OF
these untortunates dropped dead In the
streets. others were stricken In their sleep,
and three were overcome while hunting re-
lief on roof-tops. Every hospital was
crowded. with victims, and In every section
of the city doctors were kept busy attending
the stricken. It was day never to be 1or-
gotten, and another like 1t, the doctors said,
would cut New York likely deadly epidemic.
and stone, radiating heat deadly In its In
tensity. And over all, gray as the presence
Of death which 1t held, was the pail OF
humidity. Car horses, straining pitifully at
their loads stopped at the last gasp and fell
dead In the streets. Traffic over the various
lines WIS seriously impeded.
In Brooklyn the death list reached four
teen, and in the nearer territory of New Jer-
sey may reach dozen. Persons who sue
cumbed TO the heat there and were taken to
hospitals were many.
Suffering in the great tenement districts
of this city was intense. While thousands
crowded the parks, the great majority, many
OF them i'll unto death, lay painting IN the
closp, stuffy houses walled In from what lit
tie air was astir. Infants feebly walled their
puny lives away, and the older persons fell
as though stricken by scourge.
The official temperature at O'CLOCK q. m:
was rs degrees, and 1t went up steadily until
o'clock, when 1t marked 80. 1t remained
at that point until O'Clock, then began
slowly to drop until at 8 o'clock 1t stood at
SO. In the street 1t was from four to tlVe de-
grees hotter.
The thermometer In Herald Square, which
gave the best idea OF the heat which had ac-
tuaIl7 to be endured, indicated the maximum
temperature of 102 degrees at halt-past three
o'clock o. m, The humidity was very high.
One effect Of the terrific heat was 20 start
the thermostats and chemical fire alarms IN
buildings 80 protected. In some OF the
downtown districts the fremen were quite
busy during the day answering alarms
Of fire which, on Investigation. proved to have
been occesioned by the rise In temperature
without fire.
The streets OF New York In the afternoon
were practically deserted. Ifyou had looked
through scores of side streets from end to
end you would not have seen single soul.
There was a singular dearth OF pedestrians
On the main thoroughfares. For blocks In
Broadway the only human beings In sight
were the crowds which gathered around
fallen horses Many horses were overcome
by the heat, and the usual number OF mad
dogs were shot. :.
In New Jersey the heat was almost as
severe as in New York. Several persons
were stricken In Hoboken. more than dozen
were overcome and two died In Newark; IN
Bayonne six persons were prostrated, and OF
these one Is dead. He was an unknown man.
Six persons were also overcome IN Jersey
City and Of these Patrick Sheridan, OF No.
COZ Hudson street, Is dead.
At Newburg, N. Y, the thermometer
reached the hundred mark. "a Long Island
City five prostrations were reported to the
police. One Of these died.