The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-25
Heat Would Be Less Oppressive Here
if We Prenared for It.

If We Prepared for 1t.
T. P. Hughes, in Leslie's Weekly.
You cannot speak of living when the
temperature night and day is 100. 1t is but
a mere existence. And such is life in the
valley of Peshawar, at the northwest cor
ner of India, in the months of July and
August. The latitude of Peshawar is thir-
ty-four north of the equator, but the valley
forms a cul de sac, and as it is not subject
continuous heat from the middle of June to
the end of August. During the hottest
weeks the thermometer stands at Sc, both
night and day, In your coolest" room.
The heat of Peshawar is historic, for the
national poet of the Afghans has said:
''Hades, hellfre and Peshawar, all three
are just the same.
It was in the month of July that Lieut..
Wilkins, OF the Rifles, got letter from an
old chum at Rugby, who, as he lounged in
one of the house boats at Henley, wrote:
Bare and FURNISHED sky:
Lovely languors in the air
That's July"
Wilkins was suffering from prickly heat
and was under canvas" in burning sun.
Selling his pen with irritation, he wrote:
Heat and sickness everywhere,
Glare and blazing sky,
Typhoid flying in the air
That's July.
''An men swelterng in the sun,
Long days dragging by,
All that's hateful merged in one
That's July.
During heated periods in New York CITY
am often asked, How does this compare
with India?" AS a matter of fact there
is no comparison between the two. Those
who have resided in the tropics know full
we'll that the thermometer does not indi-
cate the sensations OF heat. The dry heat
of the Punjab generally, and at PeshaWar
in particular, is not as trying as the hu-
midty of New York with the thermometer
at 90. But the sufterings which we endure
during the heated periods chiefly arise from
the way in which we live. No European
IF
season in India clad as are the New York
ers in July and August There can be no
better evidence of that custom which as
Thomas Carlyle says. doth make dotards
of us ALL than the way In which intelli-
gent and civilized persons will walk along
the sun-Stricken streets OF this city at
MONDAY with the thermometer standing al
1G0 clad in black cloth suits and straw hats
If you saw a man at monday in the streets
of any Indian city wearing a straw hat you
would consider him liable 10 arrest for
meditating self-destruction. In America
the heat always seems to take us by sur
prise. and we scarcely realize that 1t is
really not until the newspapers tell US so.
In India we prepare for the hot weather,
and so when il comes we stroll forth clad
in white linen suits, with a white or red
silk sash wrapped round the waist the
head protected with good solar helmet,
protect the head from the direct rays of
the sun 1t Is impossible TO calculate how
much sickness is caused by the wearing of
straw hats during the summer months.
Then it must be remembered that in our
American cities the hours of business and
of official duty are not regulated TO SUIT
the hot weather. In India, during the hot
months, we rise at 5 clock, take a small
breakfast OF tea and toast and then go
forth TO the business duties Of the day.
We return at 10 o'clock for a bath and
breakfast and then take a midday slesta
from Y to 2.
Nor are our houses constructed for a hot
climate In India every house has a Veran-
da. and every window in the house opens
with a easement. Here even the stables
have windows with sashes, and upon a hot
night you may see the poor horses painting
for breath of air. Cruel custom" may
perhaps compel us to have sash windows
in our houses, but why should they be
placed in stables?
In New York city the heat is much more
oppressive than in India because we do not
use punkahs The punkah is a fan made
OF n wooden frame swung across the room.
upon which there is a frill. and which is
pulled to and fro by rope running through
the wall and worked by native outside
the house. The mechanical fans which are
found in restaurants are but an apology
for these Indian punkahs, but they win
probably be used In private houses in the
course of few years.
Besides the punkah. there are two other
admirable inventions for cooling dwelling
houses in India The 'tatti" is a screen
consisting of a frame filed in with khas-
khas roots, which is set up at door or
window TO the windward and over which
water Is sprinkled so as 10 cool the air