The evening times., 1899-12-28
SUNSHINE AND RAIN.
Albuquerque and Spain mt One Ex-
treme and India mt the Other.


From the New York SUM-
Albuquerque. n. NJ. a town Of :. SEQ p,p-
ulation, says 1t holds the record for the
greatest number of sunshiny days in the
year of any town on the American conti-
nent Its records show psriod of three
years in which there were only two to.aly
cloudy days when the sun was not visib
at some time between the hours OF rising
and setting. and there is official corrobofa-
tion for this in the announcement OF the
Signal Service that ''the point of least an
nual rainfall in the United States is at
Albuquerque, N NJ, Other cities having
low record of rainfall are Port SAID.
Egypt: Hyderabad. India; Lima fe-u;
Madrid. Spain; Valparaiso, Chile; oran,
Morocco: Maiorca. in the Mediterranean
Sea; Jerusalem. Cairo, Barcelona, end Al
exandria.
The heaviest recorded rainfalls in the
United Kingdom have been Z inches at
Ardrishaig. Argyle, on December Z, 1858,
and L. inches at London on April IL,
1875; while "a inches of rain has fallen az
Bombay in twenty-four hours. 80 at Genoa,
and 80 at Gibraltar. The wettest place IN
England is Seathwaite where the average
annual rainfaA is 145 inches, and in the
world Cherapungi. in southwestern Assam,
where the average for fifteen years Is 493
inches and where in 1864 the record rose 10
9G5 inches. The rainfall OF the oniteu
Kingdom averages 3S inches yearly on
the European continent % inches and in
The United States 80 inches, taking the
whole country through.
IL is customary to designate as sunny
day one during which the sky Is at no
time cloUded, though the exact hnes OF oe-
markation between sunny days. c.cudy Gays
and rainy days are seldom 50 clearly os-
fired as to exclude controversies cn the
subject. The Meteorological Department o,
the United States Government Is cohuucusu
on o more thorough, comprehensive ilethou
than that of any European government
when the extent and diversity of the terri
tory covered and the obstacles to accurate
information are taken irSo account
1t is computed by statisticians that the
average annual rainfall in the ohiteu
States would. if by some magical or me
chanical device all gathered into one place.
exceed by four times the volume OF water
in Lake Erie, which has an area OF nearly
10. 900 square miles and an average uep'h
of 200 feet The annual rainfall IS COM
,,rted IN he in volume about the same as
all the water in the Mediterranean. and
sny person caught in a storm without an
umbrella may if of a philosophical dispo-
sition. take this fact into account as e'i-
dence of the truth of the ancient saying
that nothing is really so bad but that II
might be considerably worse.
In a controversy recently started in Eu-
rome as 10 the eminence of sunny Italy.
sunny SPAIN or sunny France, 1t was
shown mathematicaIly that Spain was the
country best entitled to the designation
sunny" for Spain is the country in whicn
in all Europe the number OF sunny days IS
largest in a year. Italy following, ana
France coming third. The rainfall IN Sc
Vile is twenty-five inches a year, OF only
. Nts ~ nf
Francisco. an apparent discrepancy. which
is explained by the fact that when it rains
in Seville il rains very hard, whereas
rainstorm in San Franscso does net rise
usually 10 the dignity of much more than
a shower.