The Washington weekly post., 1899-06-06
CLIMATE OF MANILA.
Rainy Season Ssw at Hand and the II ea
Il Less Iuten-r.


Midsummer in the Philippines passed
out with the month Of May. May Is the
hottest month OF the year In those far-01
tropical Islands and corresponds to AU-
gust In our own coVntry. From nov on
the weather will become steadily cooler
there. and the rainy season will begin in
earnest That the cooler weather will
come as boon to the men or the fighting
line and in the hospitals 10 enc can
doubt. There viii be fever casualties
from heat prostra;ioa, and there Is 20
reason why there should be an increased
mortality from fever and disease during
the rainy season provided that suitable
hospital facilities have been provided Tor
the sick.
There are feW places in the world where
the atmosphere contains sraater degree
OF moisture than il does al Manila. espe-
cially during the rainy season Various
predictions have been made that 0Jr men
viii succumb TO the heat by thousands
when the rains set in. Dr.. W. F. II. PHI
lips, Of washington. who has made a Spe-
cial study OF the climatic conditions in
the Philippines in the course o. an n
teryiew with a reporter. made the state
ment that the Increased moisture In the
air there viii prevent rather than IN
crease sunstrOke. DR.. Phillips is in charge
OF the section OF climatolosy at the Unit
ed States Weather Bureau, and is the Iu-
thor Of various publications on medical
cIimalOl0gy. During the course Of the
interview he talked at some length on
| the general climatic conditions OF the
Philippines, and their probable effect upon
| the American soldiers nov putting down
| the rebellion in those islands. ApTOpos OF
| this. he said:
The very high degree of moisture that
prevails in the atmosphere Of the Philip
| pine Islands during the rainy season will
! ward OF rather than increase sunstroke
| Concerning !ts exact effect upon our so'-
| diers. We can predict but little with any
| thing like accuracy.
In my opinion the greatest cause for
| suffering among the troops during the
/ remainder Of the hot season will be the
uniformity OF temperature which exists
| throughout the islands, and especially
| around Manila. The effect of such a tenn
perature as exists there on the people OF
| cold climates is particularly trying At no
| time in the day or night is the body al
| lowed TO become cool. and the inceS-
SAINT, unremitting heat becomes almost
| intolerabie. This in spite of che fact that
| the highest temperature for any one day
| will not rise 10 the height Of that of the
| hottest day which New York, Washing
| ton. or Chicago viii probably experience
| during the present summer In fact Il II
| not likely that on the hottest day at Ma
| Mia the thermometer Will so above 81 de
| gress. But then il is not likely during
| the next five months TO fail below u de-
| grees. That IS, the nights al Manila will
| have temperature as high as the aver
| AnptTSf midday in RsStan md tfht-
| ea6o.
| 'The rainy season is just about begin
| ming In earnest at the present time. The
| dry season at Manila extends from De-
| cember 20 and including April. During
| those five months The tOta! rainfall rarely
| exceeds five or six inches May and No
| yember may be said to constitute an in
| termeGiate season, with an average rain
| t2ll OF four and half inches each. The
| rainy season proper begins with June
and extends to October. During that time
an average of sXty-one inches of rain
| falls. This equals the fall in New Orleans
| for twelve months, and is twice the fall
in Detroit, Mich, in the same period of
time.
III the ordinary average is kept up the
rain will fall every other day through
| out the present month. June. July. and
| august September Will average more
than two days with rain To one without
| while the figures that | quote are
| those taken as an average Of seventeen
! years observations at Manila, an eXamin-
alton of the records for those years will
| show some remarkable departures. For
| example, in one year. as much as l2C
! inches of rain has fallen: in another as
| little as 35.G5 Still more remarkable was
the fall Of 81 i3 inches in one September
and that OF only inches in another Sen.
tember. Thus II is scarcely safe to ven.
tUre predictions as to the amount of rain
fall and the probable impediment il will
! offer TO a prosecution of the campaign
during the present season. Regarding the
| temperature. however, we know some
| thing more definite
! THE lowest temperature ever experi
/ enced at Manila was 20 degrees TIL.
average temperature for January is 4
degrees. while that at Manila throughou
the whole year is 80 degrees The mrar
monthly temperature for the montI
of May is ST degrees while for III,
: warmest May In seventeen wears N,
mean temperature reached 81 degrees
Again, the average temperature day an
night. for the coolest month ever exucri
enced in the islands was only "a degrees
; thus making a difference of only Is Dc
grees. Contrast this with the weather a
Washington, where the average taken il
the same manner, for the coolest and hot
tegt months OF the year was % and
[ degrees. respectively. giving a range of .
degrees. On the whole. however, our me
, may be said to stand the climate OF thes
= | tropical Islands with much less loss O
, life than might have been anticiDated