Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1900-01-05


of business conditions OF Olympia, to
answer a few questions that are fire.
quently asked by prospective settlers
in the far West. The same queries
were answered in the issue of the
STANDARD of Dec. %, 1SSS-eleven
years ago-and the fact that we have
not been obliged to change the text in
any essential statement, is proof of
the stability of our natural conditions.
How many degrees below zero does the ther-
mometer get as general thing?
Gas general thing" it don't get
below zero at all. During a residence
of Al years on Puget Sound, the writer
has never known it to be below that
temperature but once, for a day or two
in an unusually hard winter many sea-
sons ago. The opening month of the
present winter now at q close, has
been so mild that vegetation has not
been in the least affected by the frost,
the sun shining brightly larger por-
ton OF the time by day, and overcoats
have been seldom brought into requi-
sition even at night.
Boquets of flowers are frequently
picked through the entire season. The
mean temperature of the Winter"
months average about So degrees in
October, As in November, 40 in De.
cember, 30 to 35 in January, As in
February and so in March. This may
seem to Eastern people rather long
winter, but the rainy season in WASH
ingtOn, which continues about five
months, beginning near the middle of
October and lasting till some time in
March, is in common parlance called
winter, and the remainder OF the year,
the "dry" months, summer.
How high is the temperature in Summer,
The mercury. seldom rises above so
degrees, although it occasionally
climbs to 50, the average temperature
being about 60 degrees.
{ Is,oar slanass suh)ssa = ssdasa cAansssfs
No; not Of temperature; in the
Winter months there are frequent al
formations of rain and sunshine, and
the "dry" season is not devoid of an
occasional rainfall. There are showers
enoughto supply moisture for vegeta-
ton, and precipitation in the form oi
dew, especially in the Eastern division
Of the State, is so regular and ample
that failure of crops from drouth are
absolutely unknown. It may seem
strange TO people who have not consid.
cred the circumstances OF location and
surroundings that our climate should
be 60 equable, but it isieasily explained.
The Japanese current which flows
from the equator northward, is de-
| flected from q direct course and flows
along our western coast. This warm
current produces the same effect as
the Gulf Stream on some parts of the
Atlantic Coast, and acts as an i'm.
mense heater at the time when the
Frost.king would otherwise make his
presence most sensibly felt. Western
Washington is likewise protected from
southwest storms by the Cascade
range of mountains, which makes il
still more even than the Eastern di.
vision which is in some degree pro.
tected by the backbone of the cont.
nent-the Rocky Mountains. This
ensures climate OF an equal and
mild temperature, adapted the more
to comfort from the fact that the
nights Of Summer are uniformly cool
This is owing to the moderate temper.
ature Of the day as we'll as the north.
west breeze prevailing uniformly dur.
ing the dry season.
fornis and Oregonl
The question shows that They Say
has been, as usual, unreliable. The
climates Of California and Oregon are
very dissimilar, while those OF Wash.
ington and our neighboring State are
ALMOST identical. !. California is noted
for drought in Summer; Oregon and
Washington never. The soil requires
expensive works for irrigation in Cali
fornia; here none. The temperature
is generally higher in California thar
further north, as is indicated by the
production of tropical fruits, such az
oranges, lemons, grapes, and such veg.
etables as the sweet potato.
eastern people"-and by Eastern
people we mean Southern as we'll
should bear in mind that California
is but part of the Pacific Coast, and
/ is nearly q thousand miles from Puget
Sound, there being ten degrees of lati.
tude difference between San Francisco
and Olympia This admonition seems
proper at this time as the writer
found so many people during an East.
! ern tour who persisted in designating
the whole Pacific slope California.
| How do people subject to bronchitis stand the
| climatef
Bronchitis, dependent on anteced.
ent pulmonary disease, especially oi
the dry variety, is often benefited by
the moist, salty atmosphere. Acute
bronchitis is almost always cured
without becoming chronic. When it
becomes chronic, there is an excessive
muco-purulent sputa. as one of the
doctors states it, whom we have con-
suited on this point. In scrofnlous or
tubercular form, patients would prob
ably do better in dryer climate. All
pulmonary diseases of the dry variety
appear to be more easily treated here,
and those that are afflicted appear to
survive longer than in any climate we
have in the United States. Catarrh
OF the naso-pharyngeal variety pre-
walls here to limited extent. Some
other varieties are more common, in