The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-08-20
HOTTEST DAY OF THE YEAR.
THE WEATHER BUREAU SAID 1T
AND NO ONE DOUBTED IT.

Mercury Climbed to High Notch
Early in the Day and Stayed There.
80 3-IO-It Was Hot at the Resorts,
ToO-Three Homicides Since the
Heated Term Bcgan-Some COnsO-
IatiOn in the Fact That Savannah
Is HeaIthiest During the Heated
PeFiOd-A Physician Discusses the
Relative Mortality of Savannah
and New York From the Heat.
! BY unanimous consent yesterday is
voted to have been the hottest day of the
/ year. There was not a dissenting voice
to this opinion and for once the general
pubic was right on the weather question.
/ For the fourth time this summer the
thermometer reached SO. but it remained
in that neighborhood longer than on any
previous day and there were no cooling
breezes and no thunderstorms to cool the
heated atmosphere. The air simply got
hotter and hotter 1t was true that there
was a breeze about o'clock. but the
mercury had just reached the highest
point and the wind was like blast from
the Sahara.
! To be exact as to she temperature the
thermometer at the weather bureau reach
80 $40 This was just ITO higher than the
previous day. The minimum was rs de
grees at o'clock in the morning aud
from that hour the mercury climbed
steadily. The extreme heat lasted through
the entire day and well into the nigh,
and the general complaint was we'll jus
tilted.
There was no escape from the heat.
Many people sought the resorts, only to
find themselves cheated in their hopes.
Il was just as hot at Tybee, Thunderbolt
and Isle of Hope as it was in the city,
and the land breeze, with its usual ac-
compartment of mosquitoes, made the
discomfort all the greater In Town most
of the people remained within doors and
in costumes strictly negligee made a vain
effort 90 keep cool. The night was ex-
ceedingly oppressive and continued so
until midnight, when a slight breeze
sprung up. The shirtwaist man was in
his element during the night at least.
for of the male portion of the popula-
ton to be seen on the streets, three out
of four at least, were in their shirt
sleeves.
No heat prostrations were reported dur
ing the day, but one more homicide was
added to the list of recent events of this
KIND. 1t is noteworthy fact and one
fully borne out by the police records, that
a term of extreme heat is almost certain
10 insure a series of crimes of violence
After a period of comparative exemption
from such crimes there have been three
homicides following each other in rapid
succession. Il is also a theory with the
police that these crimes run in triples,
and If one suicide should occur they
would expect two more.
Savannah has something to be thankful
for however, in the fact that the city has
enjoyed a remarkably healthy summer
The death rate has been very low and the
physicians report that the city has been
very healthy. This is in direct contrast
with the conditions in the large cities of
the North where a heated term not only
brings numerous prostrations and sun
! strokes but is followed by an increase in
the death rate, the mortality among the
children being especially marked
| A well-known physician was asked why
| 1t was that period of severe heat seemed
to produce such a markedly different eff
| feet in Savannah as compared with New
York and other Northern cities. This
physician had considerable experience in
| the New York hospitals before coming to
| Savannah and is familiar with the condi-
| lions in both cities.
THE explanation is in the different con-
| ditons," he said. Savannah is natur-
| ally a healthy city and our summers are
usually the healthiest portions of the year
| One reason for this is that the heat comes
on us more slowly and we are better aC-
| customed TO it. In New York the sum-
mer is shorter and the temperature varies
more during the summer months. ConSe-
| quenUy they are not SO well prepared to
| stand high temperature as are the people
| farther South.
The effects of the heat in New York
are chiefly felt in the immense tenement
house dis riots the classes most severely
affected being he very cd, he very young
and those addicted to the use of alcoholic
stimulants. The work lngmen on the docks
furnish a laI ge proportion of the prostra-
ti5ns. The laborers will rush off at the
noon hour, put three or four glasses OF
cold beer into their stomachs while still
heated ard then return to their work
when the heat is at its hight. The result
is that many CT them are overcome by
the heat. Most of cur cases of pros ration
at the hospital used TO come in between 3
and o'c'ock in the afternoon. Among the
children of the poor, who are crowded
together in the tenement house districts,
500 people some times living in ore house,
the suffering is very great. Unable to get
away from the tenement districts and
without The comforts of life, the mortal
i;y naturally incrJ ase' There is little, if
any, increase in mortality among the
Well-to-do on account of the heat"
Here in Savannah" continued the ply
stefan, the first heated spell in May gives
us more trouble with the children than
all the rest of the summer. After May
they get used 10 il or go away. June and
July are healthy months. During the lat
ter part of August and September we be-
gin to have some fevers. but rarely TO
any great extent. Our chief exemption
from increased heat mortality is due to
the fact that we have no tenement house
districts Nearly every family has a house
or a fiat of its own and the tenement house
evil is practically unknown. Then, as l
have said, our people are more accustomed
to the heat"