The sun., 1901-07-03

~ and the lowest record 81, yet the humid
conditions in New York were below the
general average for the city, which Is 80.
| AT the highest-s oclock yesterday morn
o oclock in the afternoon II had dropped
! down TO AZ, the average for the day being
SO. StaYling as was the heat mortality
| II was much less than II would have been
with a greater degree Of humidity. And.
besides, there was a breeze OF eight or
nine miles an hour blowing from early
morning until late In the afternoon when
the thunder showers came and with them a
| wind Of twenty-five miles an hour.
! Hot as was the breeze In the early and
| middle parts Of the day. II nevertheless
had q beneficial effect in evaporating per-
| spiration. and so lowering the temperature
| OF the heat sufferers. All physicians are
| In the air and the breeze that was stirring,
| together saved New York from death
list which must have been little short OF
appalling
Weakened by FIVE days Of awful heat.
| people who went to bed at all on Monday
night got up yesterday morning to face
what evidently was to be a more trying
| day than any before. As early as s A. NJ.
| the oficial Government record showed a
temperature Of SO degrees. which was
| two degrees higher than at the same hour
| on Monday morning. From that starter
! the temperature steadily rose until at
2:l5 the climax at 90 degrees was reached.
| At 10 o'clock the temperature was e5; at
| II O'Clock. 90: at noon, 81; at O'Clock. o.;
at 2 O'Clock. es, and at ?i5, 90. Then 1t
began to fall At 8 o'clock It was back to
| ss and at 4 o clock. when the thunderstorms
were Just beginning TO be heard from.
the temperature was 95.
| WHEN RELIEF CAME
II was just seven minutes to o'clock
when the first thunderstorm was sighted
| from the Weather Bureaus lofty perch
away up on the twentieth floor OF the
American Surety Building. The weather
men had been saying q few moments be-
| fore that there was nothing in sight to
| being near at hand. There were no thunder
storms, even Of the tramp variety. any
whore near MS. they said.
Then away of in the southeast there
| came u vivid fash from out dull, brick
red mass of formess vapor that had been
| hanging low on the horizon for some time.
| In a few minutes there came sweeping
| through the offices pun OF distinctly
cooler air, and that was the beginning
| of the relief from the uninterrupted stretch
| OF deathy weather that for days had been
sapping New York's vitality.
1t was Just thirty-two minutes later
at AIS p. NJ that Manhattan got It's first
touch OF thunderstorm. At that hour there
was bright fash Of lightning high up in the
air and to the southwest Of the Surety
, Building. but near at hand This was
followed almost instantly by a sharp crack
of thunder. and from that moment the
thunder and the lightning came at short
intervals with first a drizzle and then q
good hard down-pour OF rain.
" was Just 4:S9 when the first rain fell.
Just a shade under two-tenths Of nm inch
of rain came in this shower and although
the roasting hot pavenents and sidewalks
soon dried of, filing the air with warm
steam. the cutters in some places ran
briskly and scattered here and there through
the rain were areas where the hallstones
ratified down merrily
FOLKS BATHED IN THE RAIN.
II is only a few short weeks since people
were saying unpleasant things OF the rain,
which then seemed 70 have come TO stay
all summer. But there was a marvellous
change Of public sentiment In the matter
of rain yesterday afternoon. On the tops
Of tall buildings in all the downtown dis
trict men in scant attire could be seen on
the roofs taking shower baths In IT, reach
ing up their hot hands toward the sky as
though 10 pull more and still more OF II down
upon them The boys down In the streets,
who had been rolling in torrents from the
hydrants or taking swift, suTeptitlous
plungrs into the City Hall fountain. now
ran out into the middle Of the street 10 get
soaked through and through in the water
that AZ last was coming down free for all.
The first shower did not greatly cool the
air down NJ the level OF the street. II was
a warm rain. to begin with, and what cool
neas there was in II was quickly absorbed
by the hot pavements and sidewalks filling
the air with humidity and giving little
relief Yet none the less, there was drop
in the temperature Of lS degrees In about
half an hour At o'clock In the Weather
Bureau the thermometer stood at 05. At
asa Il stood at So. Then came the second
and the third storms, each cooling the air
in turn. but at 0 o'clock in the evening,
when the sharpest Of the showers were over,
the temperature had crept back and at
midnight il was up AZ SO degrees.
HEAT PARALYzEs TRAFFIC.
Aside from the deaths the prostrations
and the general suffering Of men and animals,
the heat by yesterday morning was begin
ming to create a general paralysis OF busi.
ness All industries involving the Use OF
horses were badly crippled on Monday
and still more go on Tueeday. On Tuesday
many mills and factories In Newark, Pater-
son, Passaic, Elizabeth and New Brunswick
n. j., were forced to shut down
In New York streets the horses died
so fast that there were not vehicles enough
in the regular equipments to carry them
use horses had to run their cars at wider
and wider intervals, On the Twenty
eighth and Twenty v-ninth street lines,
which lately abandoned compressed air
power, the cars, which under normal con-
ditions run on two and a half minutes
hendway were reduced to ten minutes
headway and were uncertain at that.
But it was not merely the horse car lines
that were crippled. President Vreeland
OF the Metropolitan Street Railway Com
pany said that many men on his lines were
giving way and tha, still more were asking
TO be laid OIL Every substitute on the list
WAS being pressed into service, and still
the force was inadequate. In many cases
closed cars were substituted for open ones,
to give relief 10 conductors who were much
more exposed 10 the sun on the open cars
and had harder work climbing about on
tho footboards The Metropolitan COM
pany on Monday carried $1,000 people
on It's system. which was within 20.OO Of
the high-wnter mark. reached on Dewey Day.
In addition TO the people who rode on
the trollevs merely to get the all. everybody
who had nickel To spare got aboard them
even II he were only going block or two.
MAILS DELAYED FOR LACK or HORSES.
The United States mails were DELAYED
from half an hour to IN hour all day long
by reason 4 the l1ck Of horses procurabo
by the contractors, the New York Mail
Company TO draw its wagons. Tne con-
tractors have lost q dozen or more horses
from this and moro than tiity are inCapaci-
tated for work Other horses 10 take their
places could not Dc procured yesterday
FOR love or mon"y,
Livery stables and private stables all
over the city in fact were turned into public
hoepi ais where horses on the verge OF
,,-,stratipn Werp ahpwcrpI with ma,a.