The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-07-20
HEAT ON THE PRAIRIES.
Dry Winds which Test Physical En-
DURANGO and Wither yeEetasiOH.

DEN ~ ~ hACR 1eEE hA4AA LII
DURANGO and VSither yeEetatiOn.
WICHITA. Kan. July 2o--Days like
these on the open prairie West are trials
of physical endurance. apt to turn the
heart Of a tenderfoot against the beauty
Of his surroundings The sun sweltsFs 0ut
ones ambition. waves of heat NOW down
the green grass, and the yellow scared
corn puts hope below par Heat on the
prairie West is vastly different from that
in New York It is less dangerous TO hu-
man life, but more deadly IN its eject
upon all vegetation. This IS because OF
the absence Of humidity out here me
wind finds 2 fun sweep over the wide
plains-often it is hot wind. too which
IS more detested than welcomed. Eut II IS
a breeze. nevertheless, and, Il o7e's face
is famed by a wind. he can sweIter
through a furnace heat and survive
Summer in prairie life begins in July
The boom of the cannon is always d WEI
come sound to he farmer for general
~. a dry spell has then begun, and ram
he believes, is sure to follow the Fourth
This year farmers Of southern kansas
collected large sums Of money among
themselves, and spent II ia cannonading-
Their hope was to bring rain AS nlShI
fell, no clouds appeared Groups Of dis
cOuraged farmers drove across the not 500
and talked over the prospects Of corn
crop. Indeed, it seemed poor enough IN
less rain fell soon. 1T midnight the
clouds gathered, and at two, one-quarter
q an inch of water covered the glass jar
on the farmhouse roof Next morning
one could not have noticed the difference
in the soil. for that amount of rain does
little good In a drought When the son
becomes well heated, heavy raintaA foE
two days will do no more than Hoisten II
Men here wear big straw hats and loose
thin clothing. They would &c barefoot
but the earth is too hot for their hesh 10
touch Leaves from the cottonwood tree
are plucked doused into pail OF wafer
and laid under the hat-crown, thus keep
ing the worst Of the heat from the head,
for a time. at least. This scheme Of keep
ing the head cool is repeated several times
in the forenoon. oftener toward o CLOCK
in the afternoon. when the sun Is hottest
In the afternoon. however, the wind dies
down on the prairie, and generally, from
to o'clock, little work IS done IA the
open. The waves Of heat can be seen
dancing across the open plains, and birds
and animals Of all kinds seek the shade
IN the towns, nearly all business -
brought to a standstiiI on not summer
afternoon II Ltlt GpuiAlAS 49,
done. except IN harvest time
Gathering in the wheat i one OF the
most trying times to the prairie farmer
From July I to August 20 Is the favorite
and proper time 10 cut and thresh the
crop. Men have to be imported from the
East to do this work, and they are unused
to the hot glare of the prairie sun One
by one the farm hands fall under the
shade OF a shock of wheat. and lie in
stupor Prostratious are many, but sun
strokes are few. The wind bUoys them
ID against a complete prostration, but
they become so dizzy and weak as not to
be able To 20 on with the work. Then
the farmer has to get other hands OF post
Pone the work, which is almost TuInous-
Nowadays. however, with The improved
machinery, sun-shades cover everything,
and wise farmers do not work their men
in the afternoon, but resume at dusk and
work by lantern light Many large farm
houses today are equipped with electric
fans in the harvest time. so that the farm
hands may sleep in the afternoon and
work al night
Stock find summer the period Of their
suffering At enc tiT=le. in Kansas, Ne
braska. ana other prairie States, the
bleak winter killed the herds by the thou
sands. but now the blizzard seems to have
lest It's power 20 harm. But the hot sum
nrer sun erpties the creeks of their wa
ter. and there IS no rain to refill them
Grass dries up and loses its sweet taste
Even worse than the chill blast Of win
ter does the hot wind penetrate the hide
OF the cattle causing them to grow lean
and die This summer thousands Of full
grown steers fell in western Kansas sim
ply because they could get no water or
fresh pasturzg e-
As summer progresses. in a year like
this the farmers face grows Ions and
despair is written on the features of the
housewife. Merchants sell out their stocks
at a sacrifice, predicting Il crop failure
and hard times real-estate agents lower
the prices of their property, and county
bonds drop as the prices of corn ard hay
soar upward II is not until late fall
when the first heavy rains begin TO fan.
when the corn crop is gathered and found
to be not half so badly damaged as re
ported, when the farmers pun out their
bags of money which have come from
I bounteous wheat crop, and the merchant
cancels his intention TO leave the country
that a prairie country. VIII talk Drosperi-
ty-