The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-19
HEAT BUSHES AMBULANCES.
TUESDAY WORSE THAN MONDAYt
AND RELIEF NOT IN SIGHT. \
Oh Prostratlons and IL Deaths in New
York ana kIngs-Many Men Knock or
Work and Some Factories Close--Inss
sects Como In OH the Wlnd-O8 De ;rees

a
sects Como In OH the Wind-D6 De frees
The mercury got up to 90 degrees In this
city yesterday and the effects OF reallysl
hot period began to manifest Themselves
forcibly. Enervated by the effort to Sleep
In the almost breezeless atmosphere OF one
OF the hottest nights in the history Of the i
boroughs, working people got up yesterday
unprepared TO stand the assault OF the sun.
There has been only one hotter day In July
since 1901, when, on the I'd, the slvery /
hands of the mercury clasped the 90 de-
gree rung Of the ladder. In the unshaded
and MINDLESS places where multitude made
an effort to do their daily work the tenn
perature nuctuated between 0s and
l04 degrees, and hundreds were forced
to abandon work in the afternoon. The
heat Of Monday had been absorbed by tho
lofty walls and rooms were ovens. Seldom
has the city reechoed with the olangs Of the !
ambulance gongs as 1t did yesterday. ~
Eight of the big hospitals in Manhattan
alone responded to nearly 200 calls, more
than seventy of which were due to heat y
prostrations, There were 100 ambulance calls
In Brooklyn. Up to o'clock p. Nj. Roose-
welt had responded to SO appeals for help,
only six of which were heat prcstrations
but many of the others were for cases which
had been aggravated by heat. One OF
the Roosevelt nurses was overcome
and attended by an oyerworked corps OF
physicians and nurses. Fifteen of Earlem's
30 ambulance calls were for heat prostra-
tions. Hudson had II cases Of prostra-
ton. twelve of which weio sent homo.
Hudson declared that, although it's force.
lilo hot ~ oil tho ~ fha bncr,it fol NJ
the town, was overworked, it could stand
more exertion. st. Vincent's, with sixteen
calls, had seven prostration cases. and
nurses were nearly exhausted by the tax.
due in part to the demands upon their atten- i
ton by scores of other patients whose all
ments were augmented by the weather. &
One of the doctors of the New York Hos.
pital, which attended to ten heat cases;
said Most of the patients do not get
any further than the receiving wards,
whence, after treatment and rest,
they are sent home. We have had the
heaviest summer business here in the history
Of the institution. Patients who might
leave the hospital in ten days in ordinary
weather are forced, under sweltering
conditions like those OF to-day and yester-
day, to stay three or four weeks Opera
tons are made more danger Gus because 4
of the weakened vitality of patients who
In winter would recover quickly.
To facilitate handling Of heat cases at
Flower Hospital the ambulance shed
was turned into a temporary ward. The
ambulance surgeon takes the patients
temperature on the way 10 the hospital.
AS soon as the new temporary ward Ia b
reached water from a hose is turned on the
patient. After he has got good cooling
he Is removed to a cot.
In New York county yesterday the police
recorded seven deaths ascribed to the heat,
sixty-seven prostrations and nine sick cases.
The totals were largely in excess Of those
Of the day before or of any other day Of the
summer. On Monday one death and twenty
nine prostrations were reported. @
In Brooklyn there were five deaths from
heat and twenty-six prostrations.
Among the Brooklyn deaths were two at
Coney Island. An unidentified man, about
80 years old, was found about o'clock In
the afternoon dead in the rear Of the Raven
hall Hotel at the foot of West Twenty
third street. Mrs. Charlotte Greenberg Of
IS Park place was overcome in the street
and died before an ambulance arrived.
There was nothing in sight last night
that gave promise OF even a temporary
cooling of the superheated air. In the
sunny hours of the day, particularly at
o'clock, when the temperature on the official
tower was at 90 degrees, air breathed chiefly
by residents Of airships and balloons, the
breeze rose to 20 miles. But, as on Monday,
1t was from the west and southwest, blowing
right out of the sizzling heart Of Tophet. Z
Help from that point was hopeless. When
the mercury was highest, however, the
humidity was least. dropping to 81 per
cent, from 62 per cent. at o'clock In the
morning. ~
The throngs at all the big and little soda
fountains of the town broke all records,
some of the very biggest taking in more
than 500 for fizz alone. Cascades OF beer
also flowed more freely than on the days
when the humidity has been high. Electric
fans that droned in dismal monotone at 4
every fountain and before and behind every J
bar did little to alleviate the discomfort. 4
They simply stirred the hot air into swiftsr
motion.
The public baths did tremendous BUSH
ness all day. The atten dants at the Battery
let in 200 persons at a time. After q 20
minute swim they were hustled out and
new lot entered. ss
number of factories stopped work &: !:
noon and several downtown brokers Lett
their clerks of at o'clock in the afternoon;
One went so far as to provide each Of them
with the price OF q trip to Coney Island and
a bathing suit. 4v
Many exhausted horses dropped during
the day and early evening. They could
be seen every few blocks along the East
Side. The nearest hydrant furnished
water to cool them of.
One of the hottest places In the city was
the Assay Office in Wall stpeet, where the
men swelter in normal weather while melt
ing and refining the gold and silver. Fred
erick Fletcher one Of the Government
workmen, was found unconscious at his
post and sent to Hudson street hospital.
There were several places some what
hotter than New York, notably Atlantic
City, where the sun drove the mercury
up to 9s degrees. Philadelphia and Balti- Z
more also had 90 degrees. 1t was still
very warm in the West and Southwest.
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