Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1907-05-15
INTENSE HEAT AND COLD.
Which of the Above Is Harder for the
Human Body to Bear.

OSOy ~ 1CdFs
Which is the harder to bear, great
heat tr great coid? A London paper
has beer puttine the question to ia
nous Travellers lately, with some curl
lous results.
Tie problem" said HARRY D.
WinCr. the explorer of northern 81
IBERIA, is not an easy one to answer.
For there are almost as many degrees.
or rather kinds, of heat and cold as
there are letters in the alphabet l
have frizzled in Boreo, and frozen in
the Arctic, end yet even now can
hardly tell you which | found at the
time the most unpleasant. However.
lmy experience goes to prove that dyy
cold, however severe, is preferable TO
damp heat ALWAYS provided the for
mer is unaecompanied by wind)
Nature has mercifully ordained
that extremely low temperatures are
never experienced save in still, clear
weather Thus, in Siberia l have
found rs degrees below zero quite
bearable and even pleasant on a cain
sunny day; whereas 60 degrees higher
with damp and blizzard necessitated
shelter or death. Also | have felt
colder In London in a November fog,
with the mercury well above the
freezing point, then Oh crisp wintry
day in the Balkans in a much lower
temperature. Again, in Boneo | have
GU ford oau Silaro Ill, L. 90 aouraac :,
the shade. for there there is moist,
enervating climate; while at Sukkur
Ton the northwest frontier Of India)
| log degrees in the shade, Ca dry
fierce heat like the blast from a fur
naee) did not inconvenience me nearly
as much
To sum up. | think, all things con
sidered, | would sooner undergo So
Ivere cold than its antithesis-that is
lin civilized countries, for there you
can generally find means snd appli-
ances to keep the former out. BuS
Tie heat is practically unavoidable in
any cline. and must, therefore, Je
borne with patience and philosophy.
/ In the wilds | think both are equally
unpleasant, and the amount of discom-
fort man has to undergo largely do
ipends upon his nervous temperament
and constitution.
Great cold,n said Sir Martin Con
way laconically, is more easily
borne than great heat, because warm
clothes win keep cold out, but no
one has yet invented cold clothes 70
keep out heat.
So far as purely physical pain Is
concerned said Major H. H. Austin.
+ a f.mous explorer Of the British army,
III think that extreme cold is certain
Ily the harder of the Two TO bear. while
actually exposed to the elements, ow-
ing to the lack OF proper circulation of
the blood throughout the system, re
sulting in acute numbness of ones *
itremities.
On the other hand, the pains of
extreme cold are quickly allevi1ted
when the shelter of tent and stove or
fire, or the recesses of snug. wa'm
bunk or bed are reached
AS.aihsl lutSt ppiiltS must %
placed the fact that the traveller, wnen
enduring the trials of ,ong continued
great heat, has no means available Cr
lessening the discomfort and attend.
ant strain on the system.
In camp life great heat can not
be excluded from ones environment
to the same extent that great cold can
temporarily be.
TO my mind there is little DOUBT
'ihat, ordinarily speaking, the body is
.taPabe of far greater physical exer-
ton in the bracing atmosphere Of
great cold than in the enervating one
of great heat, and that less perma-
nent injury is usually ,ione to the
system by combating great cold than
great heat
4 have seen a negro stoker on
liner rush up from an engine room
frantic with heat IN the Red sea, and
commit suic.-e by jumping over
board. And, again we have all read
of the almost overpowering desire
that overtakes explorers In the Arctic
and Antarctic climes at times to lay
them down and sleep in the snow "a
sleep that can have no awakening