New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-09
WHERE HEAT IS DEATH
Tenements Become Ovens 10
Destroy Human Beings.
TERR0RS OF The HOT WAVE
People of the Slums Seek in Vain
for a Cool Spot or Refresh.
ing Breeze.

=
story Of a skyscraper with tho cooln,
e zephyrs ruf1ng the papers on his desk
: there is a funny side to hot wave IN +,
$ big city. And the thousands who escan.
the citys grill at the end OF a broliug day
by fleeing to seacoast or mountain ara
able to smile at the efforts OF the FUNNY
ones who make life more bearable by s,.
ting a laugh out Of an uncomfortable suh.
ject. But to those who through circum.
stances are forced 10 remain day after d,v
and night after night in the city throush
, the sweltering, whiting heat blight such a.
has Just left New York whitening beneath
it's stroke the humor ceases to appeal ana
the victims either grow sodden inert And
vitiated or sulen and dangerously irrita.
BILE Tempers warped and bent by tina
, white heat OF July sun grow brittle A.
last and snap with the slightest Jar. Chi.
dren suffer not only from the glazing heat
, from above but from the sharp heat liRht.
nings OF tempestuous parents ss well:
among themselves their own dispositions BE-.
come dsjointed. too. while the police blot
tiers tell almost a continuous story Of deeds
, by persons only half responsible for the
breaches OF discipline which they commit
| But the greater part Of this suffering dur.
ing the hot spell comes not so much from
the heat Of the day as II does from the ter.
rlble tortured nights OF sleepless tossing.
nights where the sleepers seek relief On
Gun soaked streets. the bottoms OF chasms
that are lined with walls Of brick end ston.
which AZ night exude the stored up hea. OF
the day There loling about on doorstep
and curb in the midst Of human steam. ST.
listless mothers holding wax faced babes:
there stretch immigrant parents and chill.
dren lately arrived from cold countries Of
. the North: there poor folk OF every class
ard condition sit with nodding heads. sleepy.
vet unable 70 sleep. until az last comes A
numb exhe Istion and they fall OF into rest.
less slumber.
, But such slumber isn't the restful. brain
, easing. body resting kind that comes with
normal sleep. II is really passing through
ghastly nightmare. at the end Of which
, the sufferer with body and brain unrs-
freshed has to think duly and labor me
: chanically through another day. Returning
after his days work to the three roomed
Z tenement which he calls home" he sits
, down in reeking room and eats the half
sour food which couldn't he kept cool be.
cause Of the prohibitiye cost OF ice lie il
p the average poor laborer which means ;hs,
wife and five children generally share III.
misery OF the mean table and the reeklng
rooms. All day long. with her baby asleep
/ or playing on the floor. the wife has been
working in the kitchen over hot coal fire
. boiling out the clothes which she j. re-
u tuired TO wash in order 10 help feed the
I youngsters and pay the rent. The result o.,
this fire on many floors has been that the
D tenement is so hot throughout that II is
unbearable so with the meal sulped down
the workman seeks the roof Here he lin
'gers FOR a while. but the cruel rays OF the
sun have pierced through the tin shee,!ng
and. finding no relief there lie returns 10
his tenement. There. driven half mad by a
lcrying infant. which he leaves 10 the care
OF the mother whose day has also been
filed with hard work he at last seeks the
crowded street below. There an occasional
feeble gust, which was charged with life
when ii swept past Sandy Hook whirls up
a cloud OF fetid dust and dies In this pso-
pied valley Of heat. Like an animal h.,
stretches out on the sidewalk or on IN.
stone step. trying 10 find some GOODNESS
Finding this hopeless. he az last seeks ou'
the nearest park. I'm the hope that on a
bench he may snatch few hours OF IN
broken slumber Vain hope however In
that park men were sitting on benches IN
the broil!nc sun three hours before sunset
in order that they might spend the night
there. and there has not been a vacant bench
since o'clock. The tired laborer Their
turns TO the dusty plot OF grass where
others despite municipal regulations. ar,
outstretched. and in company with trsmp'
and others OF his own class. women chill
dren and babies. he falls OF into troubled
slumber
Yet probably the large measure Of our
pity goes out 10 the poor little ones Living
in tenements where bathtubs are not 10 be
found. even where stationary washtubs ar,
rare. they do not get the blessing OF A good
bath az the end of one Of these gruens
days The mother. wearied with her own
work is too hot and tired 20 I'll vashtub
ard battle each little one Moreover. only
the fortunate ones among the very poor
have a change OF clothes The resul, IL
y that after playing about in the streets until
, they arc exhausted they either sleep I,
their sweat soaked garments or else, diyes,-
ing themselves OF all they have. they sleep
: In the garb that nature first provided
Small wonder. then that those who suffer
thus grow wan and irri,ated as day after
day the heat progresses Where HUSBAND
and wife work these do there are no er-
ira pennies for fares 10 Coney or other III
tie pleasure trips around the city. The old.
est children must stay at home and play the
parts OF little fathers and mothers while
the older people exc out an existence for all,
and the sole cooling pleasures Of the young
or ones come from an occasional dip in the
sewer tainted waters around the whsrves
or In clandestine duck In park fountain,
most Of which were shut Off during the
recent hot wave because OF the shortage OF
water.
or those who are above the very poor
class many spend the nights on the beach
at Coney or else in riding about the city
on the front seat OF trolley car. where
sometimes an entire family is seen taking
the longest ride it can get for nickel and
returning home only after the last car has
made Its run. Some spend their evenings
and their small surplus cash at the public
baths. getting as much GOODNESS as they can
and staying In just az long as the law al
, lows Some OF the smaller ones spend their
pennies drinking the colored poisons sold a.
dirty street corner soda fountains or eating
ice cream cones which have escaped the eye
OF the pure food inspectors. while their eld-
ers. who lack the ambition TO get away from
their hot surroundings, rush the sordid
growler until their brains. half stupefed. al
low them 10 lose themselves in sweaty sleep.