Charlevoix county herald., 1911-10-07


mer which caused much suffer
ing and many deaths all over
the country has had many sim
liar and 1t would seem even
more disastrous predecessors, and in
delving into the records of the past
the somewhat surprising fact is dis
closed that the old world has suffered
much more than the new.
In the years 1904 the Rhine, Loire
and Seine rivers went dry. The heat
in several of the French provinces in
1705 was equal to that of a glass fur
mace. Meat could be prepared for the
table by merely exposing it to the
sun. No person dared to venture out
of his house between the hour of noon
and p. m.
In the year 171S many shops had to
close all over Europe. Not drop of
rain fell for four months. In 1873 the
thermometer rose to 11S degrees. In
1878 the heat in Bologna was so in
tense that scores of people were
stified.
In July, 1898, the heat again became
up and fruit dried on the trees. The
furniture and woodwork in dwelling
houses cracked and split and meat be-
came tainted in an hour. The French
revolution was then at the height OF
its bloody carnival, and many super
stitious persons thought that the wave
of heat following this mighty upheaval
was the curse of God.
In 1900 Spain was visited by a swell
tering temperature. Madrid and other
cities were deserted and the streets
became silent.
Another disastrous hot wave swept
over Europe in 1851. In the Champs
dc Mars, Paris, during a military re.
view, soldiers by the score fell VIC
tins to sunstroke, and at Aldershot.
England, men dropped dead while at
drill, compelling the officers to sus-
pend the exercises.
In This Country.
The summer of 1853 was exception
ally hot in many parts of this country
and in New York the thermometer
ranged for seven days from 95 to 9S
degrees. In one week 214 persons
died OF sunstroke in the metropolis.
The year 1854 was hot and dry and
the heat seemed to concentrate in the
southwest. In Missouri from June II
to the following year not a drop of
rain fell. In 1872 New York expert
enced a torrid visitation of fearful
Intensity. On July 4, 1876 cases of
sunstroke occurred and of these ~
proved fatal. The principal thorough
fares were like fields OF battle. Men
fell by the score and ambulances were
In constant reQuisition. Dumb beasts
lay down by the wayside and painted
their lives away. Sleep for two or
three of the hottest nights was we'll
nigh impossible. and in the tenement
districts women and children were
found dead on the roofs, to which they
had clambered in the hope Of getting
breath of cool air. The scenes in
the morgue were appalling. Dozens of
bodies were on the stone slabs, under
the splashing water, awaiting the rec
ognition Of friends or relatives.
The next serious visitation took
place In 1877. and about July began
to make its power felt throughout the
middle and southern states, as we'll as
New York. In Washington the heat
was particularly oppressive. The car
rails became so expanded by the ac-
ton Of the sun as to rise up In curved
lines, drawing the bolts. In one in
stance the rails burst away from the
bolts and left the track entirely. The
thermometer marked 104 degrees.
The summer of 1879 will long be re-
membered for its torrid atmosphere.
The situation will be better under
stood from the following record: Nor
witch, Conn, June 2. 100 degrees; New
York. June 2S, SO degrees; Charleston,