The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-07-18
NOTABLE PAPER on VIRGINIA
CLIMATES CONDITIONS BY NEW
FORT NEWS PHYSICIAN.
VIRGINIA CLIMATE SUPERIOR TO
MUCH ADVERTISED ARTICLE or
otTHERN CALIFORNIA, As
OFFICIAL FIGURES SHOW.

this section by paper read on Fri
day night before the Newport News
Chamber OF Commerce by Dr. George
j, Williams. leading physician OF
/ this city, on the Climatic Conditions
nf Newport News" Or. Williams
shows that Tidewster Virginia has
Virtually as much sunshine, with It's
germ killing power, as Los Angeles.
I CAL without the monotony OF the
; western city.
DIR. Williams Paper.
Or. Williams paper, as the facts
brought out apply to a large part
Of Virginia. Is OF general interest. 1t
/ is as follows
! Mr.. President and Gentlemen OF the
Chamber OF Commerce;
In accepting your invitation to
say something as 10 the advantages
of the climate of Newport News,
was not led by any feeling Of my
superior knowledge OF the climatic
conditions prevailing here, OF any
special knowledge OF climate as a
whole. ! have made no special study
Of either. Hence, am. not qualified
to give you an opinion that carries
with 1t any originality. or discuss
II from a scientific standpoint. but
have made some effort in the way Of
comparing this climate with that Of
other places in the United States. AS
a citizen who comes in contact with
considerable percentage OF the popu-
/ lstion of the city. and finding erron-
! eous impressions prevailing, both
/ here and elsewhere, in regard 10 1t, |
1 thought IL my duty TO respond TO the
7 honor YOU conferred, and endeaVor to
contribute something, though ! am
not sure IL will be entertaining to you.
! bat rs business man. accustomed to
+ dry facts and figures. l trust it Will
+ be partially satisfactory IL ] estah~
/ lish my points
In considering climate the most
! important elements to be reckoned
with are temperature. sunshine, hu-
nudity. rain fall. and the winds.
The first point | wish to make is
that Newport News has not a damp
climate in the common acceptation
OF that term. | think I have heard
more frequently than any other ex-
preston this remark: 1T is RICH,
| warm to-day. and one feels depressed
owing to the dampness OF the air. or
It IL happens to be cold. one feels
the cold so because OF the dampness.
Humidity is Low.
"As a matter of fact the mean rela-
!
low that even the very high tempera
lures Of the last few days have pro-
duced no very great physical dis
comfort. No heat prostrations have
occurred here, owing to the fact tina
: a marked humidity with the higf
temperature is necessary to product
| the condition. During the recent no
] weather prevailing generally over th'
| country the number of heat pros
trations has been great. / do no
know Of n single case having occurred
in Newport News. To establish this
l have communicated with practicail!
all of the physicians or TINS clty.
~ have selected a few cities 70
comparison as to the prevailing ell
matte conditions, not because of thei
favorable or unfavorab Bile comparison
but because they are representative
Of the general climatic conditions tina
are considered favorable.
Comparing the mean relative hu
Nudity as given by the monthlv Ueath
err review in tho vicinity OF Newpor
News with Ashevile. \. G.. WNthe
vile. Va. Los Angeles. Boston, Jack
snnville and New Orleans, We find tina
during the month Of July. 1907, III
mean relative humidity OF Ashevill
was SIS, Wythevil!e 81, Los Angelo
, IS. Boston 10. jacksonville 70, Ne1
! Orleans II and Newport News Il
In March, 1908, the mean relatis
humidity OF Boston was 20 Los An
gefes re-. Ashevi}le IL, Wgtheviila. 81
Jacksonville II. Newport News =! an
New Orleans SIS, while in Februar,
1908. Roston had so, Los Angelo
i72. Asheviile 81 Wytheville SO. Jack
sonviile 81, Newport News 20, an
New Orleans TO. BY the foregoin
Hf,u will readily see that tbs III, pres
sion that we have "a damp climate
a decided mistake.
, AS to the rainfall. ] will not con
sumo your valuable time III discIss.n
II, for the g~een fields of Virginia or
So well and favorably known the
Iany. statement, in regard. to- ratnfa
from me Is superfuous.
Ttdewatcr Land of Sunshine.
; ",rhe next and most important Gle
ment Of climate will consider 10 tn
: sunshine. Newport News has dis
tinct advantage In that the percen
tage OF sunshine Is unusually grea
You will note from the chart o
i, the monthly weather review that
ix only this particular section Of Wiz
gina that has almost as much sun
shine as Southern California and
where rtf~r>things are equal. this ele
ment Of climate. as before stated
Of the greatest advantage. Sunshin
|, has the most important influence O
the physiological activity of plan
and animal life. Lower forms o
organism are killed by It: hence tn
germ content Of these localities. wher
there IL great amount OF sunshine
Is much lower. To illustrate: TIL
direct rays of sunshine kill the usua
forms of disease producing germ
within the short space OF half a.
hour. Therefore. community witt
the percentage Of sunshine that New
port News has Is particularly free
or can be made practically absoiutel
free. OF bacterial disease by simpl
exposing substances containing bac
terra to the sunlight.
Mosquitoes breed only In shad
places. and those OF you who hav
been In different southern ioca1itie
have no doubt noted how few W
have here in comparison. This 1
due TO large extent to the geoEraph
zeal situation Of this city 1t havin
broad expanses of water on thre
sides, with land breezes only posi-
HE from tl,c north. while the pre-
yailing directions OF our winds ar
| from the south. and west across
| eight miles of pure water. But fey
mosquitoes are bred In Newport New
and Immediate vicinity. owing to tn
very efficient sanitation Of the cit.
with the proper individual co-opera
ton with the city health officer ther
would be none. and malaria, whicl
represents one Of The diseases ~ on
particularly healthy community
rhnpI1 ha cnfirety eliminated