El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-02-12
WAR CLIMATE
NOT HOSTILE
Americans on the Front in
France Find Climate
Favorable.
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.

anu o. q CAAuldL5 - Icing encountered
BY the Americans that are going to
} France?
= This question has been asked Of the
: United Sattes weather bureau by a
number OF thoughtful persons, and it
is an important one. Climate is a
mighty factor in warfare. Man. like
all other animals. is adapted by his
! habits OF life, and by his physical
makeup-especially the color of his
skin, hair and eyes-to certain eli
matio zones. to certain amounts OF
} light, heat and humidity. Take him
to a zone radically different from the
one to which he is accustomed or by
nature adapted, and he viii sicSen,
sooner or later he will perish unless
removed, just as tropical animals
sicken and perish IN northern ZOOS,
l,perate zone die or degenerate when
taken to the tropics That is the
reason why American soldiers and
civilian officials are sent TO the
are British soldiers and OFFICE ais to
India and why many Of these develop
nervous troubles and other diseases
during their short stays The tropics
are suited only to men with dark
skins, and who arc accustomed to
considerable degrees OF heat This is
also the reason why Indian and other
tropical troops have failed to be OF
material use on the western front in
Europe. They are out OF their nat
ural zone.
Other Climates on Enemy's side.
It will be seen at once that in most
OF our recent warfare the climate has
| been on the side Of the enemy. In
the Philippines, in Cuba. in Puerto
1 Rico, forms OF disease and degener-
alton to which the natives were i'm
mune took heavy toll OF our troops.
This hostility of the tropical climate
has been an important factor in all
tropical conQuests by the white men
Of the temperate zone.
In France our troops will not en-
/ counter a hostile climate On the
other hand, many Of them viii be go
/ ing to a climate which Is more con-
| genial to them than the one in which
they were born. and II Is probable
that many viii benefit by the change,
so far as purely Genealogical in
] fluences are concerned. For they will
be going 10 a climate which resembles
more than any other the climate OF
/ our own North Pacific states such as
! Washington and Oregon. and which
is known to be one OF the healthiest
climates in the world for the blonde
! or Aryan man To Americans who
are OF south European or African
stock, the climate OF the battle line
! will be much less congeniaL
From Baltic Region.
Ethnologists are now pretty wen
agreed that the type Of man known
as the dolicho-cephalic blonde, 20
! which most Englishmen. Scandinay-
/ lane, Scotch, Irishs Germans, Swiss.
Dutch, natives OF northern France,
I and all Americans descended from
these and other blonde stocks be-
] long. originated in the Baltic regions.
In this Baltic region the blonde man
| spent the tens Of thousands OF years
| before he became civilized This
/ cool, cloudy Baltic region is there
fore his natural life zone. just as
much as the Arctic tundra is the life
zone Of the musk OK and he Will fail
to thrive In any other life zone. just
as the musk OK fails TO thrive when
/ brought south That explains why,
although white men have been rush
! ing south into the tropics for many
centuries, they have never been able
| to make a permanent habitat Of the
/ hot countries They have TO control
them by sending men TO them for a.
I Few years. the dark races still remain
the only permanent inhabitants.
Our Climate Hostile.
/ It follows that nearly the whole OF
the American continent has a climate
I to some extent hostile to Americans.
1t has been suggested that this is the
| reason why the old dolicho-cephalic
| blondeAmerican stock is decreasing
! in this country and the brunette
European stocks increasing. Many
! Of this theory. But the important
fact for the present discussion is that
| a cool, cloudy climte is well adapted
TO the traditional American type, and
to such climate he is going in this
We have heard so much about
sunny France that many OF Us think
of il as a warm southern country.
As a matter Of fact, southern France
1 is as far north as Boston, and north
ern France is in the latitude Of south
ern Canada, as is all Of Belgium. But,
owing 10 the influence Of ocean cur
rents, northern France does not ex-
| perience the extremes OF heat and
cold that visit most OF the northern
United States. That great ocean cur
rent known as the Atlantic Drift
brings the warmed waters Of the Gulf
Of Mexico to the western coast of
Europe. The sea both gives off and
absorhs heat more slowly than the
land. As a result Of this. the effect
Of the Atlantic drift IS to temper both
the. winters and the summers Thus
Dunkirk, On the coast Of France has
almost exactly the same climate as
Seattle, Wash, on our own Pacific
coast, where the climate IS also regu-
lated by ocean currents But IN
France the influence OF these ocean
currents is not interrupted by great
mountain masses to the same extent
as in America, with the result that
an eQuabie climate is found much far
| Their inland in France. Thus, although
winter and summer are well marked
in the interior of France, the winters
are not so cold nor the summers so
hot as in most parts OF the northern
half Of the United States. In the in
terror OF northern France, the average
temperature for January. the coolest
month, is few degrees above freez-
ing. which Is about the same as the
average for southern Missouri and
central Virginia But in these states
| there is much more variation; in
France the temperatures persist close
/ to the average.
Myth Of HSunny France"
The myth Of sunny France Is
completely exploded by a study OF
chronological data France is much
less sunny than America But this
Is not to be altogether regretted, for
science has searchingly questioned
the popular conception that much
sunshine is healthful. It is believed
that the excessive sunshine OF the
| tropics is one Of the most adverse
| influences Of that climate, and 1t has
benn proved that some Of tho light
rays-especially the actinic ray-are
positively destructive Of living tissue.
! Heat stroke and sunstrolSe are
ascribed to this fact. as is also the
peculiar effect Of the nerves OF the
dry. sunny table lands OF our south
west.
A comparison of data for Paris and
New York shows that in New York
the percentage Of cloudiness is less
IN avery month of the wear Duriur