The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-08-08
HOTTEST new YORK
DAY, MERCURY 1O2


Continued from Ftrst Page.
for going to the extent OF calling Il rot
| ten. Which many did.
Piano factories in furthest Brooklyn
machine shops scattered all over tn,
metropolitan district and other indus
tries OF many kinds gave in to tho hea
during the afternoon and called quits
only one Industry went increasingly on
ward In all Its many and various loca
branches. the same being war. Their,
was no shutting down for a moment II
the shops and other buildings Of tn,
| navy yard at Brooklyn or aboard ship.
In the harbor SO long as their carEoe.
had to do with war winning. and amid
the furnace heat in some of the depart
ments OF the mighty gas mask factor,
4 that has sprung up in a day on tn,
island side OF the East River the chem
| lists and workers on the textiles ant
/ metals that go into the perfect gas masl
kept steadily on the Job of turning ou
their thousands a day.
Brief Lull in shipyards.
The terrific heat In shipyards. wher,
the blazing heat rays glanced back from
t'o bicat uldSstS VI StCe1 Win a per.
| sistency that made work next to impos
s!ble. caused some lul In this war indus.
| try, but only during the hottest part Of
the afternoon. And II was said b,
sh'pbuilding men that the night shift.
would take up the slack where slack
had occurred during the day.
At the Todd sh,pyard at Erie Basin
500 workers received permission TO dror
their tools for n while in the afternoon
but by midnight the work at the yard
was normal. A manager at the Stand.
ard Sh,pbuilding Companys big yard al
Shooters Island told the men at the noon
| hour-when. owing to the piles Of steel
the temperature was higher than the
! weather bureaus highest-that those
who wished might lay of for the after
| noon. whereupon 1000 took advantage
Of the offer.
The biggest wallop at shipbuilding &C.
Cured at the vast Hog Island shipyard
in Philadelphia. where at p. NJ. the
plant temporarily wns closed. thus al
lowing $4,000 men a chance to cool of
a bit. Here again II was said that the
delay in construction had been trivial.
owing to the renewed efforts OF the night
shifts The night crews were working
full blast everywhere.
Nowhere in the navy yard. in the gas
mask plants or other mighty war work
ing centres of the metropolitan district
was a serious protest made by the work.
ers. so far as could be learned last night.
Doubtless they had a better realization
of the fact. so often forgotten by self
ish home folk in days like these, that
ut might be worse" Things such as a
heavy rifle. liquid flame. waves of gas.
the weight of gas mask and its KNAPP
sack, and the other doodads which the
stay at homes didn't have to mingle
with and carry yesterday would have
brought the kickers to the cracking
point of hysteria.
Great Day at Fire Houses.
blissfully satisfied inmates of Manhat-
tan and envifons were the small boys
living In the neighborhood OF the fire
houses. As early as Tuesday evening
the firemen had begun to diffuse much
Joy by turning on the fire plugs full flow
In the congested neighborhood. until the
tops of the curbs were awash. And
then. unsanitary or not. the boys got out
their bathing suits and Topped in the
gutter rivers and rolled in the cooling
floods. Many boy on the East Side
slid into the streams rugged out in what
ever street clothing still adorned him.
he TlTeU1eT went IL one Det-
ter. They fastened short lengths. of hose
to the fire plugs and sprayed powerful
streams of water straight into the
heavens In front OF fire houses In Man
haitian. Brooklyn and The Bronx. espe-
clally in Brooklyn. Down from on high
Topped the glorious shower bath and it's
safe to say that comparatively few OF
the big drops reached the asphalt again
without first wetting down an ecstatic-
ally shrieking youngster.
Records received at the Society for
the Prevention OF Cruelty to Animals
headquarters in Madison avenue startled
one into believing that the prehistoric
animal known as the horse had not
been entirely exterminated by the gas
buggies. Heat and inhumanity. plus ig-
norance. caused many a horse to stop
sweating suddenly, or begin to breathe
with short gasps while standing with
legs braced sideways and ears droopng
all preliminary signs. as the S. 2. c. A.
experts pointed out. OF the sunstroke
and crash to the asphalt that brought
so many OF the equine sufferers low dur
ing the afternoon heat.
There was little Joy even among the
ice cream soda dispensers, serving lines
of sweating folk who crowded the foun-
tain counters four and five deep. Even
e.
showmen and concessionaires lost some
of the pleasures which should have at
tended a volume of business that might
be calculated to dispel the last OF the
gloom which settled around Coney dur
ing the recent ligbtless nights. But even
with these 1t was too hot to be merry.
Next to the small boys under the fire
hose streams, the only signs OF Joy to
be seen were on the faces of the fans
who go in for world records in anything
the same lads who showed traces of
disappointment on mornings during the
cold spell of last winter when they
awoke to find the mercury not quite 30
far below zero as 1t had been the morn
ing before.
Only one other happy idea came out
Of the heat. In the Municipal Building
a city official brought pthe thought.
quite unoficially, that IL 1t only con-
tinued hard enough, a large and totally
unnecessary crowd OF enemy aliens
would go in for the popular Teutonic in
door sport OF suicide by gas
TITS pretty difficult, you know" said
the official pleasantly. TO get Prus-
sian to go through the thirty-one days OF
a hot August without taking at least
one crack at himself Let the mercury
climb, men! I'm for It,"
Statistical Pests GIeefuI.
The worlds record fan could point with
pride to the fact that the high mercury
mark during the frightful heat of a year
ago was four degrees below yesterdays
gosh awfullest August I. 1917, the
Nh ruom Ater went IN IN Q9 which the