The mirror., 1920-08-05
AUGUST


City was August 7, 1919 when the ther-
mometer registered 1O2 in the shade. This
was two degrees higher than the previous
high mark, which was made on Septem-
Der 7, 1881. There were seventy-six sun
strokes, causing number of deaths The
city parks were thrown open all night,
and hundreds of thousands, especially
from the poor tenement districts tried to
get some sleep, and all those who could
went down to some of the beaches to get
some of the ocean breeze to keep them
alive. Within years time New York
has experienced the smashing of the record
for cold December 80, with the mercury
at 13 degrees below zero, seven degrees
colder than ever known before) and now
the record for heat at 1O2. The heat wave
was general.
August /, beginning of World War
and peace is not yet.
August 8, four hundred and twenty
eight years ago, that Christopher Colum-
bus, by birth an Italian, neglected and
scorned as half-insane fanatic, set sail
from Palos with the Nina, the Pinta and
the Santa Maria, three little sailing YES
sells for what was and is, perhaps, the
bravest exploit ever undertaken. AT that
time, you must remember, the Atlantic
ocean was called the "sea of darkness"
and to sail, not along the sheltering coast
of his continent, but straight out, who
knew-perhaps to the very edge of the
world-was considered indeed a hazardous
undertaking.
His boats were small, the largest hav-
ing a deck length of but 1853 feet, and his
crew, who lacked their chiefs courage
and confidence, feared the monsters which
they believed were hidden in the sea, and
despaired of ever finding the fair land
Columbus sought.
1t is said that their fear and despair
grew to mutiny, and only the firm deter
mination of their leader kept them from
turning back.
Finally, after eight weeks or nine weary
weeks of watching signs of land began to
appear--broken branches and birds. A,
few hours later they landed on an island
which Columbus called San Salvador, and
which is now supposed to be Watling's
Island, one of the Bahamas.
Upon his return to Spain Columbus was
greeted as king. He made three voy-
ages at later times and reached the main
land of America on the third voyage, al
though he was probably preceded in his
discovery by the Cabots, and possibly by
Vespucci. Like many another who has
rendered service to the world, he died in
poverty and want.
FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS
Francis Scott Key, the author of our ma
tional anthem, was born in Frederick
county, Maryland, August 9, 1880. He
was graduate of St. Johns college, at
Annapolis, and practiced law at Frederick,
Maryland, removing later to Washington,
where he became district attorney in the
District of Columbia. "The Star-Span-
gled Banner" was written in 1914, when,
during the attack of the British on Balti-
more, Key went on an errand under flag
of truce, to the British fleet, but was de-
tanned while the bombardment of Fort
McHenry, the defense of Baltimore, was
taking place. He watched the fight dur
ing the night, and in the morning. upon
seeing the Stars and Stripes still waving,
composed the famous song. Over his grave,
at Frederick, Maryland, the American
flag floats every day of the year.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, the great
American author and poet, was born
August 90, 1909, in Cambridge, Mass, as
he himself has said, in the shadow of