Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-10-03
HEAT AND RAIN LACK
WORST IN FIFTY YEARS
Violent Upheayals, Which Have
Caused Disasters Occurred
Throughout the World.

The United Statts in the last year
has suffered an excess Of high tenn
perature and a deficiency Of moisture
unprecedented in the fifty years his
tory Of the Weather Bureau. ac-
cording 70 an announcement made
yesterday by the Associated Press
Since Jan. ! last the temperature OF
New York City. which is typical OF
the country, has shown an aggregate
excess Of warmth Of $50 degrees above
| normal. In the same time there has
been a shortage Of Ell inches IN rain
fall
The heat wave has been world
wide and Of unusual length and in
tensity. II has been accompanied.
and in part preceded, by remark
able series Of violent meteorological
and seismic disturbances, such as
earthquakes. tidal waves. typhoons.
lcioudbursts, waterspouts, hail storms,
foods and hurricanes, in widely
separated parts OF the earth as well
las by the presence Of sun spots in
unusual quantity and large size.
| What connection if any, these vio-
lent manifestations Of nature have
with the recent heat wave is not
known. But that certain great nat
urel upheavals have in the past had
an influence other than local on tenn
perature is undisputed. IN 1888 the
volcanic eruption OF Krakatoa in the
Malay Archipelago killed 10000 per-
sons. sent tidal wave as far as the
English Channel and discharged a
dust cloud Of volcanic ashes which
\ surrounded the world, obstructing
the SUMS rays and causing low tenn
peratures for days.
Whether the worldwide heat wave
: is due to some paroxysm of nature
such as volcanic action in some re.
mote region, seismic upheaval in ths
depths Of some sea, or sun spots, /.
problematical.
The persistent high temperatures
began in August, 1920, and for tn,
succeeding twelve months there wa
an average monthly excess above nor
NAL OF 3.4 degrees. Last March, al
unusually warm spring month, hal
an excess average Of 1913 degrees
The average for the month was as.
degrees, the highest ever recorded Il
> this country
Last April attained an average TEN
perature of 55 degrees, the warmes
!. for the month in half a century. Ma
and June were not unusual, but Jul
broke the heat records for eleve
= years.
: A list Of recent disasters and violen
: natural phenomena includes:
Drought-ruined crops in Manchuris
g Russia and elsewhere.
4 Violent hailstorm and waterspout a
e Baez. Cuba.
h Volcanoes Villarica, Llama an
Ianin spout flames 1000 feet abov
l. their craters.
a Rhine and Moselle Rivers in highes
l. flood of a century.
Cloudburst and hailstorms damag
Rome.
Mt. vesuvius shows renewed ac
tivity.
Cyclones in Hayti.
Renewed volcanic activity OF XII
auea in Hawaii, of Popocatepetel j
n Mexico, Masaya in Nicaragua an
Y Izalco, Salvador.
ID Earthquake in Vera Cruz.
Floods in Pueblo and San Antoni
Waterspout at Tangier, Morocco.
4 Continuation of the heat wave ma
bring a winter as mild as the last. Q
the other hand the law of average
which maintains a fairly consistel
average temperature over long perioS
of time, presages the coming soon'
Of or later of an excess OF low temper.
e. lures. The turn may come this winte