Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-08
UNUSUAL WEATHER
PHASES OUTLINED.
Geographic Society Bulletin
Discusses Effects EntaiIed
on Economic Life.

What are the outstanding effects of
unusual weather?
Ask 10 persons that question. and
most of them will be found to enpha-
size personal discomfort and health eff
fects, says bulletin from the National
Geographic Society. But behind the
fact that a hot spell may cause mil
lions to swelter or that a local flood
may force hundreds of motorists to
make an annoying detour there are
many fundamental economic and So
ciaI effects that flow from unusual
weather, the bulletin points out.
Effect Of Ill Winds on Cotton.
"Droughts are probably the most OBJ
vious of the weather forces that af-
feet economic conditions" continues the
bulletin. "A sufficiently prolonged dry
spell in the United States, in Argen-
tina or in Canada or Australia during
the crucial season can not only start
the price of grain soaring locally, but
it can send world prices up Similarly,
generous showers that provide maxi
mum growing conditions in the cotton
fields of Texas, or dry, hot winds that
scar and stunt billions of plants in q
few days, depress or raise the cotton
quotations in Liverpool as quickly as
the weather news can be flashed there.
Extreme droughtS, too, can cause mil
lions of dollars loss in DESTROYED crops
and starved live stock.
"An unexpected freeze-up on the
Great Lakes two weeks ahead of time
may cause hundreds of thousands of
dollars of loss in trapped boats and I'M
moved cargoes. A single extraordinary
painful strain on the municipal treasury
and can reduce unemployment over
night.
City Budgets Altered by Weather.
"City budgets are continually feeling
the heavy hand of weather vagaries.
Windstorms which blow down shade
trees may cost municipality thou
sands of dollars for debris removal.
and clog sewer mains. Summer droughts
and hot periods increase tremendously
the use Of water, necessitating extra
pumping. Water shortages develop In
many cities so that rationing becomes
necessary, along with extra police ac-
tivity to enforce the restrictions. Some
American cities are fortunate enough
to have unlimited supplies of water
close at hand, and to be wholly indie
pendent of weather changes. Even
the worst of known droughts could not
reduce the supplies of st. Louis and
New Orleans, taken from the Mississippi
River, or those of Milwaukee, Cleve-
land, Buffalo and Chicago, taken from
the Great Lakes. The question of
limiting the amount of Lake Michigan
water taken by Chicago hinges not on
the city water supply but on water
taken from the lake by the Chicago
"cIties Wh.ch Which do not Rave a large
supply of water close at hand, but
which have made themselves independ-
ent of weather by artificially taking
veritable mountain ranges into their
water sheds, include New York City,
with its conduitS to the CatSkills: San
Francisco, with its supply from the
mountains above Yosemite Valley, and
Los Angeles, which has reached out $50
miles to bring its water across deserts
and mountains from the high Sierras.
Effect of Storms on Dividends.
Corporations. too, feel the economic
effects of abnormal weather. Railways
in certain regions must operate eXpen-
sive snow plows in Winter and must
bear the expense of replacing bridges
and tracks washed out by Spring floods.
Telegraph and telephone companies
may lose hundreds of miles of wire and
thousands Of dollars by a single ice
storm. Droughts steal away the poten-
tial power of hydroelectric plants and
entail the switching in of expensive
coal-burning generating stations. In the
Western and Southern oil fields abnor-
mally dry weather may cause stoppage
of drilling in scores Of wells or may
greatly increase the expense of continu-
ing operations. Timber corporations lose
heavily by the forest fires that sweep
huge areas during dry spells.
Abnormal weather conditions tempo
rarily change the habits of millions of
people. Extremely hot days and nights
reduce the patronage of ordinary in
door amusement places and crowd those
artiflcally cooled. Hundreds of thou
sands of people turn to outdoor pas
times that involve little activity, such
as miniature golf courses and night
base ball. Other hundreds of thousands
within reach of beaches and swimming
pools crowd to them. diverting large ex-
penditures from city theaters, restau-
rants, grocery and delicatessen stores to
lunch counters. amusement booths and
novelty stores of the resorts"