Evening star., 1941-05-29
Boy, II, Drowned, ,
SaiIboat Capsizes
In Sudden Storm
Little Ruin FoIIs
As Mercury Drops
n Degrees to IA
BULLETIN,

A colored boy, about II, was
drowned in the Potomac River
at Thirtieth and K streets and
Sailboat capsized off HainS
Point, when a sudden storm
hit the city late this after
noon, sending the temperature
down 81 degrees to IA. There
was little rainfall. The drown
ing victim was believed to be
Calvin Peters, 210 block of
Newport place NV. The boy
fell off a sand barge. The
wind reached a velocity of SO
miles an hour.
A sudden drop in temperature was
welcomed in Washington shortly
after a pm. today as a cold from" :"
moved in from the northwest. The
Weather Bureau forecast was cloudy
and cooler" tonight and tomorrow.
The thermometer had scared to
"a at about o'clock and then cool
winds sent the mercury tumbling 10
degrees in about Is minutes.
Only light showers-if any-the
Weather Bureau said, are expected
to accompany the cold front" but
tonight it may be as cool as so de-
grees.
Two Overcome by Heat.
Prior to the sudden break in the
heat, two victims of heat prostra-
ton were treated at local hospitals
Overcome while working on ali
engineering project at Bethesda
Md, Lawrence Morland. "a, of Pts
Getaway. Md, was admitted to Prov
idence Hospital
Mrs. Mary Blanchard, %, colored,
SIG New Jersey avenue NV, was
brought to Casualty Hospital after
collapsing at the market at Fifth
and K streets NV.
Drought Sets Record.
The rain deficiency for the first
five months of the year was inches
the worst shortage for this period
in Weather Bureau records, which
have been computed back as far as
1910. Even in 1880, when the country
went through its worst drought in
recent times, there had been more
rain in the first five months than
there has been this year.
The mercury had reached 80 de-
grees at noon today, just slightly
lower than at the same time yes
terday. The temperatures yesterday
were 16 degrees above normal for
the day.
Washingtonians we're prepared to
desert the thoroughly baked city by
the thousands late today to seek re-
lief at nearby beaches over the holi-
day. They were fleeing a hot spell
which has seen the mercury rise to
a May record of 81 degrees.
81 Yesterday Is Record.
The high of 81 was reached twice
yesterday during the afternoon.
The previous record for May was
96.8, established in 1925, and the old
record high for May % was SO, set in
1916.
The drought which accompanied
the heat wave was causing fear that
the East would suffer the most Sc
we're crop failure in 10 years. A
committee of farmers representing
patron-members of the Southern
States Cooperative called on Sec
retary of Agriculture Wickard to
give "all possible Federal aid" to
farmers.
The request was made by an
emergency committee, headed by p.
c. Turner, president of the Mary
land Farm Bureau Federation. The
group recommended that special
seeds be made available to farmers
in the affected areas, that special
grants of aid be made, that freight
schedules be adjusted and other
emergency steps be taken.
There has been little rain this
spring, and the fields in nearby
Maryland and Virginia are baked.
Much of the hay and produce crops
have been destroyed.
The heat was blamed for one
death and number of prostra-
tions here yesterday. Last night
hundreds of persons sought relief
by sleeping in the parks. Park po-
lice estimated that between 500 and
600 persons spent the night on the
grass in Potomac Park.