580

HARPER'S WEEKLY.

[JULY 27, 1872.]

THE HEATED TERM.

THE heated term which ended on the 6th inst. was not only the most protracted, but also the most severe, ever experienced in this section of the country. At no time did the thermometer run much below ninety degrees in the shade, and in the hotter portions of the day a hundred degrees was the mark in the least exposed places. Every body who could afford it fled from the large cities, and sought relief among the mountains or by the sea-shore. But the masses were compelled to remain at home and endure the terrible affliction. Of course the death-roll showed a large increase over former weeks, and was much larger than that of any corresponding week for many years. In this city alone nearly 1600 deaths occurred during seven days, of which number 983, or about 63 per cent., were of children under five years of age. The little ones were chiefly the children of the poor, who were crowded into the smallest rooms of our filthy tenement-houses, where a breath of pure air is never drawn by the miserable occupants. No wonder they died: the only thing to be wondered at is that they lived so long. But the mortality was not confined to the children. Strong men dropped in the streets while going about their work, and many a poor fellow who had never known what a day of sickness was succumbed to the burning rays of the sun, and was carried home dead.

At such a time of peril it was
fortunate indeed that hospitals
were provided for the reception
of the stricken ones. The am-
bulances were kept busy all the
day long running hither and
thither to bear the sufferers to
a place of relief. Among the
most useful of these establish-
ments is the Centre Street Hos-
pital, near Chambers Street. It
is very convenient for the use
of down-town patients, who, if
they were compelled to wait for
treatment until they could reach

Bellevue, would surely die on
the way. Our artist on this
page gives a sketch of one of
the wards of the hospital re-
ferred to, showing the prelim-
inary treatment of sun-stroke
cases. Bags of ice are placed on
the heads and under the arms
of the victims, after which the
entire bodies are rubbed down
with broken ice. When this
has been done the patients are
removed to another ward, where
they are subjected to further
treatment. During the hot
spell House-Surgeon VANDE-
WATER and Warden BROWS,
with their assistants, were kept
very busy, as many as twenty-
two cases demanding their at-
tention in a single day. To the
credit of the doctors it should
be said that eight out of every
twelve cases were saved.

There is one feature of the
sun-stroke that deserves to be
kept well in mind—viz., that
many of the cases are of men
and women addicted to the ex-
cessive use of alcoholic liquors,
and that the recovery of such
is almost hopeless. To keep
persons out of the dram-shops,
particularly on very hot days,
is therefore a good work. But
how shall this be done? Men's
lips are parched with thirst—
their throats burned dry: they
must have drink. A humane
individual has undertaken the
practical solution of this ques-
tion by placing barrels of ice-
water in the streets of New York
and Brooklyn for the free use of
those who pass by. The upper
sketch on this page shows the
thirsty crowd refreshing itself
from one of the barrels on Print-
ing-house Square, opposite the
City Hall. Metal drinking-cups
are attached to the barrel, and
thousands daily avail themselves
of the grateful favor. Many of
these are mechanics and arti-
sans, or girls and boys employ-
ed in the factories, none of
whom could afford to pay for a
glass of soda-water or other
cooling drink. The work of
supplying cold water to the
masses, free of charge, is wor-
thy of imitation every where.

THE HEATED TERM—DISTRIBUTING ICE-WATER IN PRINTING-HOUSE SQUARE.—[DRAWN BY A. E. ABBEY.]