AMERICAN HEAT AND MORTALITY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 19, Issue 1457, 17 October 1872, Page 2

AMERICAN HEAT AND MORTALITY.

(From the American correspondent of the London..Times.) Philadelphia, July 5. The people of the regions between the Alleghanies and the Atlantic coast of* the United States are accustomed tovery hot weather in summer, but it ia, doubtful if any portion of the temperate zone was ever subject to a period of such torrid weather as that prevalent, here during the week ju*t closing This.-' region embraces the most populous, section of the country, containing New York, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Washington, Baltimore, and other large cities. Extensive parts of these cities, 9re crowded to repletion with, the ill-, ventilated, stifling homes of the poor. At the best of times the mortality is„ heavy, but during the week, through which it has passed it has been enormous. June was a hot month, the. average temperature being considerably higher than dining any June since 1790. The last three days of June an 4 the first four of July were the hot period, which will long be remembered;. by our people. At New York the temperature iifc. the middle of the day was somewhat higher than in this city, the mercurystanding at or above 100 on, the 2nd,. 3rd, and 4th of July, the highest being 102 on the 2nd. Brooklyn shows somewhat similar reports with New York*, and Baltimore and Washington with. Philadelphia, Boston had a shorter fiery period, an easterly gale partly relieving her, but all the. rest of thesection sweltered under the intenseheat far the entire week ending last, night, without rain, or cloud, or relief of any kind, until a tierce tornado swept over the- country last evening and brought the glad change, which in Philadelphia temporarily reduced the temperature to 7,5 degrees at & p.im, the time when the storm was at its. height, To-day al: hough the mercury has been up to 90, we actually feel? comfortable, so marked.is. the comparison, with the preceding days.

The terrible results which have followed this torrid weather are shown iu ; the great mortality. Every disea.se peculiar to summer has multiplied its, ravages, particularly sunstroke, and infantine cholera. Iu New York therehave been, nearly 1,000. cases of sunstroke reported, of which, up to eight o'clock th.is morning, about 230 resulted in death. In every 01 her part of the section afljcted sun troke has also madefearful ravages, and iu all tho cities, the hospitals are filled with, these patients. Among (he little children, and infants the mortality from cholera, and kindred diseases has been, enormous. In all directions one sees thedoors hung with crape—our emblem of morning when the corpse is wirhin the house. Dysentery, diarrhoea, and all. the other diseases of summer have also, swollen the mortality list. Our experiencc ha", indeed, been a sad one.. The suffering of horses and other animals have alsa been intense, thehorses failing down, overcome with, heat, and dying in the streets by scores. The last day of the heated- term was. July 4, the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and a national; holiday, but the excessive heat almost entirely prevented outside of New York, the military parades "which arccustomary on that day. In New York, the troops made a parade but they paid, dearly for their patriotism. Scarcely one half the number that started ie--turned to the armories with their commands, being overcome with the heat* and compelled to lea\e the ranks during the march, and among tliera. were six teen victims of sunstroke. The storm; which came to relieve us in the evening of the 4th of July was one of extraordinary severity, spreading over a wide? extent of country. .So long without rain—the atmosphere surcharged with electricity—the thunder and lightning were terrific, the rain poured clown in torrents, and the wind blew a hurricane,. Numerous deaths by lightning are reported, and great damage was dop&

Trlteretfer the storm reached,, but the public regard it as only a small price to pay for the relief afforded It is to be hoped we may never have to pass through »o toying a period again. In writing of the hurricaue of yesterday I must say a word of commendation for Mr Dan Godfrey, the bandmaster of your band at the Grenadier Guards, which has been attending the Boston Jubilee. During the concert there yesterday the hurricane broke in to silence the music. The doors of the Coliseum had been open for ventilation when the tornado came along, whistling clouds of dust into the building, and so suddenly did it come that no time was given to shut them. The building was enveloped in darkness, the audience were greatly frightened, and then some foolish person shouted "Fire!" At once there was a panic, and people rushed for the doors, many being trampled upon. In a moment there might might htive been a sad loss of life had not Mi Godfrey, with admirable presence of mind, ordered his band to play. They struck up the inspiring strains of the "Star Spangled Banner," which always deeply inipt esses an American crowd. The effect was electric ; their minds taken away from the subject which frightened them, the people at once saw that the panic was causeless, and they soon became composed. Although it was some time before the agitation of the audience entirely lulled, and the storm raged furiously without, nothing afterwards occuired to mar the concert.