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Show mPttti As a protest on behalf of "Young jjl America" against the wave of "safety B$jf and. sanity" making for greater physi- III cal comfort, which characterized the fr celebration of the national birthday, I tne elements held the greater portion j of the country in the most acute heat wave of the year today. 1 1 Of the 8-1 observation stations of 1 f the weather bureau in this country, 22 j recorded official maximum tempera-'i tempera-'i tures of 100 degrees or more, while a l considerable majority showed more than 90 degrees. f The greater heat area was in the I middle and central wostern states, although al-though New England and the northern lake states were not far behind. The south, however, was relatively cool, and, except that most of the territory I along the borders of the northern sj eastern end of the Great Lakes, were cool, It would almost seem as If the M points of the compass had reversed e I the most of the day. ii i Pacific Coast Escapes It. The Pacific coast was also a nota- I ble exception, that part of the coun- try enjoying pleasant weather. 3 The greatest heat recorded was 104 ,. degrees in the weather observatories g which in numerous instances meant IK a temperature of almost 110 degrees U at the street level. Eight cities Al-& Al-& bnny, Boston, Charles City, Des ?? Moines, Kansas City, Omaha, Sioux jiff City and Indianapolis reached this . maximum of 104 degrees. ( Fourth of July heat records were i broken in several cities, including ' Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Cln-u, Cln-u, cinnati and others. t Fatalities were numerous, especial ly in the large cities, and the gaiety of the nation's birthday was decidedly sobered by the rigors of the atmosphere. atmos-phere. I Crops Are Badly Damaged. In the great farming sections of the west, crops suffered damage. Hay crops likewise are almost a total loss. IB while the fruit crop will not average f more than half its average yield. I I Hundreds of deaths are reported from the cities, and the number of K heat prostrations will run well into the thousands. The summer resorts I in the neighborhood of these cities I profited largely from the weather, hundreds of thousands being Induced to leave the sweltering towns by the I combination of a holiday and the i weather conditions. No Immediate relief appears In sight, although in some sections there probably will be slight alleviation from existing conditions. Hottest Day In History. CHICAGO, July 4. This was the hottest day with two exceptions In the history of the local weather bureau, bu-reau, the thermometer at 5 p. m. indicating indi-cating 101.5 degrees. At 7 a. m the mercury stood at S5 3 degrees, but rose steadily until 5 ! o'clock, when the season's record was B passed The government register on -Sj- 'r the street level at the same time was !Jt 104 degrees. Hn , Railroads leading to summer resorts iTerJj "-1 ran special trains, which were crowd-otjji crowd-otjji ed, and the lake boats were jammed to gag the legal limit. The parks were full t5g and thousands fled to the waters of Bfl - the lake. HH As has been the custom, dwellers in 'fiwffi the tenement districts slept on roofs, tT9 sidewalks and alleyways. Every street jwjj3 stairway was occupied with the adults jr53 stripped to the limit of seemllness, f and all but naked babies wailing or' i silent from illness. Twenty-Six Deaths In New York. NEW YORK, July 4, The cumulative cumu-lative effect of the threo hottest days of weather this city has experienced in years manifested Itself today in a list of twenty-six deaths attributod to heat. Prostrations were counted by the score and fourteen drownings were reported. While not going to the extremes' of yesterday the official mercury touched 93. A thunder storm hovered near in the afternoon and evening, but with 7U per cent of humidity tonight people suffered even more than during recent nights when the mercury held higher. City parks and house roofs were again popular sleeping places. Nine Deaths In Philadelphia. PHILADELPHIA, July 4. Nine ad-ditional ad-ditional deaths from the heat were reported today, making a total of 24 within the last two days. The maximum maxi-mum temperature here was 96 degrees. de-grees. A high percentage of humidity prevailed. Three Victims In Boston. BOSTON, July 4. Heat records in New England were broken today, when the maximum offcial reading was -103 1-2 here. Even higher temperatures tem-peratures were reported from other points. Springfield's highest was 104: in Portland, Me., the mercury reached 103. The offcials' report of three deaths and 23 prostrations In Boston but partly part-ly indicate the result of the sun's work here. At the Roxbury anniversary anniver-sary parade, held In the forenoon, scores of military and civilian par-raders par-raders were overcome. Three deaths from heat in Lowell, ."u hi. jjiiniciite cinu one iu oucu, Maine, were reported tonight. Six Drowned While Bathing. BOSTON, July 4. The waters of New England claimed six victims today. to-day. Five were enjoying a cooling ibath, while the sixth fell from a boat. Two fatalities due to the use of fireworks fire-works were reported. 93 at 6 p. m. In Cleveland. CLEVELAND, O., July 4. The official offi-cial temperature of 92 was reached at G p. m. At the same time the street thermometer registered 93 degrees. Peoria, 111., July 4. Two deaths and ten prostrations resulted today from the heat. The thermometer at the government station registered 100 degrees. de-grees. ST. LOUIS, July 4. All heat records rec-ords for a Fourth of July here and all July temperatures excepting those recorded in 1901 were shattered today when the mercury reached 101.7 de grees. Nine deaths from the heat, two in East St. Louis and the remainder remain-der In this city, occurred tonight The police have reports of 22 prostrations and some of these some will die. |