Did you know?
These are part of the broadly named “Dog Days” of summer.
I used the word “broadly,” because down through the years there has been no consensus about when the exact dates the “Dog Days” occur.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac defines the “Dog Days” as taking place the 40 days that begin on July 1, and end on Aug. 11.
The ancient Romans and Egyptians used different sets of dates.
The one thing I’ve learned is that the “dog days” usually indicate a period when it’s very hot and stagnant.
If you’ve been seeking the refuge of your air conditioner these past few weeks, you’d have to agree, these have, indeed, been hot and stagnant days.
I’ve decided to take a long look back at a number of first weeks in August over the years, to see how Fayette County’s citizens fared (especially without what would become the modern convenience, no, necessity of air conditioning) during their “dog days.”
In the Aug. 2, 1911, edition of the Connellsville Weekly Courier, there were no references about the weather. But I did find a front-page article about the plans for a brand new hospital in Brownsville.
With the growing number of “industrial establishments” and “railroads running through and near the old town,” a new hospital had become a necessity.
In August of 1913, the “hot” topic wasn’t about the weather, but the new female labor law that prohibited women from working more than 54 hours a week.
According to a front-page story in the Aug. 7 edition of the Connellsville Daily Courier, that law could make it difficult for a number of local businesses that relied on women to work 84-hour work weeks.
In the Aug. 2, 1917, edition of Connellsville’s Weekly Courier, there was an alarming front-page story about the “General Humidity” that could potentially take a devastating toll on the region’s coke industry workers.
“Drawing coke is a hot job even when the temperature is mild and cool,” the article said.
But there were estimates that temperatures near the coke ovens could rise upward to 100 degrees, with 90 percent humidity, with the possibility of “heavy casualties” and diminished production.
Here are some other headlines:
Aug. 2, 1921 – “Ford and Edison Pay Visit to Uniontown,” was the headline on the front page of the Uniontown Daily News Standard.
Thomas A. Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone were in Uniontown that day.
The three American icons made a brief stop on the corner of Fayette and Morgantown streets, before heading east to the Summit.
Ford and Edison had made a similar trip through Fayette County in August of 1918. On that visit, Ford had to make repairs on their car, while “hundreds of persons” looked on at a garage in Connellsville.
Aug. 5, 1922 – “Uniontown Hushed and Silent as Cortege Descends Mountain,” was the front-page story about the funeral procession of Uniontown’s U.S. Senator, William Evans Crow.
National, state and local dignitaries rode in the 300 automobile funeral party that started at Chalk Hill.
Crow’s body was buried in Oak Grove cemetery beside the grave of Uniontown’s only other U.S. Senator – Daniel Sturgeon.
Aug. 8th, 1923 – The Uniontown Morning 无毛视频 reported that an estimated crowd of 20,000 people turned out at the train station in Connellsville as they, “paid tribute of respect to the late (President) Warren G. Harding,” whose funeral train stopped in Fayette County for 20 minutes. While at the station, according to that article, Harding’s wife, Florence, noted that the Connellsville Military Band had been the first musical group to be part of the well-wishers to have greeted the train since it started its cross-country trek from San Francisco.
She requested that the band play the hymn “Nearer My God to Thee,” for which she showed her genuine appreciation.
I’d still not found many real signs of extremely hot weather from 1911 through 1924. Most of the front page weather reports during those “dog days” indicated “fair weather.”
During the first week of August in 1925, I did find that Uniontown’s annual bargain days were extended, not because of the heat, but because of the recent torrential downpours across Fayette County.
In the Aug. 1, 1930 edition of the Daily News Standard, it was reported that 16 Fayette County residents had died in July from heat related causes.
Beside that front page story, there was an ad that said, “Weather is hot. Ice Cream Demands Heavy Cream. Supply Below Normal. Hagan’s.”
Three days later, on Aug. 4, it was reported that the hottest day in the history of the weather bureau was recorded at Burgess Field in Uniontown. The thermometer read 101 degrees at 2 P.M.
Two days later, a tradition appears to have been started that continues to this day.
During previous year, in 1929, movie theatres were boasting about their latest development – movies with sound.
However, when the temperatures rose to new levels during the “dog days” of 1930, theatres had an even bigger selling point.
The Penn Theatre in downtown Uniontown told its Aug. 2听 1929 readers, “Let Arctic Breezes Fan You.”
Edward A. Owens can be reached by email at freedoms@bellatlantic.net,
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