Hot Time in the Old Town

Today's Wall Street Journal has a review of the new book Hot Time in the Old Town, which is a history of a 10 day heat wave that struck New York City in 1896:

Edward P. Kohn estimates that 1,300 people died in Manhattan and Brooklyn (the latter was technically not part of New York City at the time) as a result of high temperatures, high humidity and the unforgiving sun.

Summer's arrival in New York City in the late 19th century was no cause for celebration for laborers, children or the elderly. Mr. Kohn, an assistant professor of American history at Bilkent University in Turkey, provides a vibrant re-creation of life in the airless tenements of the Lower East Side and other crowded New York neighborhoods, where temperatures inside the sun-baked brick boxes could reach 120 degrees.

With the tenements also "crowded, noisy, and filled with the stench of garbage, cooking, and stopped up drains," Mr. Kohn writes, "most residents sought refuge on their fire escapes, front steps, or the roof." Down below, "during the heat wave, almost every street had a horse carcass rotting in the heat, and the city was unable to cart away the massive number of dead horses."

And remember, the horses which lived were busy spreading manure across the city. Thank goodness for cars, air conditioning and economic progress.