1915-04-25jj

“The summer drink season is here. Old Sol started it going with a vengeance yesterday by sending down a brand of heat that would do him great credit any time in July or August”

Hamilton Spectator.    April 26, 1915.

Quite abruptly, the usual April weather of spring showers mixed with sunny pleasant temperatures became in 1915 a hot, humid blast of midsummer heat.

There were some hints on Saturday April 24, 1915 that a change in the weather was coming. The afternoon felt a tad warm, even briefly hot, but it was the next day that the late April heat wave arrived:

“The mercury had been sleeping in the lower part of the tube since last autumn and Old Sol decided that it was time for it to waken.

“And awaken it did with a jump that would scare seven kinds of daylights out of a person with a weak heart. It kept on soaring and soaring until it reached 88 degrees, which is some temperature for April.”¹

¹ “Record Heat for April Weather : Temperature Soared Until It Reached 88 Degrees”

Hamilton Spectator.  April 26, 1915.

The reporter for the Hamilton Times joined a throng of Hamiltonians who did what many Hamiltonians usually do what it got hot in the city:

“Sunday was one big day on the Beach. There was a continuous line of autos from early morn till late at night. The Radial Railway gave a half-hour service to the canal, and the cars were crowded on every trip.

“Bathers were noticed in the bay on Sunday. It is rather early for this.”²

² “Early Bathing : Several People Were in the Bay on Sunday.”

Hamilton Times.    April 27, 1915.

The Times reporter did find one aspect of his trip to the Beach to be lacking:

“The only fault people had to find was the inability to get refreshments, none of the canal stores being open yet.

“ William Chance, proprietor of Carson Place, stated to the Times, that he would open about May 15^th. ‘There is no use of buying ice cream until you can depend on the weather,’ said Mr. Carson.”²

Those who remained in the city on that hot Sunday, April 25, 1915, did the other thing that many Hamiltonians did when the weather became too hot to remain indoors:

“Dundurn park was crowded all day long and all evening, and all the other parks that afforded shade were also taken advantage of.”¹

According to a prediction in the afternoon edition of Monday’s Spectator, the unusual April heat wave would linger for awhile :

“Today it is hitting the high spots again, and at noon, it was up to 84 degrees. And the worst is yet to come, for the weatherman’s bet for the next 24 hours is decidedly warm.”¹

 

^{Carson Place, Hamilton Beach}