Weather in Northern Kentucky - 1901

PIECES OF THE PAST.

By Jim Reis

Dry as

a bone

in 1901.

Heat, bad water

often proved fatal.

As dry as it has been this summer, be glad it's not 1901.

The summer stayed hot and dry. The earth was parched. Crops and livestock suffered. Heat-related deaths climbed. Drownings and near drownings were commonplace as people sought to cool off with a swim. And problems were compounded by breaks in waterlines.

A Kentucky Post account on May 28, 1901, said Covington had experienced eight waterline breaks that year and Newport had two major breaks. As a result the two cities were forced to share their water, which reduced pressure and kept firefighters on alert.

Newport reported its first heat-related on June 28. Witnesses reported seeing a strange man running down Saratoga Street toward Front Street in the middle of the afternoon. He seemed disoriented.

The man suddenly stopped running, tossed off his coat and collapsed on the ground. Police were summoned, but the man died before they could get him to a hospital.

The same day a Cummonsville, Ohio, man dropped dead of heat exhaustion at the Costigan Stables in Newport and Susan Baker died on her porch on Sixth Street in Newport. Doctors said Mrs. Baker's situation was complicated by her weight, which was estimated at 300 pounds.

By July 2, Covington had reported several heat-related deaths. Among them was Alex Stein, a worker at Stewart Iron Works, Michael DeLoughey of the Southern Railway, and George Ulrick

A Kentucky Post account on July 3, 1901, listed nine people treated for heat exhaustion the prior day in Covington and Newport. Several people simply collapsed while walking along a street. A few even passed out while riding in wagons and tumbled onto the street.

People weren't the only ones affected. A large horse on a delivery wagon of Keller and Waring of Newport dropped dead while standing at Fairfield and Ward avenues in Bellevue. Witnesses said the heat at the time was intense.

On July 4, The Kentucky Post reported that nationally 358 head-related deaths had occurred with an additional 465 people treated for heat exhaustion.

The drought and hot weather also led to another health problem in 1901 - garbage.

At the start of the summer, Newport was depositing its garbage in several dumps throughout the city. Residents near those spots, however, complained of the smell and rats, so city officials debated whether to build an incinerator to burn the trash. There was no consensus for an incinerator, so later that summer the city got permission to dump garbage into the Licking River about three miles south of Newport as an alternative way of deposing of trash.

Weather officials said that while thunderstorms were possible, the remainder of the summer was expected to remain hot and dry.

By early July, water supplies were becoming a major concern. That resulted in orders prohibiting the normal practice of spraying streets to keep down the dust and of using water to clean odors from stagnant sewers. Some residents complained of muddy water in city lines. Water department officials said the muddy water was due to low reservoirs and high demand. Usually the water would sit for a time and the solids would settle in the reservoir, but not in the hot, dry weather with such a high demand.

A Kentucky Post editorial on July 9, 1901, told Covington residents to stop complaining. Residents were told to be happy they had water, because many other people were rationing it. Newport officials, meanwhile, agreed to consider amending police department regulations that required officers to wear coats while on duty. It's not clear what the final outcome was.

Meanwhile, in the rural areas, there were accounts of wells drying up and crops withering on the vine in Boone County. A number of cases of typhoid fever were reported and there were accounts of large snakes being killed after entering populated areas. One such snake, killed along the Ohio River at Constance, was measured at 8 feet.

Clothing stores advertised sales on "hot weather clothing." The Mabley and Carew Co. was selling "bright, knobby" wool suits for $8.50, linen trousers for 75 cents to 98 cents, and summer vests for 95 cents to $1.98.

By late July, some areas of the state reported corn crops would only be half of normal.

In Covington the weather was so hot on July 23 that a judge postponed sentencing of a man, John Mattern of Latonia, who had been convicted of assault, until October because, in the judge's words, "It is too hot to send you to jail."

Heat-related deaths continued with 44-year-old George Morrow found dead in Sam Martin's stable on Greenup Street, between 13th and Pleasant streets in Covington, on July 23. Drownings or near drawings were being reported almost daily.

With no rain through most of July, Grant County farmers were worried about corn and tobacco crops. In Gallatin County, Judge John Lassing continued or dismissed most cases saying the courtroom was too hot and the pool of would-be jurors was needed more on the farm than in a courtroom.

A tall, raw-boned man with long yellow hair and beard showed up in Covington during the heat wave. He proclaimed himself to be Jesus Christ. He was later identified as 44-year-old William Niediesche, a native of Bavaria. Originally targeted for court on a lunacy charge, Kenton County Sheriff John Boske instead invited the man to have a beer and released him, declaring him harmless.

During the week ending July 24, temperatures climbed to 106 in Burlington, Limaburg, Hebron, and Petersburg. Walton reached 108. And Idlewild, a small community located at the intersection of what is now Kentucky 20 and Kentucky 338 in northwestern Boone County, registered 112.

Weather forecaster S. S. Bassler told a Kentucky Post reporter on July 26 that August would be much the same. He proved to be right.

Newport officials ordered police to clear "bums" from the city parks in early August so the "better class of citizens" have somewhere to go to get away from the heat. The city also was facing the expense of replacing a large number of trees in the park as an estimated 100 trees had died during the drought.

Newport's situation was made worse by a major waterline break at Sixth and York streets and later at 10th and Park streets in early August. Water was cut off for most of the city for several days.

George Obermeier, a 28-year-old C&O Railroad employee, died from heat exhaustion on August 6.

Stagnant water also took its toll. Sylva Windhorn, 25, died from drinking contaminated cistern water and two others in the household were made ill.

In Boone County, the jailer ordered the pubic cistern in Burlington pumped out and cleaned to prevent similar problems.

By late August, some rain was reported in Grant County and sections of Boone County, but most of the area remained dry.

Even as late as Thanksgiving the effects of the drought were being seen as many farm tables featured pork rather than turkey, due to reduced numbers of turkeys and the low pork feed stock-piles.

For the entire year of 1901 the official rain count in Northern Kentucky was 17.9 inches. By comparison, Northern Kentucky this year already has received more than 20 inches of rain.

The study of Northern Kentucky history is an avocation of staff writer Jim Reis, who covers suburban Kenton County for The Kentucky Post.