The new air world

by Willis L. Moore

In winter Bermuda, Florida, Porto Rico, Cuba, the southern part of the Gulf States, much of Southern California, and Hawaii have balmy climates that permit of outdoor life without temperatures too high to be comfortable. Hawaii and Bermuda have mild climates not only during winter but throughout the entire year. The Riviera on the Gulf of Genoa and the beautiful Lake region of Italy enjoy the balmy air of the Mediterranean and are protected from the cold winter winds by the Alps.

From October to May that portion of the Rocky Mountain plateau that includes Arizona, New Mexico, and the northern interior of Old Mexico has one of the finest climates in the world for those afflicted with pulmonary diseases, as the sunshine is abundant and the day and night temperatures such as to permit an almost continuous out-of-doors existence. But the heat and the extreme dryness of the air in June, July, August, and the first half of September is irritating to the nerves and debilitating in general. Fortunately, when the conditions are not favorable in the extreme southwest part of the country, they are at their best in the mountains of the Middle Atlantic States and New England, which offer to the pleasure or the health seeker a cool, pure air unsurpassed by any other region of the earth.

For an all-the-year climate for the health seeker, it only can be said that the ideal conditions do not continue at any place throughout the entire year. Possibly it is well that it is so, as a change may be beneficial for no reason except that it is a change. There is one great caution ever to be borne in mind, and that is that the health seeker must not continue or repeat the same unhygienic life in his new climate that brought on the disease in the old.

Climate of Cuba. The climate of one tropical country may differ materially from that of another in the same latitude as a result of difference in altitude, proximity to large bodies of water, and position with respect to the prevailing winds. Cuba being in the region of the northeast trade winds, more rain falls on the north side of its mountains than on the south side. The temperature of the southeast coast is higher than it is on the northern and western coasts, and the range of temperature everywhere between night and day is small, rarely ten degrees and usually much less. It therefore has a warm, humid, and monotonous climate, except in the high levels of its mountains. The winter tourist will find the conditions of the greater part of the island somewhat similar to those in the region of Miami, Florida, but warmer. Havana is not so hot as Santiago. The highest temperature ever recorded at Havana is 101° and the lowest 50°. A fairly pleasant temperature always can be found within a short ride to the mountains. As in most tropical countries, Cuba has a dry and a wet season. The rainy season is May to October. In the early part of September, 1900, over thirty-six inches of rain fell within thirty-six hours at Santiago. As a rule the precipitation is in the shape of heavy showers, the clouds clearing as soon as the rain ceases; the showers usually occur in the afternoon. Cuba, in common with all the islands of the West Indies, occasionally is visited by destructive hurricanes; these storms mainly are confined to the period August to October. Frequent terrific thunderstorms occur in summer.

Climate of Porto Rico. Its mountainous character gives it a marked diversity of climate, torrential rains falling on the windward side of its mountains, while the leeward sides are comparatively dry. The highest temperature in San Juan since 1876 is 101° and the lowest 57°. In this city a cool breeze, known as the “briza”, adds to the comfort of the late afternoon and evening. The wet season begins a month earlier than in Cuba and lasts a month longer. San Juan is probably the most healthful city in the West Indies, but those reared in northern climates invariably suffer from its enervating influence after several years of continuous residence. Water is abundant, there being some seventy rivers and over a thousand small streams. The mountains are clothed in vegetation to their tops, and frost of a killing nature is practically unknown in the island.

Climate of the Hawaiian Islands. Much has been written about the charm of the Hawaiian Islands, their mountains, volcanoes, tropical verdure, and delightful climate. It is indeed a garden spot, and its soil and climate make it so. Nowhere in the islands does the temperature reach 90° at any time of the year, while at Honolulu, the largest city and the capital, a temperature lower than 60° is rarely experienced. Of course, as one ascends the high mountains for which the group is noted, much lower temperatures are encountered, while snow is not infrequent near the tops. July and August are the warmest months and January the coldest. The climate is soothing and dreamy and doubtless would prolong the life of many who are aged and slowly passing to their end, and that of others of low vitality but no organic disease. Most of the rain falls November to May, but some falls in every month of the year. At Honolulu the amount is about that which falls in Wisconsin, but at a station in the Kohala Mountains one hundred and fifty-four inches have been measured as the rainfall for seven months, and forty-two inches for one month, the latter being a larger amount than the annual rainfall for the State of Iowa.

Climate of the Philippines. The highest temperature so far recorded at Manila is 100° and the lowest 60°. It is therefore warmer than either Havana or Porto Rico. The hottest months are April, May, and June, but the cool months are but a trifle cooler than the warm months, the annual range of temperature being but three degrees. The humidity is high at all seasons, and therefore the heat is oppressive and debilitating. The greater part of the rainfall of Manila is from June to October. Some relief may be gained from the low-level heat by retreat to the mountains of some of the islands. It will require several generations before the white man can become acclimated to this region. The islands lie between latitude 6° and 18° North. White children born of American parents and raised there never will have the energy or ambition of their progenitors. If it were not for the invigorating air of the mountain resort at Baquio, many American officials could not continue a residence in the Philippines.

Climate of Bermuda in Comparison with the Popular Winter Resorts of Florida and California. It is a mistake to represent the climate of Bermuda as one of balmy sunshine during winter months. It has some glorious days, but a large proportion are cloudy, rainy, cool, and windy, and too cold for comfortable or healthful bathing from the middle of December to the first of May. And yet, its climate is healthful as a whole for nine months of the year and more stimulating than is that of Florida in winter. If one wishes sunshine and sea bathing in midwinter, it is better to go to Palm Beach, St. Petersburg, or Miami, Florida; but if one desires to have a moderately cool climate with a temperature of but little variation between midday and midnight, and occasionally a day with sufficient warmth and sunshine to justify a dip in the ocean or in the many land-locked bays with which the islands abound, one well may come to Bermuda. Such winter clothing as one naturally would wear in Philadelphia or Washington is what one will need in order to be comfortable. Bermuda is no place for Palm Beach suits, outing shirts, and Panama hats in winter. Many tourists are mislead by the advertisements of steamship lines and bring clothing which is suitable only for early fall and late spring.

From the first of November to the middle of May the author occupied a room on the ground floor, facing the waters of Hamilton Harbor, and only fifty feet from the shore line. Here the diurnal range of temperature is much less than at Prospect Hill, where the Government’s observations are made. From the middle of December to the middle of March, a thermometer in this room sluggishly ranged from 60° at night to 64° during the day, and days when the wind was high and rain falling—as occurs about one third of the time in winter—the thermometer would not vary a degree from 60° during the entire twenty-four hours. During April the range each day was from 68° at night to 70° at midday, and during November and May from 70° to 76°.

The selection of the best winter climate for health and for pleasure is so important that comparative data are here given of the most popular places that are easy of access to the people of the United States.