July 1874: Warming due to comets
Considerations regarding global warming are not new. One hundred and fifty years ago, in July 1874, people were sweating profusely. Climbing the Rock was becoming an ordeal.
On the shore of La Condamine, it was difficult to breathe. The heat wave was raging. In its edition of July 21, 1874, the Journal de Monaco took stock.
“The heat that we have been experiencing for several days and which has descended almost suddenly upon us, invites us to remember the hottest summers of this century. Let us first mention the summer of 1841, when the rivers dried up in several departments. It was very difficult to grind grain, and there was such a large crowd in the windmills that bloody conflicts broke out. A comet was visible for several days, and the wine of that year, of a superior quality, bears the name of comet wine. In 1846, there was a new comet and even more intense heat. For a whole week, the thermometer showed 40 to 42 degrees above zero. Epidemic diseases broke out in Marseille, Nice and Avignon. In several regions of Languedoc and Provence, livestock perished for lack of water. In Auch, people went to look for drinking water eight kilometers away, and it sold for up to 6 centimes a liter. Wine was very abundant and of superior quality. During the summers of 1859, 1860 and 1869, the heat was also very intense, but the thermometer, however, never exceeded 37 degrees. As in 1811 and 1846, a comet is in sight, and everything suggests that the wine of this year will be as sought following as that of 1846.”
As you will have understood, global warming was correlated… to the passage of comets! Scientific knowledge has evolved since then. This is one of the surprises of our journey into the Principality’s past.
July 1884: Monaco escapes cholera
Not all summers were peaceful in the past. In July 1884, as people were casually settling into the holiday season, frightening news arrived: a cholera epidemic had broken out in Marseille and Toulon.
The government is taking steps: “The sewers and public toilets will be disinfected every day with sodium phenate. The passages of Lorète, Miséricorde and others in the city will be regularly whitewashed. Workers’ lodgings and furnished houses will be carefully inspected, and the sweeping and emptying service will be subject to vigilant surveillance by the police and road workers. Baggage and goods coming from Toulon must be disinfected or destroyed at Monaco station. The post offices and station offices will be supplied with Calabrian syrup. It is forbidden to drink pure water.”
The Journal de Monaco indicates how to make a filter: “Take a very clean flower pot, spread a layer of washed gravel on the bottom; on top, a layer of sand, and finally, on the sand, another layer of charcoal crushed into small pieces.”
These measures proved effective, Monaco was spared from the epidemic.
Summer 1904: swimming prohibited at La Condamine
On July 2, 1901, Prince Albert I launched the construction of the Grand Port of Monaco.
A large quarry was opened on the eastern side of Cap Ferrat to provide the rocks needed to build the jetties.
The work lasted until 1926. From the summer of 1904, it was no longer possible to swim at La Condamine.
The Journal de Monaco of July 19, 1904 explains it to tourists: “Due to the construction work on the port of Monaco, the Bains de Mer establishment on Boulevard de la Condamine has been closed, and a municipal decree has prohibited bathing in the port. A new premises, built by the Société des Bains de Mer, on Larvotto beach, not far from the Casino, has been opened to the public. It consists of a central pavilion containing the main entrance and providing access to a hall from which the public will access the wings carrying the cabins. The area reserved for bathers is clearly marked out by means of strong floating buoys and ropes connecting them to the shore. The establishment will be open every day, from 7 a.m. to noon and from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m. It will be served by a tram leaving from the Place du Casino every half hour.”
July 1904: Prince Albert I flies a kite to an altitude of 1,500 metres
Although he had acceded to the throne in 1889, Prince Albert I continued to multiply his scientific expeditions. The Journal de Monaco kept the population informed of his whereregardings.
