HEAT WAVE!

Brooklyn is no stranger to that sadistic summer visitor, the heat wave. But we're tough. We can take it. We know how to cope. And because the Central Library is a designated cooling center here in the borough, and since just visualizing something cold can help ease the pain, I figured I'd share some photos from our collection of Brooklynites taking summer's worst in stride.

Who cares about the heat? Not this quintet of Coney Island bathers; dashing into the surf are, left to right, Frances Friedenthal, Lee Krush, Maureen Haver, Nettie Thomas, and Bea Resnikoff.

Small fry beat the heat -- Emilio Pastrawa, 8, does it the old-fashioned way by holding hot feet under stream of cold water from fireplug near his home at 18 Dennet Place. July 20, 1953

Beat-the-heat prescription -- South Brooklyn kids take the water treatment at Sunset Park, 5th Ave. and 41st St., to get away from the heat naturally. July 28, 1952.

How high the hydrant -- Either they're building fire plugs higher these days, or...well, at any rate, 18-month-old Anthony Castaldo of 272 3rd Avenue isn't worrying about much of anything except how to beat the heat. Scene at President Street and 3rd Avenue shows he found the answer. Forecast for today is fair with the high near 80 degrees -- Eagle photo by Senko. July 23, 1954.

Whoopee -- These small fry find a pretty good way to beat the oppressive heat at McLaughlin Park, Tillary and Jay Sts., with the co-operation of an obliging Park Department which turned on the refreshing spray. June 17, 1952.

Brother, it's hot! -- Mailman, Anthony D'Angelo of 82 1/2 Douglass St., sums up the sentiment of his fellow Brooklynites as he find it just a bit too warm for comfort while toting his mailbag around downtown areas.

But if, like poor Anthony D'Angelo above, you can't spend your days splashing around in a kiddie pool,  cooling your fever at a fire plug, or freaking out in a refreshing spray you can always heed the advice of dermatologist Dr. Charles Pabst, whose wisdom on hyperthermia aversion, printed in a 1948 Eagle column, still holds true today:

1. Avoid exertion and strenuous exercise.

2. Wear thin, loose clothing of light shades. Girdles are an abomination in hot weather and prevent a large portion of the skin from performing its function of cooling the body.

3. Drink eight or more glasses of water daily and add five grains of salt to the water three times a day.

4. Get eight or nine hours sleep every night.

5. Avoid worry and excitement; don't argue.

6. Keep air circulating in your room or office.

7. Take frequent cold baths. The old Chinese custom of letting water run on the wrists is very cooling and refreshing.

8. Avoid the direct rays of the sun, especially if you are a heliophobe whose skin reddens, blisters, and burns but never tans.

9. Reduce the number of calories in your diet.

10. Remember that alcohol and sulfa make you more sensitive to sunstroke, so if you drink do it in the shade.

So remember, as you head out this weekend: No girdles! Heliophobes take cover! And drink in the shade!