"AN ILL WIND-."

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20898, 4 July 1933, Page 14

"AN ILL WIND-."

— ; —♦ WINTER'S INFLUENCE ON THE COMMUNITY. TRADES THAT BENEFIT BY THE COLD WEATHER. Winter, with its frosts and i'ogs, its short, cold days, and its Jong and even colder nights, is probably the least appreciated of the seasons of the year. Nevertheless there are sections of the community who welcome the approach of the cold, wet months, for the old adage about "an ill wind" applies with peculiar appropriateness to the effects of seasonal changes on community life. Many sections of the community share in the economic benefits that winter has to bestow, but the lion's share goes to those who supply the needs of the populace for warmth and light. The electrical trade, gas companies, coal and other fuel merchants, all have to cope with a greatly increased demand for their products, and with the increased activity in these industries many persons find employment for longer or shorter periods. In winter the coal supplies provided by city merchants are nearly two and a half times the volume of the summer supplies, and coal and firewood yards that are almost empty during the warm months become the scene of activity as winter approaches. Practically every firm has to engage extra men, both to handle the coal in the yards and to deliver it to the consumers.

Demand for Light and Heat. As the days become gradually shorter and the need for artificial light becomes more and more pressing the electrical trade enters upon its busy season. Sales of electrical equipment of all kinds increase, and as the lights and heaters of countless homes and offices consume more and more electricity there is an ever-recurring demand for replacement of worn-out apparatus. Electric light bulbs have only a limited life; so have the elements of electric heaters. An enormous number of these articles are supplied by the trade during the winter. It is a curious fact, too, pointed out to a reporter by the manager of an electrical firm, that breakdowns in electrical equipment are frequently not attended to in .the summer, but are left to the winter-time when their use can scarcely be done without. It used to be thought that the winter was responsible for the breakdown of a great deal of machinery of the more delicate type, and that watch and clock springs were more liable to break in the cold weather. Watchmakers yesterday expressed the' opinion that there was little truth in this belief, as there was just as much variation of temperature in the summer, and very frequently much more. The thickening of oil in a dirty watch would frequently cause it to stop in cold weather, but the increase in "cleanings" in the winter was very small.

Plumbers Welcome Frosts. Plumbers, perhaps, are the only members of the community who look with equanimity on a really hard frost. Burst water pipes, jammed pumps, and other ravages of the frost all mean profit to them. Similarly the rainy weather brings numerous small commissions in the repair of roofs and replacement of gutterings. The installation, overhaul, and repair of water-heating systems is also some of the grist that comes to the mill of the plumber in winter. Although the difference is usually so slight as to be almost imperceptible to the casual tradesman, there is a general increase in the demand for foodstuffs in the cold weather. The diet of the community, top, undergoes some revision once the summer months are left behind. More meat is eaten in the winter. Grocers find that with the approach of cold weather their sales of porridge meal, cocoa, coffee, and other "sustaining" foods and drinks increase. Influence on Leisure. Winter exerts its influence, too, on the leisure hours of the community. The need for evening entertainments is much more marked during the winter. Where previously outdoor sport could be indulged in until 8 or 9 o'clock there is now a long and probably cold evening to be filled in. Libraries and entertainment houses are very popular, and the demand for reading matter of all descriptions increases considerably. As if in sympathy with the season public taste in literature undergoes a change, according to city booksellers. The reading of the community becomes much "heavier." There is, of course, a big demand for light fiction throughout the year, and this increases in the winter months, but a large section of the public appears to want something more than an hour or two of light reading for the long winter evenings by the fire.

Music also comes fully into its own during the winter. Sales of sheet music, gramophone records, and musical instruments of all kinds increase rapidly. The wireless set is now as much a musical instrument as a grand piano, and the increased business in the radio trade during the last month or two has been due as much to the requirement for amusement during the winter evenings as to the sudden and remarkable growth in popularity of these instruments. Reception conditions improve greatly in winter, snd most rstdio listeners like to have their sets thoroughly overhauled as the "good" weather approaches —all worjc for the radio dealers.