GREAT ICE CLAW

Grey River Argus, 14 February 1940, Page 7

GREAT ICE CLAW

ACROSS EUROPE Skating from Sweden to Denmark (Aust N Z ON* Assn > LONDON, February 12. A great ice-claw stretching from the Arctic to the Black Sea, and westward to Holland, is, a;«ain clutching Europe, and has already caused hundreds ’of deaths, spread epidemics of influenza among thousands, immobilised sea : and land transport, and intensified food and fuel shortage. Temperatures are far below freezing point. A violent snowstorm, combined with a heavy gale, swept the . ice- | bound Kattegat, heralding a new period of suffering for; Northern Europe. The temperature was 52 below freezing point in Denmark,. ,t he lowest since 1895. Two Danish icebreakers were trapped when endeavouring to free ten ships. Twentyffive Swedish .tourists, laden with luggage, skated from Sweden to Denmark, over the frozen Sound, for the first time in 700 years.' The Danish Government has forbidden householders, to use hot water. Scores of people fainted from cold in the streets of Copenhagen. Others were sent to the hospital suffering (from frostbite.

“Pedestrians are forbidden to enter the minefields,” reads a notice posted far from the shore off Copenhagen, because people have been walking across frozen sea between Denmark and Sweden towards Germany. Three principal minefields lie off Copenhagen and the channels off the Little and Great Belts.

Shipping authorities fear that the worst ice blockade for a century will completely isolate Denmark. ..Northern Europe is still largely under snow and ice. .

Denmark and Norway have only half the normal supply of fuel. Schools and churches remain closed. Even hot baths are rationed, and the running of hot water is prohibited.. Holland is acutely anxious about huge masses of ice drifting down the rivers. The Rhine is a chief source of danger. The continued shortage of coal in Germany has led to -new decrees. Rentals have been compulsorily reduced if they normally included heating.

Germany is suffering acutely. A serious influenza epidemic has broken out in Berlin. The ground is, too hard for burials. The mortuaries are crammed with bodies awaiting the thaw. The shortage of vegetables is most serious. Dynamite was used to blow potatoes from the frozen earth. Thousands of deer sheep and wild game were frozen’ to death. Rail and road chaos has increased. Communications with Denmark are cut off. NORWAY’S WORST WINTER. FOR 60 YEARS. (Received February 13 9 p.m.) OSLO, February 12. Norway’s winter is the most severest for sixty years. There are fifty ships, eight of which are laden with coal, icebound in outlying ports. Hot water for flats and public and private buildings is being permitted only once every three weeks. The schools in the small towns are closed. Electricity is restricted. Several mills have closed down. 1 HOLLAND'S BITTER COLD. AMSTERDAM, February 12. Holland is enduring the bitterest weather in her history. The Waal River is a foot higher than before. The menace of its rise is hourly, becoming more serious. The inhabitants are evacuating this area. SOUTH EAST EUROPE SUFFERS. LONDON, February 13, South-Eastern Europe is cradled in snow and ice. Vast tracts whjch formerly were flooded are now, frozen hard. Fifteen have died of cold in Yugoslavia. Eight were frozen to death in Hungary, where the temperature is 49 degrees below freezing point. Towns and villages are isolated,. In Montenegro, Bosnia and. Southern Serbia, scores of motor cars and other vehicles have been abandoned in snow drifts. Packs of wolves are marauding the Hungarian-Russian frontier.