INTENSE COLD AT OTIRA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18471, 7 August 1923, Page 6

INTENSE COLD AT OTIRA.

FORTY DEGREES.OF FROST. HOW - THE,LINESMEN SUFFER WATER-FREEZES AS IT FALLS [by telegraph,-—own *: correspondent.] ; ■'•'' ■-/;■' ,'; CHRISTCBI7RCH, Monday. '■;. Ifc is evident from statements made by workers employed. by the Public Works Department '• and private'; contractors at Arthur's Pass and.Qtira that this winter has been .extremely cold.. Men who have been, working there j for periods v varying from 18 months to three i years,-said they had : never ; known • such intense cold before..; Thirty degrees of frost had been frequently recorded, ! and the temperature had; even fallen 10 degrees below zero. There had been no ■; rain at i Arthur's .P. ss until Saturday "for seven weeks, and the rain was generally • welcomed, ',' as it • would assist the. thaw, - .-v, ■/< ■;,•. Av -•■ '■'.'■'';': ; v.'r*;..-"

The : cold conditions were particularly hard on men engaged in wiring, who had to handle the bare cable. ; They frequently had no feeling in their hands, 1 and fingers. One lineman gave as an illustration of the intensity of ' the cold that 1 during last week he had seen a man rolling a big copper drum with his" gloved hands. The metal was so cold that the man's hands' were stuck to the drum, and he was rolled over .the top of as it moved. Another statement which was fully supported by the men was 'that a 4in. pipe burst _ and , the water spouted upwards, touching a copper wire. r After touching the ; wire r the water / instantly froze -i and formed an icicle : which constantly grew as the, waiter 1 from the burst pipe poured on to it. ; By the time the break had been repaired, the -icicle had' grown to' huge proportions. /' - ; .;: h. Arrangements have been -made by the Government with Hall and Company to hold some of .their horses; and plant at Otira for a time, presumably as a precautionary measure to ensure means for transporting mails over the hill being available. Some of the horses have already been sold, and the remainder of the plant, with the .exception of that part being held for emergency, .will be sold immediately. '_■ A ■ West Coast gentleman : expressed the hope that the Arthur's Pass road would be kept open for tourist traffic, and that arrangements "would be made by the Government to run coaches during' a portion of the year; '.'"'■';'