TERRORS OF WINTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19833, 31 December 1927, Page 9

TERRORS OF WINTER.

! MTACKS BY .WOLVES. POLISH WOMEN DEVOURED i 1 CONDITIONS IN BRITAIN. XjO;SnQON SHORT OF FOOD. i - —- HARDSHIPS IN COUNTRY! By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received December 30. 5.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z.-Sim. LONDON, Dec. 30. Messages from Poland say that raids by wild beasts maddened by hunger havo increased the terrors of the winter. Packs cf wolves have killed many peasants in the Eastern borderlands. Two women were devoured near Wolkoowy&k, and also four smugglers who had just crossed the border with contraband goods. The Government is employing troops to organise great hunts to kill as many wolves as possible. It is reported from Buda Pest that the severity of the winter has driven packs of wolves into the Hungarian villages. Some of the beasts penetrated into the capital, and one was shot in the heart of the city. Aeroplanes Carry Food. The delay caused by the snowstorms to railway and motor traffic is holding up London's supplies of milk and vegetables from farms. Two aeroplanes from London carried food to Westerham, in Kent, which was isolated for four days by drifts 14ft. high, in which scores of .vehicles were completely lost". The Channel crossing from Dover was cancelled for the 'fourth day in succession. The foreshore at Sandwich Bay was covered with millions of starfish and innumerable lobsters, owing to the waves having scoured the breeding ground. As they were thrown up the fish were frozen and were fit* for food. As. a result of the terrible storm in the Channel even the great liner Aquitania had to spend the night in the roads and abandon all attempts to enter Cherbourg Harbour. Arrangements were made to feed and house the 600 waiting passengers. Among the people \veatherbound in vessels at Channel ports are the whole of tho Orvieto's overland passengers, who still run the risk of losing the steamer. The owners have induced the Southern Railway authorities to make a special effort to got the passenger!! through with tonight's mail train, so as to reach Toulon on Saturday. Paris to-day received the London newspapers for the first time, since Saturday, but telephonic and telegraphic connection between London and Paris has been much delayed since Monday, although the wireless is working excellently, A British official wireless message says the Upper Medway River invaded Maidstone yesterday, and the tramway and electric lighting services were suspended, owing to the generating station being flooded. The position is now reported to be improving. The gale in the English Channel is still blowing, and the wind is almost at hurricane force. On the railways conditions have rapidly improved, and the services on most lines are now normal. Milder Weather Forecasted. The latest weather forecast affords hope that milder conditions will relieve the plight of the inhabitants of the towns and villages which are still snowbound, and in many of which real hardship is being endured, owing to the shortage of fuel and food supplies. Reports from all quarters tell of men struggling for miles, on foot or on horseback, across fields deep in snow to take food supplies to the remote districts, and of gallant efforts made by doctors to reach their patients in isolated places. The work of clearing the roads of snowdrifts has been rendered even more difficult by the severe frosts, which have turned drifts into masses of ice. Even London has been threatened with a shortage of fuel and food supplies.CCoal(l l( merchants have been getting supplies of coal satisfactorily by train, but have been nnable to deliver to householders, owing to the streets being icebound. In Covent Garden the supplies of vegetables are short, as these come only by road. Milk supplies have been considerably affected, but are now being delivered nearly normally. Travellers Delayed. A large number of French people ire held up in England through the accident to the Channel steamer Engadine, which made a fresh start to-day by the Newhaven to Dieppe route. Other people waited at Folkestone for the Maid of Orleans, which left Boulogne for Folkestone at mid-day with 836 passengers aboard and was afterwards to return to Boulogne. It was hoped this morning that a French boat, would bo available i'or passengers who wished to cross from Dover to Calais, but at mid-day it was announced that f.jhero would be no Dover to Calais sailing to-day. The Newhaven to Dieppe and Southampton to Le Havre services are running normally. BLIZZARD IN JAPAN. DEATH AND DESTRUCTION. , / LIVES LOST IN FIRES. (Received December 30, 5.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z. TOXIO, Dec. 29. 1 A severe blizzard is sweeping Northern Japan. Shipping is suffering badly. Five hundred houses were" wrecked in the Akita Prefecture, and many fires are reported from all parts of the country. The worst occurred at Matsuye, where the damage is estimated at £200,000, and 1600 people are homeless. Six people were burned to death at Asakagun, in the Fukushima Prefecture. FROZEN TO DEATH. { a COLD IN SWITZERLAND. ' A. and N.Z. GENEVA, Dec. 29. ; A gamekeeper named Kister left an inn in Basle in the early hours. He clung for support to a lamp-post, and was frozen 1 to it. He was released with difficulty at daylight, but died in agony.