AMAZING LONDON SCENES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20969, 4 September 1931, Page 9

AMAZING LONDON SCENES.

FLOODLIGHT ILLUMINATION. CROWDS BEYOND CONTROL. I ——— , NIGHT FLYING AT CROYDON. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received !3eptember 3. 8.5 p.m.) LONDON. Sept. 3. A special police conference was held last evening to consider measures for the better control of the large crowds which are congregating in the West End of London to see the flood lighting effects on important buildings and monuments. Tuesday night was the first on which there was a full display of flood lighting, and the immense crowds, with the large influx of motor-cars carrying sightseers, completely disorganised the traffic for several hours. The Thames bridges were thronged with people during the special displays on the river. The cost of the demonstrations, which will continue for a fortnight, the object of which is to show the development of the science of illumination, is being met entirely by the electrical and gas industries. The astonishing scenes in the West End continued until midnight. It is estimated that there were 1,000,000 people in the iitreets on Tuesday night and 750,000 last night. Although the police turned Whitehall into a one-way traffic street the crush of motor-cars and pedestrians caused the utmost confusion. The congestion was so great that it may be necessary for tha police to order the stopping of some of the illuminations. The magnitude of the experiment may be gauged by the fact that 36 projectors, each producing a beam of 250,000 candle power, are required to illuminate the Big Ben tower alone. More than 200 foreign delegates from 20 different countries* ar« attending the International Illumination Congress. The delegates to the congress last night attended a remarkable display of night flying at, Croydon aerodrome, under the glare of 1,000,000 candle power flood lighting.