TERRIBLE TOLL OF LIVES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20643, 15 February 1929, Page 9

TERRIBLE TOLL OF LIVES

SEVERE WINTER IN EUROPE. HEAVY FROSTS PERSIST. NO SIGN OF A BREAKS (United Press Association.) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) PARIS, February 13. Statistics collected throughout Europe show that deaths due to the so-called “ Ice Age ” winter arc approaching 20,000. There have been at least 2500 deaths from influenza and pneumonia in France alone. Several hundred deaths have occurred from drowning and shipwrecks,, and more than 100 are reported to have been frozen to death in Europe. To-day’s reports show little abatement in the freezing. Nancy registered 54deg of frost, and the River Neurthe is frozen. BRITAIN MANTLED IN WHITE. TRAFFIC DISORGANISED. Official Wireless.) RUGBY, February 13. An unusually severe frost continued over the whole of Britain yesterday. In London it was the coldest day since 1908 and it is over 40 years since such cold has been experienced in February. Last night the minimum temperature in London was 21deg Fahrenheit, but much lower readings were registered in the suburbs and provinces. In Scotland and Wales the cold was again intense. The bitter east wind has, however, moderated. Heavy snowfalls in Scotland and Wales have greatly hindered communication to London. The Glasgow express was delayed owing to the freezing of the water in the railway troughs,, and on arrival the ice which had collected between the coaches had to be broken through before they could be separated. Two trains were caught in a snowdrift near Stranraer. They were imprisoned throughout yesterday, but have now been released as a result of work by snow ploughs and an engine of 120 tons. At Penygroes, near Carnarvon, a passenger train was snowed up throughout Monday night. Frozen points delayed rail traffic in many parts of the country. The road traffic is much more seriously disorganised. Inhabitants state that the conditions near Stranraer are even worse than during the great blizzard of 1895. Buses and about 100 motor cars are snowed up in the neighbourhood. In South Wales many motor bus services have also been suspended, and numerous accidents,, due to skids on ice-bound roads, occurred yesterday, while scores of vehicles have been abandoned in snowdrifts.

Severe frosts continued to-day in the British Isles,, the thermometer readings being even lower than those of yesterday. The coldest place appears to ■be Ross-on-Wye, in Herefordshire, where the thermometer showed a ground temperature of 6deg below zero Fahrenheit, or 3Sdeg of frost. Ice has begun to form on tlfe . Thames in - the higher reaches. Other rivers are also becoming frozen, while, the canals, lakes, and ponds are generally icebound. _ Householders are finding their chief discomfort in the freezing of water pipes. This was the subject of a general complaint to-day all over London. The Metropolitan Water Board is fixing stand pipes in the streets, and housewives come with buckets and kettles and obtain water from the main. Thousands of frozen pipes are bursting and causing damage.

STRANGE SCENES AT FIRE

HAILSTONES FROM HOSES.

_ LONDON, February 13. There were strange- scenes in Piccadilly from midnight to dawn, when 20 fire engines and 130 firemen were fighting a fire in - the. Trocadero restaurant.

The fireiheri’s uniforms were frozen stiff. Huge icicles formed on the face of file building and on the 70 feet water towers, from which water was being used to combat the flames. The water froze as it left the hoses and fell on the fire as hailstones.

The damage , from fire was confined to the upper storey of the restaurant, though much destruction .was, caused by water.—Australian Press Association.

THE ELBE FROZEN OVER

SENTRIES COLLAPSE AT POSTS.

BERLIN, February 13,

(Received Feb. 14, at 6.5 p.m.)

The Elbe is frozen" over from Dresden to Hamburg and over 30 degrees of frost were registered in Western, Centhern, and , Central Germany., Aeroplanes are carrying fpbd ;and spirits to icebound ships in the Baltic, and fog is adding to the difficulties. A report from Weisbaden states that the cold is so severe at Landau that several French sentries collapsed and were taken to hospital seriously 'ill.,' . One was discovered .dead, standing at his post with his rifle clutched in his hand. Sentries of the British, army on the Rhine have been issued with pullovers and sheepskin coats.—Australian Press:. Association.

RUMANIA SUFFERING. : PRAGUE,'February 13, (Received Feb. 14, at 5.5 p.m.) The temperatures in Jugo-Slavia remain I3deg below zero. Rumania is suffering more severely with a temperature of 45deg below zero,, and the BerlinBucharest trains are three days overdue. —Australian Press Association.

PREDICTION FULFILLED,

“THAMES WILL FREEZE OVER.”

PARIS, February 13. (Received Feb. 14, at 5.6 p.m.) The director of State pawnshops has ordered all eiderdowns, blankets, and woollen shawls to be restored free. The Seine is almost blocked with ice above Montereau, and the Marne is freezing, while all the rivers as far west ac Cherbourg are becoming icebound. Lyons is practically cut off. The weather verifies in a remarkable fashion the prediction of Abbe Moreux, the famous director of Bourges Observator, in January, 1928: “The Thames will freeze over in the winter of 1929, and Western Europe will experience conditions somewhat akin to . the ice age.” —Australian Press Association.

FIRELESS HOMES IN BUDAPEST. SCRAMBLE FOR FREE COAL. BUDAPEST, February ; 13. (Received Feb. 14, at 5.5 p.m.) Ten thousand people participated-'in a scramble for free coal, which was distributed by the Government to relieve flreless homes. Fifty collapsed and were taken to hospital with frozen hands, ears, arid feet. —Australian Press Association. , '

AVALANCHES IN ITALY. RAILWAYS BLOCKED, ROME, February 13. (Received Feb. 14, at 5.5 p.j».) Heavy snowstorms prevail in Northern and Central Italy, and there is widespread interruption in the train services. Several towns are three. feet deep in snow. Avalanches occurred in the province of Ancona, and the snow is 20 feet high, blocking the railway. Snow is falling in Rome,

ROADS IN SCOTLAND BLOCKED,

SEVERAL TRAINS SNOWED IN.

LONDON, February 14 (Received Feb. 14, at 5.5 p.m.) Snow fell practically throughout England to-day. Several trains had to be dug out, and passengers were transferred by road. Many roads in Scotland are blocked, and over 100 cars are snowed in. The temperature is still falling tonight. The river Wey, from Weybndge to Thames, is frozen, and the rivers Lea and Kennett are frozen in parts, while ice is forming oi the Thames at Caversham An unusual feature of the ice visitation in Europe is that Iceland is 17. and Spitsbergen 10 degrees warmer than London. —Australian Press Association.