ENGLAND FREEZES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23692, 27 December 1938, Page 9

ENGLAND FREEZES

A TYPICAL CHRISTMAS ROADS COATED WITH ICE FOOD SUPPLIES HELD UP (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) LONDON, Dec. 24. (Received Dec. 26, at 8 p.m.) Five days of freezing temperatures have placed a coating of ice over the roads and there is road and rail hold-up, interfering with the food and fuel supply distribution throughout Britain. A milk and vegetable shortage is threatened. Emergency measures are costing the London Transport Board £IO,OOO a day. Metropolitan municipalities spent £50,000 clearing snow. CONSUMPTION OF GAS RECORD FIGURES REACHED (British Official Wireless) RUGBY. Dec. 24. (Received Dec. 26, at 6.30 p.m.) The recent cold weather has resulted in a record load on the national electric " grid " and a record gas consumption. Last Tuesday the total load on the generating stations associated with the grid system reached 6,714,000 kilowatts, an increase of 30 per cent, over the Tuesday of the previous week and the highest figure ever recorded. A single day's consumption of 1,500,000,000 cubic feet of gas throughout Great Britain is without precedent in the history of the gas industry.