POLAR ENGLAND.

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 361, 9 April 1912, Page 5

POLAR ENGLAND.

Snowstorms, Frosts, and Frozen Lakes.

Great Britain has been experiencing a spell of Arctic weather, almost as severe m its way as was the great heat wave last summer. From all parts of the country havo come reports of great snowstorms, of heavy frosts, and lakes and rivers frozen over.

In London skating has been m full swing; big crowds have visited the lakes m most of the parks, and the ice has been densely covered with skaters and other people enjoying the less scientific sport of sliding. The householder, however, has been encountering troubles which more than counterbalance the joys of winter sports. In thousands of homes the pipes h^ve been frozen, and consequently it has been almost impossible to obtain water at all. Hot water has been at a premium, since foi* fear of boiler explosions the kitchen fires have had to be let out m many houses, and therefore whenever warm water has been required it has had to be boiled m kettles, over sitting-room fires, except m such places, of course, where gas ranges are the rule.

The cold was most bitter ia Scotland, and on -the Sunday night the frost was the keenest experienced m Glasgow and the West of Scotland for twenty years. The river Kelvin was completely frozen at Glasgow, the Clyde had a thick layer of ioe, anc| so h^d IjQch liamond, which only freezes during the most severe cold. The Yorkshire rivers Wharfe and Nidd were frozen over.

On the railway lines m the north snow-ploughs had to be used, and m some instances trains were actually blocked. In one Lancashire district children were able to skate to school along the dykes, while m Cheshire milk was distributed by means of sledges. Sheep have been buried under snowdrifts, roads have been blocked with snow, the mails havo been delayed m many district/., shipping has hee.n interfered with — such have a lew of the cqnsequences of the pold spell been, has been, too, a plentiful crop of accidents and fatalities due to the intense cold or ice giving way.