WORST IN MEMORY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16534, 29 December 1927, Page 13

WORST IN MEMORY

BLIZZARD IN ENGLAND TRAFFIC DISLOCATED MANY VILLAGES FLOODED lEiec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Sydney Sun Cables.) (Received Dec. 29, d p.rn.) LONDON, December 28. General disorganisation,, trunk telephone and telegraph delays, and the isolation of various snowbound districts hitherto prevented a realisation of the blizzard's full toll. It is now certain that South England’s experience is unprecedented in Jiving memory. Twelve important outlets from Condon still were blocked by frozen drifts between sft. and 20ft. high, or by floods. Eight are open, but necessitate careful crawling owing to the ice-surfaced hills.

Motorists endeavoring to reach London relate trying road after road, travelling at walking pace, frequently shovelling smaller drifts, eventually driven back by a colossal drift packed level with tho roadsides, and finally giving tip and proceeding to London by train. All roads are strewn witli abandoned cars and motor-cycles, the. occupants walking miles seeking refuge. Some drifts are miles long. A hard frost has now set in, rendering removal an almost impossible task. A -complete restoration of road communications is unlikely until a thaw. On'the other band, a continued frost is the chief hope of preventing disastrous floods in tho Thames Valley. The Thames’ tributaries are rising, and Runnymede is submerged. If the snow melts before the Hood waters are dispersed thousands more .tons will be released. Nevertheless, many districts are praying foV a thaw to remove the enormous drifts which are completely cutting off the world, resulting in a shortening of food supplies, despite the use of rnljs, punts, snow ploughs, and sledges. Tales of motor buses marooned in various districts are frequent, Passengers are often forced to spend the night, on the buses, or walk to the nearest town, perhaps only to find that rail communication is blocked, resulting sometimes in two days’ imprisonment,

The railways generally report conditions are returning to normal, although there are many delays owing to frozen points and signals. There arc snowdrifts on some lines, notably in Hampshire. The neighborhood of: Basingstoke caught the full force of (he blizzard. A train was snowed up on Christmas night at Alton and has not yet been released.

The steamer Engadinc crossed the Channel from Boulogne to-day, but was continually swept by mountainous seas and badly battered. Dieppe, Ncwlvaven, Southampton, and The Havre services continue.

Floods completely surrounded Canterbury. Five hundred houses are Hooded, and 20CO people who are living in their bedrooms are supplied with food from boats. Homeless people are accommodated at the deanery and barracks. The Mayor is raising a relief fund. Road traffic in Cornwall and Devon, where snow is very rare, is completely disorganised, and steamers are supplying food along the coast. Firemen took four hours to cover eight, miles, digging out a. milo long _ drift, when called to Stanidon Lordship, an historic Elizabethan mansion in Hertfordshire, dating to 1546, where the Duke of Wellington lived after Waterloo. The occupants were forced to watch it burn, tire floors falling in and stopping (lie servants’ efforts to save valuables.

London boroughs are employing thousands of unemployed' to clear the streets, costing £SOOO a day.