ROUND THE SUBURBS

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19269, 5 January 1931, Page 3

ROUND THE SUBURBS

Sumner Lighting. It is generally admitted now that the Sumner Borough is well lit at night. A touch on the automatic switch, and instantly every lamp is alight. It seems a long way back to the kerosene street lamp and the, lamplighter who carried a ladder, climbed to the lantern of each, took off the glass chimne\*, and lit the oily wick with a lucifer match. It took an

hour to light up then. Vet this toc& place in Redclitfs up to the year 1917. It was March 24 of that year when the then Mayor, the late Mr J. B. Laurenson, turned on the current at the Redcliffs pumping station and the late Hon J. Barr switched on the motor pump at the reservoirs Truly, thirteen years have made a great difference. Sea Temperatures. Everyone, yesterday, who attempted bathing at Sumner, agreed that the

temperature of the water had been drastically lowered. Surfmen, accustomed to it for weeks, expressed the opinion that during the afternoon the water was really too cold to stay in long. After such pleasant bathing, the experience was very disappointing. No official records of sea temperatures are now taken. Many years ago, however, this was systematically carried out by the late Mr F. C. Pratt, and the results over the winter and the summer periods were very inter esting. Yesterday’s cold water was, gener ally, attributed to a snow-fed iiood in the Waimakariri. *■* *.* j.* Sumner Sunshine. The official records of the borough sunshine are for the present not being taken owing to an unexpected interruption. There are many in the borough, however, who have more epidermal evidence of the sunshine this month than they normally require. Sumner has had a generous amount of it, accompanied by real summer heat January, on an average, records four sunless days. In 1914 only one sunless day was recorded. The total has varied in the past from 2oohr 35min in 1917 to 163 hr 25min in 191 S. The sunniest month recorded was December, 1914—sunshine every day, and a total of 296 hr 30min. The sunniest days on record were December 16 and 17, 1911, each with 14hr 30min clear sky.