FROSTY MORNINGS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 42, 28 July 1939, Page 4

FROSTY MORNINGS

MANY WATER PIPES BURST

COLDEST DAY FOR YEARS

''Plumber? Gome out to my placo } the pipes hav e burst. 1 ' Thirty-six time:* one plumber in Whakatar. j yesterday morning answered calls of that nature. It was Whakatanc's coldest morning for years and years and years. The previous record for burst water pipes was three, so it is easy to ?ce just how cold it was. Probably the frost this morning found a few.more weak spots. So cold was it that most people found the taps would not run even when the pipes remained intact, and thrre were several cases of hot water cylinders bursting. This kept the borough electrical staff busy. Many cars would not start, and among the vehicles out of commission was tlie Ohope school bus. To meet this emergency private cr;j owners lent a hand and loads of children were taken over from the beach in this way. There was anxiety for the main to the reservoir since it has been uncovered owing to roading operations. However, this stood the test though the small main across the bridge bursty so what with one thing and another the borough staff had a busy day. Plants in gardens suffered, even supposedly hardy varieties finding the frost too much for them. The puriris for The Heads park were among the casualties. They are -stored at the back of the borough chambers, and though in pots and under sc r im they were cut back severely. The unpleasant feature was that : t Avas dull early in the morning so that the frost lay on the ground and the ice stayed on the drains. Later on a cold win l sprang up. Altogether the weather w r as trying.