COLD WAVE IN SYDNEY.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16258, 8 July 1918, Page 5

COLD WAVE IN SYDNEY.

SEVERAL PERSONS COLLAPSE.

SYDNEY, June 26. Although heat is more likely to cause ceiebral uemorrhage than_ cold, doctors are prepared to admit the possibility of tne co»d blast of last night and tins morning—the lowest temperature waß 42 degrees, the coldest of the season —having been responsible for the collapse of Beveral persons as a result of tue bursting of blood vessels of the One of the cases proved fatal. John Henry Husband, aged 59, collapsed at the. inquiry office of the Soldiers' Club, in George street, where he was employed, yesterday afternoon. He died in Sydney Hospital. „ . . . This morning the . Civil Ambulance "handled two cases. Christopher Watson, aged 64, of Wattle street Ultimo, collapsed at the corner of George street west and Abercrombie street, and was taken to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a critical condition.. Michael Kanene, a tram driver, of .Walter street, Paddington, was on his tram in Old South Head road, Woollahra, when ] ho dropped unconscious. He was ad- . mitted to St. Vincent's Hospital. . I The cold was probably responsible for the collapse of the three men. With the mercury making' towards freezing point the vitality of the individual is at the lowest, and there is a likelihood of its causing higher tension than usual upon the blood vessels. By constricting the vessels near the surface the cold would increase the pressure on the internal vessels, and would in that way bring on cerebral hemorrhage. That the cold was felt in the city' today was obvious. Every ray of sunshine was utilised, and it was a rare sight to see the thousands basking in the sun in various parts of the city during tho luncheon hour. For the shady Bide of Moore street was deserted, but the Commonwealth Bank corner, whirh got the full benefit of what sun there was, was used as an idling ground by hundreds..