STILL GRIPPED BY COLD

Chronicle (Levin), 1 February 1947, Page 5

STILL GRIPPED BY COLD

Press Assn.

Mlion Rendered Idle By Great Freeze-Dp FURTHER DEATHS REPQRTf®

By Telegraph

-Copyright

lieceived Friday, 7 p.m. LONDON, Jan. 31. The Daily Express says the cold spell lias put 1,000,000 workers into temporary imemployment, ineluding 65,000 builders imable to .get at their jobs. Transpori hokl-ups and tlie coal shortage aeeounted i'or Ihe reniainder. Thougli a titi'nl sun has warmed up paris oi' England a i'ew de-p-**es, the whoJe eoimtry is still gi'ipped in a great freeze-up and (iept'ivod oi gas and electricity by the biggest culs ever irnposed. Thousands oi London housefiolds weiti without breakiasts. Two elderly people in Norfolk died froni eold oii the hearth oi their home, and three more deaths from cold wero reported in Erance, where potjr Parisians are shivering in iuel-less houses. Sonie trndged 1o the underground stations seoking; comparative warnith. lee ehoked the liiver Ehine and lialted shipping. Coal bai'gcs are t'rozen in on canals in Northern Erance. Ncarly a i'oot oi' snow ioll last night aL i-'ahnoutli, where snow is' a rare |jJiciionionon. . t Jiu.il to lig their way out oi' houst-s through drifts four I'oi't (It'oji. Snowt'alls in West v'ornwall were tln- heaviest since Ihe great biiz-y.-u nl oi' 1S91. A 11 sehoois in Brighton iiave chiseil until February .'i owiiig to f'ruzeii pijies and the Jack oi' adequate heating. Lomloners wiio warmed a shovetful oi' snow over ^leelffe open Jires to get VMiler i'or siiaving and washing, read m ihe early editions oi the aiternoon peiv spapers a warning from the National i'iumhers ' Federation that tliere may not be enough lead to go ronnd wlien the thaw brings the ine\itali!c erop oi burst pipes. Iiailroads sent out siiowpionghs to r-lear ihe main liues, and iu a blizzard in the l'lyniouth area a driver and a lireman had to dig their engine out of a -aowdri I't. Milk roundsmen in Kent, where there were 34 degrees of frost, delived bottles of irozen milk. The mercury in a therrnometer near Canterbury disappeared into the buib, and near Ramsgate a man was photograpneci walking on the sea. The Lvemng Btandard commencs: "It is a long time smce anyone has done this." .More factories Jiave been foreed to . elose througii the iaek oi fuei. Bliz/aitls (ieseriljed as the \Vorst since 1891 : \.c[)i Bt. i \ cs in ("ormva.ll. -More than a foot oi snow lell at ttt. Ives and a bride in thighbools and a groom in kneeboots ijad to walk to Ihe ehurcli. Almosl e\ ery road in Devon and '"ornwall is impassable. Tliere are 12l'oot snowdril'ts on Dartmoor, where many cars were stranded and moorland j)ouie.-> anil eattle died oi exposure. I'riiietown, on Dartmoor, was isolated. Funners near lTincetown dug many sheep out oi the snow. Motor-driveu snowploughs eut a way through snoudrilts on main roads 011 Ihe Vorkshire Wolds, but huge barriers oi snow prevenled aeeess to liundreds oi lonelv iarmsleud.s carrying liniited I'ooil stoeks. A Bristol piano merehant annonneed llmt he would gi\e uway romorrow 10.0 pianos beyond repair to poor faniilies i'or liiiewood. liundreds oi birds are dying of cold in Sonth liuekinghamsliire. The British G-as Coimcil stated the need for reducing pressures in most areas in the absence of lower consumption wonld continue irntil the weather warmed and the gas stocks increased. Seven London gas companies serving uearly '2,500,000 cust.omers in a 100,0r square niile tfrea irnposed cuts ranging from 20 to 40 per cent., which is coxisiderably more severe than yesterday. Thousands oi workers had t'o return home from unheated factories aft'ected bv the coal shortavo or bv the nationv. ide gas and electricity cuts. Many srtools ihroughout the country have closed. Bocause of Ihe wintry weather his -Majesty has canmilled the semi-Htate-dri\e toiiioriow from Buckingham I'alaee to Waterloo where the Royal Family are buginnii.g their journey to '' Fouth Airica. The journey to Waterloo : will be made by ear. 1