The "Heat Wave."

Horowhenua Chronicle, 28 September 1911, Page 4

The "Heat Wave."

English, papers show that the "heat wave" was very severe And very ilong. On August 9, the sun temperature in London rose to 131., | and the shade temperature to 97. i According to tho Daily Express, this ! was the hottest day on record, the -previous highest being 92.3 in 1876, but tho Daily Mail stated, that 97 had been touched once before—in 1881. 'Hie heat in the city was unbearable-, and there were scenes such as London had rarely witnessed. Tn many places business was almost at a standstill. Men, .sat in cafes and restaurants in shirt-sleeves, with their coats hung over the 'back of their oliiairs. Half the male passengers on the trains were also in their shirtsleeves. Every sheet of water round London, no matter how dirty, was full of bathers, whether bathing was allowed or not. Fa-en the canals through the East End, which are thick with oil and dirt, were lined with men and boys, whose only thought was to get cool. Tlie heat was responsible for .many curious circumstances. A number of tho members of Standing Committee B of the House of Commons discussed the Coal Mines Bill in their shirt-sleeves. 'Hie chairman of one of the Lords' Com.mittecs allowed counsel to discard their wigs. "Work had to be abandoned on the roof of Lincoln Cathedral, because the lead was too hot to touch. The demand for mineral waters was tremendous. One firm sent out 1,000,000 in a week. The factory was going night and day, and 400 extra hands and 50 extra, vans were being employed. The favourite beverage was the old-fashioned ginger-beer. Yet London was not so bad as Belgium, which one day suffered under a temperature of 113 deg., and was no worse than Paris, where people fought for shady places or spent all day in the undorgiTiind stations. Aske:l for the reasons lor the abnormal beat, an English expert could not give a very satisfactory answer. '"It would be hard to say why it is so hot, because oar weather is governed hy -sucli •» variety of causes But on the top of a high mountain in America constant observations are being kept to determine whether tho heat given out vy the sun varies from time to time on account, as is believed, of periods of more energetic combustion, the cause of which is unknown. Wo may find that the sun's rays were hotter than usual this summer, 'but there may be a variety of other causes atmospheric and otherwise." But even when this is ascertained, pnopb will bo no nearer a remedy for their suffering.