Skating Weather

Levin Daily Chronicle, 19 April 1917, Page 3

Skating Weather

» AUSTRALIANS' FIR-ST SIGHT OF ICE. (London Times.) Londoners saw ice floating down the Thames on 'Monday, i29th There was not much, but a few of the blocks were large and fairly (thick, indicating that some of- the upper reaches of the river were frozen over. The thermometer registered 28deg. at :Holborn and 2-ldeg. at Hampstead, and on Sunday night lldeg. of frost was recorded.*

Many New Zealand and Australian soldiers have during the week-end had their first experience of ioe in large areas. On Sunday there were many Australasians who wandered along the bank of the Serpentine gazing with interest at the frost-bound waters. To the man from Quensiand or Western Australia this is particularly a new experience, and very few, if any, New Zealanders, hailing from north of Christchurch have seen such large areas of water frozen over. Many: of the Antipodeans tried to 6kate on the various safe stretches outside London. One man with one leg and two rubber shod crutches made quite good progress at Richmond, with occasional lapses from the l perpendicular. At Wa|lton-ic|>-. Thames, whre the New Zealand Hospital is, the men were enjoying the sport greatly.

There wero some Canadians who were experts in skating, and at Regent's Park one wounded; man from Montreal gave a good exhibition of figure-skat-I ing. Afterwards he tried to teach a Queenslander. Both were in full hospital kit, and their "blues" and scarlet ties made an effective note of c-ilour. . At last the Queenslander retired baffled, contented to watch the experts, among whem was (Princess Patricia of Connaught. In the Peak District there were skating, iugping and tobogganing. Several parties of oversea soldiers have been skiing. This pastime is not' new "to them, for the Australians have Kosciusco and 4 the New Zeal and ere the Mount Cook district. In both of these places the sport has become popular of late years. The Australians and New Zealanders have not skates of their own, and it is d'fficnlt for them to obtain them. Any persons who are kind enough to take out convalescent men who are sufficiently recovered to be able to skate would give a great deal of pleasure if they took skates with them for the men. Many of the oversea nurses, too, are anxious to learn " Yet another interesting eight for the oversea men was the frozen Thames at Marlow, Shillinkford. and Abingdon. As yet there has been no roasting of oxen in the middle of the river, and this is one of the things that the Anzacs want to see before believing. Several of them yesterday cast a cold and incredulous eye at a hospital visitor who told them of this, and even the story of the man who drove a tandem and trap over the Serpentine in 1891 was received in sceptical silence. These men have experienced some strange and discomforting changes of l climate in the last two years. Coming, many of them from semi-tropical parts of Australia, they lived in temperatures above ISOdeg. in the shade during their stay in Egypt. They went to Anzac where heat and flies and subsequently a blizzard and snow were their lot. Then they came home to England twelve months later, experiencing in the interval a drop of no le6S than 109 de£. in temperature!