HEAT-WAVE IN VICTORIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 11 March 1908, Page 83

HEAT-WAVE IN VICTORIA.

By Angelesea and Herbert Carroll. The recent heat-wave we have endured in Melbourne is the most severe known for many, many ye-ars, and it has caused much suffering, many deaths, and great destruction. The weather was comparatively cool till Christmas day, when the thermometer registered 105deg in the shade — the hottest Christmas Day since 1868. It was a fierce, dry heat, and out of doors one felt as if one were being shrivelled up. Boxing Day was 2deg less, but it was a more trying heat, being moist. A few cool days followed, but it was just as a calm before the storm : the thermometer rose steadily. From January 1 to January 8 it registered from 90deg to 98 9deg. A few more cooler days (days that Victoria, calls cool), then the last great effort — the wave — as follows: — Deg. Deg. January 13 .. 87.6 January 17 .. 112 January 14 .. 81.2 (155 in the sun) January 15 .. 102 January 18 . 104.1 January 16 106.4 January 19 . . 105.7 January 20 . 107.6 Friday and Saturday, January 17 and 18, were thevtwo worst days of all — th« atmosphere became stagnant. Not a puff of wind came to relieve the terrible calm. The leaves of the trees in the streets and gardens were motionless, and, as the Argus said, it seemed as if some dreadful spell had been oast over Nature. The streets and buildings were thoroughly heated, even the water in the tanks was warm — one simply could not get cool. The nights were more trying than the days ; those long. w«ary, sleepless nights. .After a few hours of broken slumber one awoke to find the sun still blazing like a ball of fiie and the heat at 90 odd degrees. Then one knew there was another hot day to endure. Every available verandah was used as a sleeping apartment. In the suburbs the householders slept out on verandahs, lawns, and gardens. Hundreds of sober-minded folk cast prudish propriety to the winds, and slept out in the public parks (which the Municipal Counoil kindly kept open for the benefit of citizens), on the Yarra banks, and on the St. Kilda- and; South Melbourne beaches. Until midnight the baths were packed with people, and after the closing of the bath-gates the people sought the open water. At one time during Saturday afternoon 3000 men struggled to cool themselves in the St. Kilda Ba^hs. All night long vehicles from the city and suburbs poured; on to the beach, laden with yraary citizens in quest of a breath of freeh ajr. Public works, many private firms, and several theatres closed, and the postal authorities were relieved a- little during the terrific blaze. The ice and cool drink manufacturers did a "roaring" trade, and as for the ice-cream carts— well, they simply "nourished." I3ut the supply oi ice ran short. Two thousand

tons of ice was being used daily, and how could one exist without ice ? What agonies of suffering were endured these times! Daily people were stricken down with heat apoplexy. Strong men were cut down whilst at their work, people in their homes and in the streets succumbed to it. The hospitals were full. So great was the nurnbeT of deaths that the sextons could not cope with the ever-increasing work, and burials were postponed. At almost any hour of the day one met funeral corteges in the streets. Over 100 deaths occurred. Old people and babies suffered the most severely. A merciful change came at 9 o'clock on Monday night, preceded by peals of thun-de-r and a dust storm. Even the dust -mas welcome. The houses were so heated that little relief was felt that night, but the next night, ah, what a skep! It was -even cold enough for the use of a blanket. Of course, thoe that could possibly do so left the city. The seaside resorts and the mountains became miniaUire Melboiirnes. Towards the end of the heat-wave the atmosphere in xhe city became thick, smoky, and stagnant, indicating bush fires ; and vessels out at sea experienced an anxious time. One boat, the Riverina, bound from Sydney, was delayed 21 hours in that dangerous part of the coast, Wilson's toryThe heat in the country was as great as in the city Grass and bush fires raged everywhere, destroying homes and property. Several villages in different parts of the country were almost demolished. Many lives were lost, and others had narrow escapes fiom death. People turned out and bra-vely fought the fire — sometimes in vain. .Several families have lost everything, and Melbourne folk who were holiday-making in these parts returnedi home minus luggage and effects. In most cases the fires were caused by trees being struck and ignited by lightning. It is a sad sight when one is travelling by train -through this district to see the ravages made by the fire fiend. Tall, gaunt trees on each side of the track, leafless and mtournful-looking, each of them telling a tale of the awful and all-conquering enemy. A black patch here and therci which once marked the home of a happy settler, now, ala-s! tenanted only by a few stray horses and cows. But in spite of all the trials and troubles the Gippsfand people have had to pur up with, they are of an optimistic and cheery disposition. And it is well that th\y are ho. "It's an ill wind- (or fire) that blows nobody good, is an old saw we all know, and these fires have done good in one respect. They have burnt off all superfluous herbage, and have made the earth to spring out with new fresh grass, luscious and fattening, keeping up Gippsland's reputation as one of the finest dairying countries in the world. Yarrani, S. Gippsland, Victoria, February 3, 1908.