MOST SEVERE WINTER

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 592, 19 February 1929, Page 9

MOST SEVERE WINTER

DEATHS AND ACCIDENTS TOLL TAKEN IN BRITAIN RECORD USE OF GAS British Official Wireless Reed. 10.20 p.m. RUGBY, Monday. Although the official forecasts indicate a condition favourable for milder weather, there was again a very sharp frost last night, and the temperature was below freezingpoint throughout the forenoon. While in the country districts there was bi'ight sunshine, London was enveloped in fog. Yesterday’s rise in temperature was not sufficient to interfere with skating, and throughout the country good sport was enjoyed. During the week-end, deaths due to cold or to accidents arising out of the frost occurred, and there were many accidents due to burst boilers. Great inconvenience is still suffered by householders owing to frozen water and gas pipes. An unprecedented use of gas for heating and cooking is reported, and the largest London company states that last week the output exceeded the normal amount by 400,000,000 cubic feet, representing an increase of more than 33 per cent. Two thousand stand-pipes have been placed in London streets, in areas badly affected by the frost, to supply the people with water.. MINERS BENEFIT COAL OUTPUT INCREASING WORK FOR UNEMPLOYED Times Cable. Reed. 9.5 a.m. LONDON, Monday. Besides the plumbers, the miners are also benefiting from the weather. The output quoted in five counties is increasing by ten per cent, to onethird, enabling 1,000 unemployed to resume work. The Continent and Southern counties are insistently demanding domestic coal, and prices are steadily appreciating. The revival is not merely a flash in the pan. Most of the collieries are assured of plentiful orders until April, and are expecting brisk business to Europe after the freeing of the icebound ports.

The prosperity does not extend to Wales, where the dislocation of traffic due to the weather has checked the progress noted early in the year.