London's Christmas Fog.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7716, 19 January 1905, Page 3

London's Christmas Fog.

A despatch from London, dated ' December 23rd, states :—There is as yet no sign of the jifting of the fog ; which envelopes the Kingdom. The absence of wind throughout Great Britain is almost unprecedented, and meteorologists do not expect any change in the conditions for another twenty-four hours. Considering the almost insuperable difficulties attending locomotion of any form, the number of fatal accidents has been remarkably small. Congestion and • suspension of business are very general so far as London is concerned. The railways are the only concerns benefitting, and their daily traffic is reaching record figures. The places of amusement are almost deserted, and shopkeepers are loudly lamenting the absence of usual Christmas customers, instead of which big stores are inundated with orders by post, which cannot be executed owing to the complete «islocation of all carrying business. Railroad traffic, both for long and short distances, is almost paralysed, a condition resembling chaos prevails in the postal service, arid with the continued accumulation of Christmas parcels and letter traffic it is quite impossible to preserve even a semblance of punctuality. All railway trains between London and the suburbs occupy a couple of hours in making a distance of eight miles. Mail boats in all directions are similarly disorganised, while the Oceanic and Saxonia have been unable to reach landings at Liverpool. The Cedric and Pretoria, outward bound, were - both delayed, and the Minchaha was waiting at the mouth of the Thames, unable to proceed. Only two vessels entered the port of London on December 22nd—a condition of affairs such as has not occurred for twenty years, The mouth of the river is crammed with vessels loaded with perishable foodstuffs of all tescriptions. The streets of London present remarkable scenes. Nothing is visible excepting torches and the occasional flare of big creosote lights, which the authorities are beginning to employ to assist traffic. Phantom voices mingle with the increasing whistling of the omnibus and the tramwuy drivers,while at points like Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park corners are agglomerations of vehicles of every description held up by policemen, and close locked for hours. Nearly everybody is suffering from headache, which the doctors attribute to the fog.