Hottest Day in 20 Swelter: Wir Years Causes City to less Progress Fae Our Owx London, Aug. 23, Great, Britain has been having terrific heat wave, and last Thursday was the hottest day for eleven years. In some parts of London Was as hot as on August 9, 1911, even hotter. That date is ths only occasion since 1841 when 100 idea. has been reached at Greenwich, where, it should be noted, the exposure of the thermometers is such as to yield temperatures slight. Ty. above those obtained at. official observatories. Thursday's maximum Greenwich was 99 deg.
Naturally people have been struggling to adjust themselves. to_con-jons with which they have very little experience, and there have been many incidents connected with the heat, some of a tragic and some of. hunierous kind, Unfortunately, There have been "several deaths caused by the heat, but on the Whole we have managed to crawl bout, "The intense heat has compelled London to slow down its characteristic rush and bustle, Those who were compelled by busi-to be out of doors decided that was a thing. to be avoided, fand there was an" increased ten: dency to adapt. clothing to the changed conditions. Many men were without waistcoat and coat, and more women and girls left off their stockings. The straw hat for men seems to be slowly creeping into fashion, again. There were more "boaters" in don than for many summers past. On the other hand there did not Appear to be any revival of the sunshade for women, Another feature of past summers missing from the streets has been the sun-bonnet of the horses. Thy disappearance of the horse is becoming more and more marked; few have been seen during the heat, ut those here were not, forgotten, Aman sat ata watering trough ear the Royal Exchange with a Jarge bag of oatmeal and a poster (Pree oatmeal drinks for thirsty horses." In the Bank of England notice was posted advising larks could work in their shirt sleeves in any office to which the Public does not have, admission, whis isnot unusual," an_ official id, "Always when the wear) Hecomes. very hot, men working in the sections of the bank where Public' business is not transacted Are allowed to take off their coats." Even stockbrokers shed their de carum.. Inside the Stock Exchange members wore to be seen without coats and waistcoats, Many of the oldest members could not remember previous occasion when members Were to be seen in this state of tn-
Tinplate mill workers at Llanelly had to stop work owing to the heat.
Workmen in a Sittingbourne brickfield collapsed, and work wax stopped.
At various seaside resorts South Wales bathing continued till after midnight, Convent Garden had to deal with demand for fresh loining caztle auction mart and Sports pavilion, 'A fowl house built of creosoted wood at Kingsmead poultry farm, Medswad, Near Alton, Hants, was on fire by the heat and about 200 pedigree white Wyandottes were roasted alive. Mrs. Turner, the owner's wife, was driven back by flames after rescuing three birds.
At Folkestone, members of the! Cinque Ports Flying Club had a sex bathing fight from their headquar ters at Lympne to Littlestone, some of the pilots being in bathing costumes They stated that even at a height of 2,000 ft. there was no change in the temperature.
'The unusually hot weather has had its effect on the business in the theatre, At this time Inst ye: there were 31 plays running London, Exeluding the '"non-sto houses playing variety, revue, and Grand Guignol, there' are at the moment fewer' than 20 theatres: open. The number compares very favourably with New York and practically every Continental city. There is certainly no cause for depression, for although nearly. half the theatres are closed most of the plays which are running are doing' exceedingly well. The heat has produced one of the greatest slumps the cinema has ever known, Pictures, though appealing—more and more to elderly people, are nainly supported by the young, and in weather like this most young men and women prefer to their evenings in the Jone house I visited t) were only two other people in circle at what should have been' Ithe peak hour, In such conditions the success of three or four out standing films markable. Jack' the Gainsborough comedy, starring Jai Hulbert and Cecily Courtneidge, is still drawing excellent business to the Tivoli, despite the fact that 252,288 persons have seen it sines June 23.
There have been many bathing! fatalities, and in four suicides the heat was thought to be a contribu tory cause. The heat wave was broken on Saturday night by terrifle thunderstorms, and much less Jdamage was reported than on> would have thought. There were floods in the areas which usually are flooded, and lof the worst sufferer's in rin.
The National Radio Exhibition at Olympia opened on Friday, and will remain open daily until August Its size and magnificence b Tess country. The Keneral level of prices is considerably lower than it was last year. Por 'a very muck in the exhibition than they did a year or two ago. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that the general public is being educated to expect an ever-improving standard of reproduction from a wireless receiver OF transportables, table models and consoles, there is an almost end-both in radio receivers Most 0 drop in the demand for meat.
'The intense heat stopped the run. ning of the miniature railway on the beach at' Sandown, Isle. of Wight. The rays of the broiling bun so expanded the injectors of the engine that it had to be shut! down from noon until three o'clock.
'The attendance last night at the open-air swimming pool in Bark, ing Park, where bathing is now permitted' until midnight and the pool is flood-lighted by electricity, was estimated at 10,600, Hundreds were. turned away' at the park gates.
Owing tothe heat the demand for fish at Hull has dwindled, ard thousands of stones have been' sent to works for conversion into fish. meal, There is a seaside demand for best quotities of fish, but the cheaper lines ere almost unsaleable, even at 6d. a stone.
Ad a result, it is believed, of the heat the grass on part of Funds Bury recreation ground, near Ro "chester, caught fire Thursday aftarnoon, and sbout four acres were basKened. The fs were pra wed feom, spreading to an ad-loud spee-_ bluet, and many of them permit additional loud speakers to be connected. In the more expensive sets moving-coil loud speakers are generally used, ut_many of the cheaper models ai equipped with speakers of the moving iron type. The cabinet work of the better sets leaves little to desired. In most cases the tuning dials are graduated directly wave-lengths and on many names of important broadcasting stations are also marked. A feature of several new sets is the inclusion of a tone-control device which enables the listener to ae: centrate the bass or the treble notes, Jat will. This has been found necessary because, inthe matter of, radio reproduction, individual taste varies so much. Two non-commer-_ cial exhibits will undoubtedly a tract attention, The first of these is shown by the B.B.C., and conists in part of a scale model of Broadcasting House to indicate ° the studios and admi A number of diagrams illustrate the complex passage of a wireless
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.