140 



THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 



twenty-four hours is o'73in., yet the total has again 

 been considerably under the average, viz., 2-28 as 

 against 3-86 inches. Since January i there has been 

 25-24 inches, and the average of the same time is 

 27-98 inches. 



The barometer has been rather under the average, 

 being 30 inches and over on fourteen days, and under 

 on sixteen days. The maximum has, however, since 

 been high 30-49 and 30-42111. Two considerable de- 

 pressions occurred in the early part o' the month 

 29-30 and 25-11 inches attended by severe falls all 

 through that time. 



The temperature at the beginning of the month and 

 up to the 23rd was high for the season, the maximum 

 being once 58 and twice 57. The cold, however, 

 from the 26th to 2gth inclusive has been quite un- 

 precedented here in November ; during this time it 

 did not rise above freezing, and the maximum on the 

 28th was 26, six degrees of frost. The lowest was 

 14, on the same night, which had not been reached 

 since December 31, 1886. The only instance also re- 

 corded of 26 maximum in the day-time was January 



i, 1887. 



T. WESTLAKE. 

 Fordingbridge. 



WOODEN WATER MAIN AT SOUTH- 

 AMPTON. 



I beg to thank you for referring me to the map 

 showing the old water mains in the possession of the 

 Borough Engineer. That map is conclusive, and 

 fixes the date of the wooden mains at 1803. In sug- 

 gesting an earlier date, I had in mind a piece of the 

 old leaden water pipe now in the Hartley Museum, 

 which bears the mark , Q 17151 which was the date 

 when renewals were made to the leaden pipes from 

 Hill, in the ma3 r oralty of John Grove. The map 

 shows that wooden main pipes were laid down from 

 the Common nearly a century after the renewal of the 

 old leaden pipes from Hill. Our old townsman, Mr. 

 W. H. Purkis. who .takes a great interest in the 

 antiquities of the town, has informed me that his 

 father told him that these wooden pipes were made 

 from certain elm trees cut down in the Avenue. He 

 also states that the wood was bored for the purpose 

 of acting as pipes by Mr. Walter Taylor, at his Naval 

 Block Manufactory at Woodmill, which was a large 

 and flourishing business at the beginning of this 

 century. 



T. W, SHORE. 



I notice since I made some remarks anent these pipes 

 one or two have been placed in the Hartley Museum. 

 I happened to see them just as they were taken from 

 the ground under the eastern archway, and could 

 have had one, but they were weighty and slippery, 

 and somewhat rotten to carry. They seemed to be 



quite old, and I concluded they may have been pipes 

 used for water when the town got a supply from near 

 St. Peter's Church. Your editorial correction that 

 the arch was opened in the last century put me right. 

 I suppose it cannot therefore now be argued they 

 were placed under before the pathway was made. 

 Supporting your view of their being "modern," Mr. 

 Purkis tells me within the memory of some, or early 

 in this century the town books I understood show 

 this every other tree was cut down in the Avenue 

 to make these wooden water drains. I should like to 

 know if this is correct. 



P. 



[We do not write without some knowledge when 

 we express an opinion that the municipal journals do 

 not contain any record that the Avenue trees were 

 cut down for the purpose of making these pipes. It 

 is just possible the wood carne from the Common, for, 

 unhappily, that beautiful public demesne was sadly 

 denuded of big trees by our forefathers, who 

 apparently regarded a periodical cutting down and 

 sale of timber there as an unfailing source of income, 

 and an excuse for a corporation festival, though in 

 justice be it said they seem to have learned better 

 things by the early part of this century the period at 

 which we suggest the wooden main was laid down. 

 En. N. & Q.] 



WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. 



From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance 

 Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir 

 Chas. Wilson. K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 

 54' 50" N. ; long. i24'o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. 

 Observer Mr. J. T. Cook. 



* Black bulb in vacuo. t Melted snow. 



