Engineers investigated a suspected steam leak near Bell Street after three pedestrians reported losing hats in the same place. No cloud was visible. No pipe was hissing. The hats simply rose. One landed on a balcony. One entered a shop doorway. The third returned to its owner, who described this as “good service.”
The owner of the balcony hat lowered it in a basket, while the shopkeeper returned the second by carrying it outside on a broom handle. The third owner simply waited beneath the vent until his hat came back, which witnesses considered unnecessarily optimistic but effective. Engineers found a narrow warm-air vent beneath a decorative grate.
The flow was within safe limits but stronger than usual. A temporary cover has been fitted. A warning sign reads: “HOLD HATS.” A man without a hat asked whether the warning applied to him. Officials have advised him to continue as normal. Bell Street has returned to ordinary levels of hat security.
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