EFFECT ON FREEZING WORKS

Chronicle (Levin), 3 September 1946, Page 3

EFFECT ON FREEZING WORKS

-Press Association

LIVES II AND TO MOUTH

By T elearuvh —

i ' AUCKLAND, Sept. 2. | With reserves exhausted, major m- ' dustries in the Auckland urea are drawing wliat are deseribed as liund to mouth supplies of slack eoal to maintam 1 production. The shortage has been particularly 1'elt in the freezing iudustry and eompauies operating in the Nortli ! Island liave advised the Government that unless a inore suffieient supply or eoal is made avuilable, thev eannot be held responsible for any interruptions to killings or damagc to the meat in the works during the approaching summer seusou. Stoppages due to the cxj haustion of eoal stocks have alreaciy been tliroatened at freezing works m ' the provineo. At one of tho largest | works which uses 10 tons of slack daiiy during tho peak season, the bunkers were recently reduced to oulv about six j tons. To save the situation, three i motor trucks wero sent hurriedly to the ' minos at Huntly to bring back suffieient eoal to keop the works in oporatiou. At j oue freezing works, it was the pre-war ! praetieo to maintain between 500 and \ 1000 tons of Newcastle eoal which, unI like the Waikato slack, can be kept an store without depreciation. No appreeiable reserves ari; now maiutained 'and ! with supplies of slack barely suffieient Lu moet day to day needs, there" have been sovcral oeeasions when only emergency aetion has prevented a costly i stoppage. No city factories are known ' t f » have been fureed to suspend operations ilue to the eoal shortage, but a large Auckland distributor of industnat 1 slack stated that supplies reaching the ' 'ity were barely suffieient. to keep ini dustry going. Because of the laek oi I any sort. of reserves, either at the tuines j or in depots, an interruptiou to mining ■ or disloeution oi' transport services extending over a fow davs, would totaJlv i disorganise mauv industries inclnding

'the baking trade, freezing works and j hospitals and the railway services.