SLIPING AT STANDSTILL

Chronicle (Levin), 10 March 1947, Page 4

SLIPING AT STANDSTILL

Semus Paation Arises In Skin Industry . A universal shortage of sodiiinS, said to have been primarily brought about by the coal situation hi Great Britain, has had serious repercusions in the freezing works industry hi New Zealand*. Throughout the Dominion the sliping of skins has been brought to a- standstill, and the mdustry has been forced to resort to merely drying the sMns. Supplies of sodiu'm have beenmamtained fairly well dkring the war, though- it was used considerably in the manufacture of poison gas, said 'the manager of a- Levin, flrnr" which handles a considerable/ qu-antity of skins- from. the abattoirY^ -U and local farmers. Japan, he sai(^" was once a souree of supply, but according to a recent cable message General MacArthur had diverted all supplies to America. "It has all come about very suddenly and there does not anpear to be* any hope of relief for twelve •or eighteen months," he eontinued; "The difficulty now is to find suitable accommodation ior the drymg of skins. As there is little hope of removing the wool with sodium, they will just have to be sold aa dry skins. We will have to pool our resources and use whatever accommodation we can find." He added that the showgrounds were at 'present being used, but the work would have to be speeded up before the wet weather set in. In a letter to the Horowhenuai • A. and P. Association, the Longburn Freezing Works Co-operative Wholesalers' Society requested the use of parts of the show buildings for the drying of skins. When the matter wa-s discussed at the meeting of the association on Fr\day night, Mr. J. H/Munj.gavin deseribed the situation as a "national emergency." Skins were bringing from 6s to 7s each, he«said!, . and by aiding with- drying the- association would be directly assisting, the farmers and the community generalLy. It was deeided that the •sheds be made available to the society free of charge, providing the buildings were mairitained and returned in good condition. Interviewed by telephone today, the manager of the Longburn Freezing Works stated that the position there was not so serious at the moment, but if no relief was forthcoming by next year a serious situation would arise. The problem had only developed during the past few weeks. The Government had been approached and it was doing all that was possible. The problem;, however, was a difiicult one.