A COAL CRISIS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 233, 26 June 1919, Page 7

A COAL CRISIS

— -■ —♦ ' GAS SUPPLY THREATENED " NOT A POUND OP OUR OWN COAL LEFT" RAILWAY SUPPLIES SAVE THE POSITION Owing to severe storms at sea, the Bβ! men's strike in 'Australia, and tho meagr supplies obtainable for some time nasi the Wellington Gas Company found itsel at the end of its stock of coai yesterdir .morning. The steamer Kakapo, coal laden, should, under ordinary circum stances, have arrived hero from West liort yesterday morning, but owing t' the severe southerly galo she is, prosum ably, sheltering until the worst, of it ha. blown over. Her non-arrival about n crisis, which, although temporal , ily staved off, may yet affect nearlj everyone in tho community. ' Yesterday afternoon'the secretary (Mr .1. H. Helliweii) said that they scarcely had a pound of their own coal left, bui there was a prospect of getting a smal supply that was consigned lo Palmerstoi Nortn. Later that plan fell through owing to an urgent demand from AVanganui. Then the Gas Company, .'hrough the Coal Committee, got into touch with the Railway Department, whe endeavoured to meet them in every way from their none too plentiful stock A difficulty arose, however, in getting the ■coal carted out to Miramar from Thorndon. on account of the heavy rain which fell almost continuously during tho afternoon to the accompaniment of a biting blast from the south. Mr. Dougall (manager of the-Gas Company) has secured a fleet of vehicles to commence work early this morning to cart the coal to Miramar, and hopes, through tho liberality of the Railway Department, to be able to carry oh until the Kakapo arrives to-day. A touch-and-go position was reached at the works about-7 o'clock last eveniirg, when tho demand all but reached tho point of supply. Had that occurred it would have been necessary to' cut off altogether pending the manufacture of a further supply of gas, bu't a great effort was made, a.ud as tho demand eased off after the peak load period, .•the supply gradu-ally-gained upon tho demand from about 0 -p.m. The Karafnu Bar-bound, • The Karamu was to have loaded about 800 tons for the Mirainar works, but had not been able to,cross the bar at Greymouth from Saturday until yesterday. Tho vessel, now loaded, was to leave last night for Wellington. When the Coal Trade: Committee found' that it was impossible for tho Karamu to reach Wellington ■ they arranged for a supply of coal ex the steamer Kakapo.- which vessel left Westport at 5.80 on Tuesdav morning, and should have reached Wellington yesterday morning. The vessel lias not arrived, having apparently been delayed by the gale. • • . ■

"CUTTING IT FINE"

GAS COMPANIES NOT TO BLAME. The chairman of the Wellington Coa! Trado Committee (Mr. 1 , , J. Gunn) saic he was not surprised at what had occurred.. The action was no doubt du< to the non-arrival up to time of a collier from tho West Coast bringing supplies for the company, to bo landed ai ,the Miramar works. The vessel wa; probably' weather-bound, for it was nol without delay that she was able to wort Westport owing to the then condition of tho bar, and since sho had left, the weather had become worse and was no doubt delaying her on the way. Delays of colliers by bad weather w«e inevitable. It was suggested to Mr. Gunn that not to be'able'to wait a day for fresh 'supplies of coal before shutting off gas was cutting it very iine. Mr. Qunn replied: "All the gas companies are 'cutting it very fine.' -They cannot do otherwise. They are all working on a very, narrow margin as to supplies. Wellington is not singular in that resDGct • ■■ -. 1 ■■• ■ .t.- •-. ' ."As a matter of fact the'coal outnut from -the West Coast for the first hve months of the present year was 69,000 tons short of the output.for the corresponding period of 1918.- In addition to that importations from Australia are greatly reduced, and only throe- steamers of the Union Company manned by New Zealand crews are in that trade. The position is admittedly acute. The arrival of the cargoes of ,Weai Coast coal now overdue for the Miramar works will ease it, so far as Wellington is concerned. m'unicipaimjakes action LIGHTING & TRAMWAY SERVICES - CURTAILED. The municipal services are practically in the same boat with the Wellington Gas Company. No reserve stocks of coal are in hand, and at t'.ie outside tbe lighting and tramway services could not be maintained at full mid-winter pressure on.present stocks ior much more than a week. Hearing of the position of the Gas Company the. Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) at once, took action, and, with the approval of the Tramways and Lighting Committee, ordered an immediate curtailment in both services. Mr. M. Cable, actiiig-tramwaye-manager, was called in, and instructed that the service must bo cut down considerably at once, as it was deemed hotter to have a partial service for some time than to have a full service for a lesser period. Mr. G. Lauchlan (manager of the Electric Lighting Dopartment) was also instructed' that all unessential lighting and heating services must be cut out at ouco, and that energy must.only be supplied where it was absolutely' necessary. This was not tho easiest task in the world, as individual companies- and private individuals had to bo communicated with, and informed of the restrictions which had been placed on them in order to conserve, as far as possible the meagre ftqeks of .coal in hand. This prompt action, it is understood, will mean a lessoning of the fuel lieeded for ihe furnaces at the powerhouses, and so make for economy until thb crisis is .over. The Mayor stated that in April last he was criticised for- having purchased, practically on his own 1000 tons of coal for thb poner-hou6es at a, price above the market rate at that time. That coul was to bo an insurance stock against possible shortages in the winter months, and his officers had assured him that th& city would have beon ill a nvncu more serious plight now had not that step been taken. That con-tingency-stock had long .since been drawn upon, and for some time past they had Vj-jen working frora-hand to mouth. The public had not been slow to help the authorities in tho x>asl, when an emergency had occurred, nnd he now urgjd all citizons to absolutely rofraiu from using radiators or other electrical heat appliances, except in cases of absoluto necessity, as, for example, in cases of sickness.

TO OBVIATE COMPLETE STOPPAGE. Drastic steps may have to be taken in tho near future to deal with the shortage of coal in the city. An announcement is made by the Town Clerk that all users of electric light must discontinue all external illuminations until further notice. Shopkeepers arc required to discontinue nil shop-lighting immediately after closing hours. These precautions may help to obviate the complete stoppage of the coal supply, and enable all essential requirements to bo met, but it is verv probablo that the uso of gas and electric light will be restricted to certain hours, as huppened last year. As the result of prompt action on tho part of the authorities there wns a sensible diminution in tho use of electric lisflii.in Hi" city last evening. The curtailment chiefly noticeable was the dispensing with all superfluous exterior lights outside theatres, picture- houses, and refreshment places, which as a rule make nil elaborate show of bulb lights between the hours of 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Picture theatres, with their darkened auditoriums, do not use a great deal of current for lighting inside, but the arcs used in the projecting machines consume n fair amount of energy.

and was shown over parts of the district. At tho Town Hall to-night the Minister received numerous deputations, the chief one stressing the urgent need for completion of the Bulliir Gorge railway and pointing out that owing to the ease with which coal could bo produced it could bu put on the market 10s. to 12s. per ton cheaper than other coal now on the market. Ono member of tho deputation urged that the Minister of Munitions bo asked to consider the question of subsidising, tho miners with a view to getting an increased output from tlie mines, rather than send money out of New Zenland for coal admitted to be inferior to that mined in New Zealand. POSITION IN AUCKLAND. Reports havo 'been received in Ancleland that a seven-foot seam of coal is outcropping at Hunua, about seven miles from the road from I'apakura. This is not a new find; it is the result of recent prospecting. . Tho Hunua Colliery Co. started boring on the bank of a small stream, and ei.x men are- employed in development work.. A consignment of sixteen lons was supplied to nn Auckland manufacturing firm on Monday. Inquiries made regarding the state of the supplies of coal go to show that the shortage k still acute. While the Government lias not yet adopted a rationing system, dealers have been compelled to adopt such a course to keep their regular clients supplied. •