SHORTAGE OF STOCK TRUCKS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 648, 4 March 1914, Page 5

SHORTAGE OF STOCK TRUCKS.

SHEEP HELD AT RAILWAY. UNABLE TO GET TO MARKET. A SERIOUS POSITION. That a sheep fair cbh he seriously affected; that settlers are forcad to keep sheep, intended for sale, on the farm, while others hav-' mobs, which were sent to the rai'w ■■•» for trucking, crammed into the - . rest possible paddock and left th :• . still waiting for trucks which ntv;-r arrive, while at the sale centre those who have been fortunate enough not to be dependent upon the railway are having their sheep sold that such things should exist is a blot on railway administration which will require more than promises, or stereotyped departmental Irtters to obliter ate. The cases quoted occurred in connection with the sheep fare held at Ohaupo yesterday, when at least five thousand sheep from this district which were intended for the fair were held up because the necessary trucks were not available. In some instances settlers were sufficiently handy by mail or telephone, to receive advice not to put their sheep on the road as it was impossible to get trucks. These were fortunate. Those who will sutler most are the unfortunates who put their stock on the ruad in ample time to get them to the railway and paddock them for a day hefore shipping Out of twenty-four trucks ordered for Hangatiki only five were supplied, and out of the same number ordered for Te Kuiti only four were available. It is also stated or. the best of authority that even yet there are about twenty truck loads of sheep held up at Ngaruwahia since the sheep fair at that centre last Wednesday. It can be imagined what this will cost the unfortunate owners of the stock.

What it means to the country to have these things happen is difficult to estimate. Small wonder that the farrrers roundly condemn the railway management and agitate unceasingly for a c'lange. This state of things has not arisen in a year; it has been slowly accumulating until occurrences such as have been described lead to an outburst of indignation that must be heeded by the authorities. The subject was under consideration by the Te Kuiti Chamber of Commerce on Monday evening when a letter was read from the Railway Department stating that the truck question was a highly important one to tho department as the demand for rolling stock was only during two or three months in the year, and that the trucks would be lying idle during the rest of the time.

In view of what is happening this season it is safe to conclude that the farmers will not remain idle in demanding proper facilities for the carriage of their stock to market.