COAL SUPPLIES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26634, 3 December 1947, Page 4

COAL SUPPLIES

DEMANDS BEING MET IN DUNEDIN EFFECTS OF HOLIDAYS Reports from Invercargill state that a shortage of coal is being experienced and orders taken in the case of one merchant will not be delivered before Christmas. When a Daily Times reporter sought information from the president of the Dunedin Coal Merchants’ Union, Mr D. R. Wilson, yesterday concerning the present situation in Dunedin, he was told that it was not as bad as was apparently the case in Invercargill. The sources of Invercargill’s supplies are the Southland mines, and distribution from these mines has been badly affected by the increased requirements of the Railways Department for the holiday period and also by the closing of the Black Diamond open-cast mine for the last two months while stripping operations were carried out.

Through the co-operation of the Dunedin public in accepting a proportion of brown coal with their orders of bright coal,' the coal merchants locally have been able to keep their clients supplied. The quantity of bright coal reaching the market in Dunedin before Christmas is not expected to be sufficient to meet the current demands and allow for holiday stock, but with a leavening of brown coal and the co-operation of the public it is hoped the position will be met The mines will close from December 19 to January 8, and it is predicted that when the merchants close their premises on Christmas Eve all their stocks will be depleted. The merchants will close from December 24 until the morning of January 14, and the output of the Southland mines from January 8 to 13 will normally be required by the Railways Department so that the position for the first week after the merchants reopen may be somewhat serious, depending on the weather. '*