SHORTAGE OF TIMBER.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3318, 23 October 1919, Page 5

SHORTAGE OF TIMBER.

TROUBl.l*l’ BECOMING ACUTE. i ._iUCl{LA.\*:»__ (ma, Acute shortage Of z1...u,-1 ,5 u~,_y'ing‘a, serious ‘efiect. at preseni on building Sand kindred trades. During the cur~ cailment of the railway seirrices the scarcity of timber was bad enough to hold up some important building oper. ations. With the resumption of normal train services, matters have not im—proved. ' One weikknown contractor stated that there were at present dry stocks of timber in AuckTa.nd,"andl_'lhat; the position generally “seenied to be getting worse daily. As «a. result Tdfi the dearth of dry timber, the joinery and furnishing industry was being. badly handicapped, as it was implossible to carry out good joinery with wet timber. The direet cause of the shortage of timber was the scarcity of labour. Whatever the reason might‘ be, it was certainly true that labour was not offering for the timhienfelling _ business. He considered that the only remedy was encouragement of immigration... L A TIMBER INDUSTRY ON MAIN» ]. TRUNK. V SOME INTERESTING FIGURES. ‘STATEMENT BY RANGITIKEI S.M, ASSOCIAION. ‘ MARTON, this day. Referring to the Press Association message in the morning papers, re the shortage of timber, a. “R-angitikei Advocate” representative this morning interviewed the chairman of the Rangitikei Sawniillers’ ’=Associa'tion, who stated that so far as the Main Trunk millers were concerned everything was being done ._t_orcl'ie_ve thershortiage. The output of trliegimenibers of the Rangi_tiIfei Associatvidn last'nlonth'was nearly §9rs...milli9e.te.et,. ...¢e.s.2.l.ll,p=.ir.<:sl...i.\fith two and la V(luarter'nlillion feet for the same month last year.‘ So far as the railway services were .concerned,... the Press. As» . sociation message was inaccurate, as tlle_‘R_ailway Department was doing ‘all ‘itipossibly could to ti-.anspol‘*‘t the tim- g her. A considerable improvement normal sel'vices:_n:as‘{, notipceiable. T 5 support’ this, he" stated tliaitifor six?"-i. weeks immediately after the railway cut was removed, from August 24th to October 6, ‘the railways lifted from four Main Trunk mills twelve and a.half million feet of timber-——an increase approximately of "four millions on the corresponding period of last year. Since a.Oetober 6th tlierailway figures’s-howcd __ a further increase, and it"was now lifting approximately one thousand waggons of timber weekly. The supply of waggons was plentiful, of which millers "we,-re taking .a_dvanta’ge. It was further] stated no building timber was export-« cd from any of the associated mills.