TRAIN SERVICES

Taranaki Daily News, 3 July 1919, Page 5

TRAIN SERVICES

EFFECT OF CURTAILMENT, STATEMENT BY GENERAL MANAGER. ■ MEAGRE STOCK OF COAL. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. Mr.R. W. McVilly, General Manager of Railways, was invited by the' confer* ence of local bodies and chambers of commerce in the Wellington Province to make a statement in explanation of the measures adopted by the Department to economise coal. Mr. MoVilly said that what had led to the curtailment of the services was the great reduction iu the reserve stock of railway coal, which, in 1913, was 80,000 tons, but to-day was only 11,000. The total coal in sight between now and the middle of August was 8000 tons. When he told them that under the man-saving time-table of last year 5000 to 6000 tons a week were being burned, they could see how long the Department could have continued to run the full time-table with 11,000 ,tons of coal. Ho continued! "in fourteen days' time, at most, we should probably have found ourselves without any trains at all, so there was only oile thing- to do, and that was to take our courage in both hands and cut the timetable." Immediately the Department could see a reasonable supply of coal in sight it would be only too glad to remove the restrictions as far as it could, but fit the present moment the bedrock position Was that the restricted timetable would have to remain in operation. The Department had exhausted every possible means of obtaining coal, and had been doing that for the last three years. The coal supply had been one of the most difficult V esti onß the Department had had to deal with since 1914, The position being as it was, the next thing the Department had to do was to consider how it could best serve the whole community under the restricted timetable, and the first consideration was the feeding of the people in ,the backblooks. The present time-table was not brought into operation, hurriedly. The Department had it pigeontJioled practically since 1917. Restrictions placed on the conveyance of materials was not one that the Department was desirous of imposing, and if it could be shown that the removal of it would not inflict hardship, he should be very pleased to discuss details with one or two gentlemen the conference would appoint. ,Mr. McVilly said he realised that the present crisis meant'a lot of unemployment, but there was. only a very meagre supply of coal in stock and an extremely meagre supply in sight. The appointment of a commercial agent under the Railway Department would be considered at a comparatively early date. The conference appointed a committee to confer with the Railway Department from timo to time regarding difficulties arising out of the new regulation*.

: POSITION AT DUNEMN. Dunedin, Last Night. The through trains north and south were loaded to their full capacity this morning. The goods sheds are reported to be considerably congested, especially with goods for Oamaru and Christchuron. There are evidences that the shipping companies miy be effected to some extent. One company catering for the coastal trade was already declining to ship the classes of goods debarred by ,tb.e railway to places such as Lyttelton or Timaru, which are known as railway ports, as such good> when discharged will not be handled by the railway. Intimation has been received that beer, wine, and spirits will be carried on the railways in small quantities. , The attendance at the Technical College ia seriously affected. , i

I EFFECT ON FAT STOCK SALES. Dunedin, Last Night. A meeting of farmers and butchers was held at Burnside to-day to consider the railway restrictions with regard ,to the carriage of fat stock. It was stated that under the regulations stock must be consigned to abbatoira, which would practically mean the closing of the Burnside yards Jhd the placing of farmers and butchers in*a very serious position. The consumer would nrobably eventually feel the pinch more severely as 1 the result Of increased prices. A motion was carried viewing with alarm the. very drastic curtailment in the carriage of fat stock to saleyards, which meant forcing the smaller butchers out of business, and Suggesting that the Railway Department be empowered ,to accept consignments of fat stock, so that auction sales can be continued at the recognised selling centres. Latef in the day arrangements were made for a meeting between the railway traffic manager and the chairman of the Stock Agents' Association to-morroW, When it Will probably be agreed to consign stock to Burnside for sale to butchers only.

NEW PLYMOUTH'S PECULIAR ' POSITION.

A meeting of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce was held.yesterday to consider the effect of the present railway restrictions upon the bringing of goods to New Plymouth. The position at the breakwater is that there is no storage accommodation there, and, the wharf being under tile control of.the railway, carriers are not permitted to go on and receive goods from the ehip's side, and, as .the railway is declining to carry anything, lint tho barest essentials, New Plymouth finds itself in a very isolated position, especially in comparison with other parts of the Dominion where access to the wharf sheds is allowed for vehicles. The chamber'therefore decided to bring before the Minister of Railways the fact that there was no storage provision for inward goods at the breakwater, and to ask him that the railway goods shed at New Plymouth be declared a ship's-side shed. It was also resolved that the chamber takes strong exception to beer, wines, and spirits being carried as goods under present conditions. In connection with the above matter, Mr. S. G. Smith, IH.P,, has forwarded to the General Manager of Railways the following telegram: "Local officers' interpretation of instructions re restriction of goods traffic means practically the closing of this port' to cargo. This will specially penalise, this district, because (it other ports in thYNottli Island vehicle traffic" has access to Wharves. Will traffic ex ship ho conveyed from wharf to goods shed, thus obviating throwing a large number of men out of employment aid causing unnecessary loss and ihcttnvehlJ#«B.jyMsi..cßi* k»/voided by. iigj^J,

Tien of the f*ct that this port 1* peculiarly Kindly expedite reply." ■ , , " itii*n > '"irvi»»i « NOHOPE OF WMDikffr pLffi?. AUCKLAND COMMERCIAL MEN'S Auckland, July 1.,

The Minister for Hallways has sent the following telegram to Mr. C. J. Parr, MJ?., in reply ,to a communication regarding the train service reductions: "It is impossible to say when the ordinary service can be resumed, and there is only about a week's supply of Coal, vie., about five thousand tons on normal running, in sight for the next month. This situation wijl undoubtedly be relieved when the Australian strike is over, but relief cannot be expected immediately, as ships have first to go from New Zealand to Newcastle. The epidemic is also a cause of much delay, cspeciallyif coal boats on arrival here have to undergo quarantine. As you are probably aware, the Kaituna kaa been in Newcastle a week or more, and has not started loading yet. She should by this time nave been here, and her cargo of ' coal discharged. I can assure you that the time-table will be resumed at the earliest possible moment, but there is hardly any hope of ge.tting any alleviation until August. We are trying to reduce our ordinary consumption of 5000 tons of coal to half that amount."

The Chamber of Commerce considered the curtailment of ,the railway service in camera yesterday. Discussing the matter to-day, the president stated that while business men of the city were willing to comply with every restriction dictated by absolute necessity, the curtailment of the services had been so drastic and sudden that there was a feeling that the necessity for such severe measures was not yet absolutely proved. There was also a strong opinion in commercial circles that in many directions the coal consumption could have been cut down so aa to have made the limitation of carriage of goods less severe, such as supplies that are being conserved for the peace illuminations, the lighting of the city, and so on. While tuescnants and traders w©e quite prepared to be loyal to the Government in any genuine embarrassment, the effect df the restrictions threatened to be so serious that i,t was desirable that the business community should be supplied with the fullest possible information as to the circumstances compelling the present action oi the Railway Department.''Already some firms were contemplating the possibility of having to suspend their packing and Warehouse staffs.

SOLDIERS' HOMES DELAYED. Christchttrch, Last Night. In view of the cut in the railway services some districts tire being completely isolated. The Canterbury Pro* gross League, in conjunction with the Press and the Times newspaper com* panies, have arranged a complete daily mail Bertie* for North Outfwbury. In view of the serious effect of the, Railway Department's decision not to carry timber will have on the erection of soldiers' homes, thereby putting Settlement back for at least a year, a public meeting is to be held to see if th« Department cannot be persuaded to alter the regulation.

ACTION AT CHRISTOHUKCH. Christehureh, Last Night. A deputation from the Canterbury Industrial Association waited on the Mayor , to-dfty regarding the effect of the curtailed railway services on the industries of the city. The deputation asked Dr. Thacker to call a public meeting immediately to consider the cutting out of goods trains. It was stated that the practical suspension of goods trains would absolutely paralyse the industries of .the city, and would really amount to a lock out being placed On the community by the Railway Department. This would involve a wiping out of the whole weekly wage bill of some thousand of workers. Dr. Thacker agreed to call a meeting to-morrow. ..