FURNITURE SHORTAGE.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 April 1920, Page 6

FURNITURE SHORTAGE.

" PROBLEMS OF HOME-MAKERS. DIMINUTION OF OUTPUT. The problems of those who wish to set up house iu Auckland nowadays are more difficult than at any time since the years of early settlement. To the great and almost insuperable difficulty of securing any kind of a house lias lately been added ciiat of obtaining any kind of furniture. Auckland furnishers and cabinetmakers say they have never been so shurt of stocks as at the present time, that it will take them from three to six months to deal even with the orders on hand. Shortage of timber is held to be one of the main causes of the trouble, another factor being the recent shortening of hours worked by the men in the eabinetmaking trade. Employers interviewed declared that the men were now working slower than ever, although they had only a live-day week, and tlicy frequently took six or seven hours longer over a job than previously. "What can be expected when this spirit prevails?" exclaimed one manager in some bitterness. "It serimsly affects prices as well as outpht, and the public has to pay the penalty."

"Never lias there been such a demand for furniture," said the manager of an auctioneering firm, "and never have we been less able to cope with it. Our firm has hundreds of pounds' worth of orders delayed m different factories. With the present demand we could be holding at least three sales a week, but with the available supply have been compelled to cut them down from two to one. Secondhand furniture is 'in great demand, but here again there is not sufficient to meet the need, although prices for good articles are fully 33 per cent above prewar cost. Of course, this is a tine chance for people who want to get rid of surplus furniture, but of no benelit to those who will have to replace what they sell, as prices for new goods are so high." Vet another factor in the present acute shortage was stated to be the difficulty of securing glass of any kind, particularly bevelled glass. The head of oue firm remarked that lie had £SOO worth of furniture awaiting completion in Auckland factories. Another stated that a large quantity was being Hold without mirrors, the buyers being willing to wait until later on for the articles to be completed. The shortage was held to be due to the huge demand in Europe for Belgian glass, and the exhaustion of British-held stocks. The theory was advanced that while the war was on a large quantity of the glass exported from England for furniture work was in reality plate-glass from London shop windows wrecked in the German air raids; This supply was now used up, and there was nothing else to send. From present indications the difficulties' confronting those wishing to establish a home will not be confined merely to finding a roof to shelter them, but to finding a bed whereon to lay their heads, for wire springs, kapok, and even bedsteads are said to be almost unprocurable. The shortage of kapok is due to tlio fact that American buyers have secured almost the wholcwof the output, the price of cotton floss, which was previously used almost exclusively in the United States, having risen to an almost prohibitive price as a result of the demand for cotton. Another line very short in Auckland at present is floor-covering Carpets are said to be almost unprocurable; supplies from Japan, which have been greatly in demand during the last few vears are becoming very uncertain.