TRAFFIC CHAOS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25293, 29 August 1945, Page 7

TRAFFIC CHAOS

RAILWAYMEN'S STRIKE NO TRAINS IN VICTORIA VAST CROWDS RUSH TRAMS (Reed. 11.45 p.m.) MELBOURNE, Aug. 528 Chaos prevailed in Melbourne's transport system and throughout the State during today's one-day strike of railwaymen. The only two trains which ran in Victoria were expresses frora Adelaide and Sydney, which left those capitals the previous night and continued their journeys to Melbourne. Thousands of people arrived in the city late for work this morning, as 300,000 passengers who usually are car-" ried by electric suburban trains were forced to find other means of transport. Many hitch-hiked, walked, cycled or used their cars, but most people walked to the nearest tramline, which in many cases is miles from their homes. Trams were hopelessly overloaded and banked up miles along St. Kikla Road and other main routes, as the tramway authorities were unable to .provide extra .trams and buses to cope with the huge traffic. For the evening rush from the city the position was much worse than in the morning. Y r ast crowds surged on all trams leaving the city. Amid all the chaos the huge Flinders Street station, with its 11 platforms, which normally handle suburban train traffic, stood silent and deserted. At a meeting this morning the railwaymen decided to resume tomorrow. Melbourne's electricity supply is seriously affected by the strike. Stocks of coal on hand are sufficient to last only 30 hours. Power plants depend on supplies brought by rail and a further hold-up would result in Melbourne being without electricity. In Brisbane the tramway employees have threatened to cease work at midnight. Reports from Brisbane state that a wave of industrial unrest is sweeping Queensland, with several major industries disrupted by strikes. A mass meetr ing of tramway employees decided, on a strike in an effort to achieve a 44-hour • week. ANTI-STRIKE STRIKE NEW FORM OF DISPUTE iN.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent) (Reed 6.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, Aug. 28 To the man in the street some of the coalminers' strikes in Australia have seemed unreasonable, to say the least, but on the northern fields. last week there was something new in strikes. At the Stockrington Colliery the pittop workers, who are day-wage men, went home after the miners had gone below. They threw the mine idle as a protest against "unjustifiable strikes" i by the contract men and their disregard of the day-wage men, who have no opportunity to make up pay lost in strikes. QUISLING'S LOOT JUDGES VISIT HOME VALUABLES FROM PALACE LONDON. Auk. ->7 The trial of Vidkun Quisling was suspended today while the .Judges inspected his home on Bydof Peninsula, two miles west of Oslo. They saw the loot which he is alleged to have removed from the Royal Paiace. King Haakon's chamberlain earlier gave evidence that Quisling turned tha Royal Palace into a pigsty and stole many valuables, including linen and silver plate to the value of £4500. X-rays and spinal tests were carried out on Quisling during the week-end to see whether he is suffering from a tumour of the brain or a similar disease which might have altered his mental outlook. It is believed, in spite of doctors' and psychiatrists' testimony, that he is_ perfectly sane. He might be suffering from some disease which would account for the tremendous difference between witnesses' description of his character as a youth and his subsequent conduct and utterances. The results of the tests have not yet been announced. TIMBER FROM RUSSIA COMMONWEALTH PLANS CANBERRA, Aus Ji Plans to provide timber for Australia's housing programme, announced by the Prime Minister, Mr J. B.\Chifley, include the importation of 100,000,00 C super feet of timber from Russia, either by the Government or through commercial channels. The Army will be instructed to give " special consideration to the release of men recommended b? the manpower authorities for the timber industry. The Cabinet agreed to these proposal after considering a report from the Minister of Munitions, Mr N. J. O. Makin, on the serious timber shortage. Other recommendations adopted bv the Cabinet included the development of the New Guinea forests, and urgent investigations by the Shipping Department into the timber unloading facilities in Sydney. Mr Makin's report said that the New Guinea timber resources, while not solving Australia's problems, would make a useful contribution if developed on sound lines. About 20,000.000 feet a month would hare to be imported to meet next year's housing target. At present shipping was only available for imports of 7,000,000 to 8,000,000 feet a month.

MOTOR-CAR SPRINGS

BRITISH IMPROVEMENTS RUGBY, An*. .'27 New British oars will have the best springing' in the world, and it is believed that the increased comfort of United Kingdom cars will have a strong appeal to Empire and other overseas customers. The cars now in production are being equipped with springs which are a marked improvement 011 earlier systems. The Daily Telegraph's motoring correspondent says not only will the wheels be independently sprung, but also the conventional leaf springs will be superseded bv coil springs enclosed in cylinders, pneumatic hydraulic mechanism or torsion bars. The excellent shock absorbing qualities of the new springing have already been demonstrated. The system is based on the new undercarriage design for Royal Air Force bombers. OLD MASTERS FOR SALE ITALIAN OFFERINGS (Reed. 9.30 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 Italy is reported to be selling a group of oil'paintings by foreign and Italian masters. The prices range from 55,000 dollars for Titian's "Venus" to 11,000 dollars for Moro's "Portrait of a Man. CARRIER ENTERPRISE (Real. 7.80 p.m.) N'KW YORIv Ans 27 The Secretary of tlie Navy, Mr J. V. Fourestal, announces that the Navy plans to preserve the carrier Enterprise, for posterity as a. war symbol. in® carrier fought the Japanese from he beginning of the Pacific war and: travelled 275.000 miles. Her gims planes^shot