“REALLY WELL OFF.”

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 250, 4 August 1941, Page 4

“REALLY WELL OFF.”

ASHBURTON AND THE BLACKOUT COMPARISON WITH THE NORTH. “Though we sometimes think we suffering a handicap through the black-out regulations, we are really well oft' compared with some places in the North Island,” said an Ashburton resident who has returned from a trip to Auckland. “All the blinds on the left-hand side of the train were drawn Before we left Wellington and we were advised over the platform loud-speaker before leaving Wellington that they must be kept drawn while the train was proceeding along the coast,” added the resident, “We had reached Palmerston North 6efore passengers drew up the blinds on that side of the cai’riages. •“At Auckland we found all the house lights shrouded. Even the bath room lights have to be covered over to prevent glare on the windows, and for this purpose purple material seems to be the most favoured method, Deadlights above floors are covered over with various types of material, some painted and other shrouded by the use of double thicknesses of brown paper, this being adopted because of the great shortage of ' holland for blinds, a material that quickly went out of stocks in the shops when the regulations came into force. “The trams, which before the war were always brightly lighted, are now very dark, the inside lights being covered so that the light shines only in the interior of the tram. In the streets the covering of lights is much more stringent than in Ashburton and the result is that the streets are gloomy in the extreme, especially in those wide streets where there are avenues of trees.

“In many places pedestrians have to feel their way along, and many people carry torches these nights. As soon as passengers alight from trams you can see the torches start to wink along the footpaths. Women make most use of torches and some of them go jmt at night with dogs for company and protection. In the shopping area the majority of the shops are completely blacked-out after closing hours. “The city portion of Wellington is much the same, but from the harbour you can still see rings of lights from houses around the hills.”