LACK OF GAS.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 237, 4 October 1920, Page 5

LACK OF GAS.

TEN MORE DAYS OF IT. HUNDREDS OF WORKERS IDLE. HARDSHIP EVERYWHERE. NO WAGES, NO FUEL, DISCOMFORT REIGNS SUPREME. It is possible that -some supply of gas will be given to Auckland „-nul ihc middle of next week, for the company expects 1750 tons from Westport nex: Monday or Tuesday. This is likely to be loaded on the Karma next Friday. But Mr. Lowe, engineer and macager. emphasises the fact that it is barely v week's supply, and something inofe than this will have to be in sight if the service is to be continued for any leugtb of time after iU resumption. At present it is even doubtful whether the iv!! service can be restored on or about next Wednesday week, for nothing is coming yet from Westport, and the prospect of a fairly regular supply seems to Inessential before the firll and x-.oniinued restoration of this service can be even suggested. HA-DSII-IP AND INCONVENIENCE. In the meantime, the hardships and inconvenience of all sections and classes of the people of Auckland can- scarcely be over etn-phasisexl. The Tixll extent of the elfects of this lack of gas are almost" unbelievable, if it were not for the fact that they can be seen and noted by any inqnirer. Dozen- of commercial ami industrial <'oncern_ are severely handicapped, and hundreds of workers are thrown out of employment, being idle during the day and having to face the cumulative effects of empty purses, hick of fuel, absence of regular-means of transport, while at the sanM? time the whole ', of tbe lighting and cooking arrangements of thousands of homes have i>een upo.it completely. It. is astonishing to see how many ; conr'mercial .services are either wholly or 'in part dependent upon gas. The big - clothing factories are in trouble through • absence of heating, the boot-——ing 'I plants are in the same position, bakers' ' axe struggling ag—inst the shortage <>i ' coke, and the staffs of downs of fay- • tories, foundries, and workshops are ; either wholly or partially idle, spnie - being kept on hand to overhaul ' machinery and plant, and others work_ ! ing half-time or else being out .if > employment till -the gas is restored. I In the restaurants hot meals have often been cut out completely, and afternoon • tea or hot refreshments of any kind mean - in the majority of places a wait of over ; half an hour, followed by a half-cold cup 1 of coffee or tea, which is often accom- . panied by the earnest apologies of the - manageress. Barbers have been forced to I close their saloons, or else, what is more ('common, to incur a great deal of expense .iin the installation and upkeep of ineiliII eient substitute arrangements GLOOMY HOMES. But it is in the average household that the greatest misery meets the eye. During the evening a cheap lamp or «andle \ casts a ghostly glimmer over the livingroom, for in hundreds of homes during '/these days of heavy prices and great ex- ! pcuses there is no money to splash in ' expensive substitutes. Even high-priced coal is very hard to get, firewood is even • more conspicuous for its absence, ami to the worker who must spend all his day- ! light hours getting to his toil, doing his I eight hours ajid then getting home again. ! the results of his wood-prospecting efforts , after dark are pitiably small. As a consequence the hearth is cold and the grate empty, and early retirement for all liamLs gives* the only escape from a cheerless evening. PEOPLE 'TT AGAINST IT." This absence of gas. coupled with the tram stoppage, and the difficulty aud expense of getting any sort of fuel, is creating a long list of discomforts for all those multitudes of people—and their name is legion—who have no money to spare. They are "up against it" with a vengeance, and if all their violent objurgations against the miners were to be quoted it would make a lurid comroentatory Indeed. The only otlser to all this extra toil and additional misery lies with the weather. Though dull and undependablc, it has not yet been really wet for any great length of time, and il is the 1 heartfelt wish of hundreds of uncomfortable people that there may lie no heavy weather until the condition- of living in this city become somewhere nearly approaching normal again.