Page 4 Advertisements Column 1

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23746, 18 September 1942, Page 4

The question of how often a chimney should be swept was answered by a reservist who appeared before the Southland Armed Forces Appeal Board, He said a range chimney should be swept every 18 months, an open-fire chimney every two years, and a “wetback” fireplace chimney at least once every four months. The reservist was Albert Thomas Ladbrook, chimney sweep and cleaner, who appealed against service on the grounds of the public interest. He said there was only one other sweep in Invercargill. His business involved a 12-hour day, a good deal of Sunday work, and sometimes he had to start work as early as 4 a.m. Since May, 1941, he had cleaned 932 chimneys, and he had regular contracts to sweep about 400 chimneys wrlodically, The chairman (Mr E. H. Murney): “If you went to camp, I suppose some Invercargill citizens would probably be fined for having fires in their chimneys?” The reservist said that contrary to popular belief a fire in a chimney did not clean it. After a fire up to six buckets of soot could be taken from a chimney, compared with an average of one and a half buckets In ordinary circumstances. The appeal was adjourne' l sine die.