RATIONING OF PETROL

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25933, 13 October 1949, Page 5

RATIONING OF PETROL

AUSTRALIAN SCHEME (Rec. 7 p.m.) CANBERRA, October 12. New petrol ration tickets will be issued throughout Australia on November 11 for use on and after November 15. All motorists must use new application forms to prevent abuse of the rationing system.* Members of the Parliamentary Opposition believe that the Federal Government is refusing to release any petrol held in its defence stocks until November 15.

It is understood that 30,000.000 gallons will be required next month to enable the liquid fuel authorities to meet the ration. Garages in Canberra

are limiting sales to one gallon each time to cars with local licence platei only. Government cars are not affected.

In spite of a warning by the Prices Commissioner that black marketeers would be gaoled, many garages in Sydney reported yesterday that the black market of petrol was soaring. Last week the general black market price was 5s a gallon, instead of the official price of 2s 84d. Now, 7s a gallon is being demanded and paid.

One suburban garage proprietor said he refused an offer for 1000 gallons at 7s 6d a gallon. It is believed that most sellers will have no petrol left by the end of this month.

Mexican Air Crash.— A Mexican DC3 airliner, which had been missing since Monday on a flight from Mexico City to Piedras Negras, on the Texas border. was found wrecked and burned yesterday in the mountains near Saltillo. It is reported that all the eight persons aboard were killed.—New York, Oct. 11.

Ship in Difficulties.—The master of the freighter. Rowanbank, of 7600 tons, radioed to-day that the ship had “fractured the main deck” and had turned back to Port Adelaide. She is a converted Liberty ship and left Port Adelaide for India on October 7 with 9000 tons of flour.—Adelaide, Oct 12.