COUNTRY TELEPHONES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 249, 15 July 1920, Page 3

COUNTRY TELEPHONES

SHORTAGE OF MATERIAL A MINISTERIAL STATEMENT The shortage of telephone nnd telegraph material is delaying the construction of rural lines. A statement on this subject was made in the. House of liepreventatives yesterday by the Postmas-ter-General (Mr. Ooa'.ea) in reply to a question .by Mr. A. D. M'Lood. "Only a limited quantity of material is availnoic tor the construction, of telephone extensions, which are being proceeded with tn tho order of priority, of application," said the Minister. '"Wire, insulators, and other lino materials aro in short supply, owing, to the inability of tho manufacturers to cope with the heavy doninnds that have been made upon them both before and since the termination of tho war, and owing also to shipping difficulties. . There are large quantises of the various classes of material under order; but the manufacturing and shipping difficulties make it impossible for the Department to say when they will bo delivered. In tins respect Now Zealand is only sharing the difficulties experienced by nearly all other countries in tho world. The Department has done, and is doing; everything possible to facilitate the supply of materials, to meet tlie demands for extensions in the. various districts. The supply of poles from Australia' has been practically cut off since 1917, owing to Bhipplhg troubles, Recently arrangement!; were made to chartor special vessels to carry the poles; and already .WOflpo'.s have hcou landed at central ports for distribution. It is expected that a .further slrfpmont of 7000 poles will ihe landed within a. fortnight. It may be mentioned that the Chief Telegraph Engineer, who is now en route to England, wilt pay special attention to the question of early deliveries of nil materials under order. The following indicates the number of new l subscribers connected during the years ended March .31, 1918, 191!),. and 1920, respectively:Year ended March 31, 1918, 7500 now subscribers ■connected; year ended March 31, 1019. C3SO new- subscribers connected; year ended March 81, 1920, 9100 now subscribers connected. Owing to the fact that poles suitable for subscribers' lines were available locally, more work has been dono during the last few years in the Wairarapa district than in any other part of the Wellington district''