ACUTE SHORTAGE. PETROL SUPPLY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 105, 3 May 1912, Page 4

ACUTE SHORTAGE. PETROL SUPPLY.

• CONSTERNATION CAUSED' IN • CHBISTCHUKCH. fVT TBLEQBAPH — FRESH ASSOCIATION.]' CHRISTCHURCH, 2nd May. There ie consternation in the ranks of motorists and owners of petrol-driven machines. There is an acute shortage in th» supply of petrol in the Dominion, and it is anticipated that it will be six or seven weeks before an abundant supply of petrol is available. In the meantime,, fancy prices are being paid for petrol, and there is eager competition among motorists whenever any is offered for sale. It is anticipated that as the shortage becomes -more acute there will be numerous petrol-driven vehicles put out of commission. In fact, the shortage may have a very serious effect on business in Christchurch. A memher of the Press staff interviewed the proprietor of one of the city garages, to-day, and was informed that. 'the 'amount of petrol consumed by taxicabs had greatly exceeded anticipations, with the Tesalfc that importations hail not been large enough to meet requirements. It was quite on the cards thrit a number of taxi-cabs would have to be laid up, and to his knowledge a good many doctors who use motor care very extensively, have already practically, exhausted their supplies. He believed that the shortage was common to the whole of the Dominion. Timaru, to his knowledge, was practically without petrol. He had heard of 35s being paid for a case of petrol, the' usual price being 12s. A Lyttelton merchant who was the fortunate, holder of two hundred cases had offered his firm the lot at a special discount for net .spot cash at 60s the case. He had been informed that there was also a threatened shortage in Melbourne and Sydney, so that- it -was useless to look to Australia for supplies. One of the proprietors of a local garage, learning" of 'the threatened shortage, spent Tuesday and Wednesday scouring tlje country and buying up cases of, benzine from storekeepers. He got a fear'fuf cold, for' tjhfll weather was dreadful, bat a harvest of a score or so of cases at ordinary prices 'Was some compensation. It is *aid that the most immediate shipment .of, petrol to reach New Zealand will be landed at Auckland -about the end of this month. • ~ . ■ When the 'available 'supply of ntotoi spirit is exhausted, motorists wilKhave to fall ' back- dn inferior stuff, flwjh as benzine and. stave. . naphtha. The. finer spirits, benzoline and gasolene^ jax%. expensive; bat are being bought up .rapidly., . „ AUCKLAND STOCKS. „ THREATENED FAMINE. " ; ' AUCKLAND; "2nd Hay. The position with regard to the threatened benzine famine' remains unaltered. During' the last few days there -has been a big run on local stocks, and those who should be competent to form an accurate opinion state that doubt exists as to whether supplies will hold out until the .arrival of the steamer Hohenfels from New York, via Melbourne and Sydney, about a fortnight hence. No. other oil 'boats have yet been reported ac leaving New York' for New Zealand, and the run takes about 80 days. The local merchants attribute the cause of the delay of supplies to the freight war which has prevailed in the shipping circles of America. The extensive use of benzine nowadayo for motor cars and boats, as well as for manufacturing machinery,, renders euch a shortage of serious moment. Although the smafler consumers report that they have to pay as high as 15s per case, the manager of a big oil firm told a Press representative this morning that his company had' not raised the price above the normal. This is about lla 6d per case. SHORTAGE IN DUNEDIN. KEEN DEMAND FROM PKOVINCIAL ' TOWNS. - DUNEDIN, 2nd May. Enquiries show that there is a shortage of benzine and petrol in Dunedin, but so far prices are unchanged. It is understood that the Vacuum Oil Company has sufficient supplies to keep Dunedin clients going' for some time, but any large orders will not be taken from the local garages. A keen demand has also set in from Timaru and Oamaru. and Dunedin merchants are endeavouring to 'secure supplies from OnristchuVch and the North Island, but large quantities cannot be secured. It is considered that local supplies will be sufficient till the arrival of the shipment by the Hohenfels. DISMAL PROPHECY fBI TELEGRAfH-T-SPECIAL TO THE VOSI.j CHRISTCHUECH, This Day 'In a week from to-day there will not be. a motor vehicle ..running in Christchurch." That was the startling prophecy tnade by the garage manager of a big motor importing firm in this city, last evening; in response to an innocent query by a reporter as to whether there was a shortage of petrol at present. "It's more than a shortage," he continued. "There m hardly any petrol left in the town. We are using stove naphtha, and I believe we have the biggest stock of that in the city, yet we have only sufficient to meet a normal week's demand. The price has been jgoing up by leans and bounds during' the past few days'. On Wednesday we quoted 16s a case; yesterday it was £l a case, to-day it will be at least ,255. Most, of the other firms are worse off than we are. The taxi-cab people are putting cabs out of commission in numbers, and those that are cent out are limited to two or four gallons of petroh- WhetiJ.that is exhausted the driver finishes work ior the day.? "When are'lreeh supplies expected-?" was, the next query. "Not for a month of six weeks," was the reply. "And even then the supplies on order will be only a drop in the bucket compared with the fierce demand that there will be by that time, and as the shortage is almost as' bad in Australia it is quite likely New Zealand won't get any at all. Even in America, it is reported, the prices have gone up 8 to 10 cent* a gallon. The motor-care in thie city seem to be in for a long rest. There are 500 cases due to Christchurch out of a shipment of 2500 for New Zealand from Melbourne, but we will be very lucky if we get it. They will need it just as badly there." "Is there any cause given for the shortage?" was the next question "Well the Vacuum Oil people say that the Russian supplies can't get through the Dardanelles owing to the Turko ; ltalian War, but I don't see how that explains the situation. ' Additional information was gleaned thai the representative of an American motor firm in this city had some time ago invested m 65 cases of gasolene which he Was holding for some such emergency as this. Gasolene was rumoured to be about four times as powerful as petrol, and the enterprising American looked forward to making a nice little profit on his "comer."