RESELLERS KEPT BUSY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20634, 9 December 1941, Page 4

RESELLERS KEPT BUSY

ALL TYPES OF CONTAINERS RATIONING CHECK (Per Press Association.' WELLINGTON, this day. Petrol resellers in Wellington yesterday had the busiest period for many a long day. After the news of the outbreak of war in the Pacific became known, motorists, evidently expecting restrictions in supply, made an unprecedented rush to the petrol stations. Caliphonts, kegs, kettles, demijohns, vinegar and whisky bottles, tins of all descriptions, and even a new dust-bin were produced to hold petrol as all available coupons were handed in. However, these activities were curbed to some extent in the afternoon when the oil fuel controller, Mr. G. L. Laurenson, banned the use of all receptacles other than vehicle tanks, and the use of Nos. 12 and 13 coupons was cancelled. Mr. Laurenson said an early announcement as to future policy could be expected. Reports throughout New Zealand indicated, he said, that the rush to obtain petrol had been general. He considered it was a poor gesture of patriotism on the part of those who had so eagerly sought supplies. He was unable to say whether future decisions might involve a total prohibition or very severe restrictions on private motoring.

The oil companies indicated that they were following the normal supply procedure to resellers, and there had been no official curtailments, but in many instances their fleets of tank wagons, kept going at full capacity throughout the day, were unable to cope with the very abnormal demand. Orders by resellers had been very heavy, and the consequence was that the rationing system had to be introduced to distribute each wagon load equitably among the resellers, who, in a number of instances, were left with their storage tanks bone dry awaiting the arrival of tankers.