QUIET TIMES

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 6 May 1921, Page 5

QUIET TIMES

COASTAL SHIPPING AFFECTED

(By Telegraph—Special to the Star.) WELLINGTON, May 5.

There is a marked drop in the business done by about thirty small steamers trading from Wellington to Nelson, Blenheim and ports on ithe southern portion of the North. Island, with the result that there is a possibility of laying some of them up. It is feared that owing to the difficulty of obtaining cargo many wool growers are holding wool on the farm, thus reducing the transhipment business.

"Things are very quiet," remarked one gentleman with an intimate knowledge of this class of business, "and this quietness, or slump, judging from the communications I have received, exists in other ports besides AVellington. In fact, it is the same every where. Home Siteamers are not bringing out the cargoes that they used to by a long way, and the small boats have naturally suffered. Merchants are not getting the stuff to ship to the smaller ports. If the matter does not materially improve very shortly it seems probaible that some of the small .boats will have^to lay up for part of the winter. This is always a rather quiet time with the smaller boats, but this year the fallingloff has been more marked than usual.- The industrial troubles at Home mean that the manufacturers cannot turn out the quantities they used to. I have -been expecting the present state of affairs fov some time to reach here, but I did not expect it would come about quito

so soon