TRANSPORT TROUBLES.

Northern Advocate, 8 January 1920, Page 6

TRANSPORT TROUBLES.

DURING THE BRITISH STRIKE

.ur U. ii. Roberts the British Food

Controller, speaking at the meeting of cue Consumers' Council at Palace Uiamoevs, gave further information regarding Lie manner in which the country uaa oeen supplied with food! uunng me railway strike. tne conclusion ot the strike, he said, nut only were the main stocks ox tne country almost, if not quite, as umpie as ueiore, but the retailers' stocks, save in sugar, showed no sign ox exnaustion. The two conditions on wnich the feeding of the country depended were transport and knowicuge. it was estimated that fully Zu,voO lorries and other motor vehicles' were actually working on food transport in replacement of the railway service. as regarded knowledge, they depended on daily intelligence from the Divisional Commissioners as acquired by the supply division, and the system oi statistics which had been elaborateu by thr Minister during the last I two years. As an instance of the ready cooperation of the trade, he said that wueu it was necessary <o collect inio m.uuon regarding the general - l( h'as nei.l in warehouses and by uur , wholesalers, 1000 telegrams v.ere despatched on one afternoon, 75 pe t - cent, of which were answered by the next night, while the whole return was completed by midday on the following day. Every evening a daily re.urn of stocks was sent to the War Cabinet officers. Turning to some of the important commodities handled, Mr Roberts said the supply of milk was in certain cases so plentiful that the Commissioners before the strike was over were withdrawing the emergency restrictions in catering establishments. As regards bread, instant measures were taken to shift flour from the ports to the inland centres. During the week the mills generally were able to distribute over 50 per cent, of their output. Tne provision of yeast was a matter of some little difficulty, since it came mainly from ports in Scotland and Ireland, where distilleries are situated. Admiralty vessels, however, were placed at the Ministry's disposal, and the yeast landed at many ports around the country and conveyed inland. The bread supply, m fact, was ample throughout. In the case of fish trawlers, specially chartered supplied Billingsgate by water, while additional supplies were brought by road, and, after the first four or five days by rail. So successful was the supply that on October 3rd there were eighty tons at Billingsgate aboce the average of three days before the strike. The meat scheme worked admirably, without difficulty and without any breakdown. Refrigerated meat was reserved for the big towns, while live stock supplied the country at large. Methods of conveying cattle by walking them over long distances to the market, not practised for generations, were brought into action. A three-weeks butter supply was dispatched to the shops, and a four weeks' supply of cheese > so that the retail stocks were as high, if not higher, after the strike than before. Sugar was a matter of anxiety. The large stocks of the country are in three centres, and the article itself is difficult to transport. The probable cause of the comparative scarcity however, was due to the fact that the four weeks' supply sent monthly by the Sugar Commission was on the rail for distribution when the strike broke out.