COAL STOCKS LOW

Northern Advocate, 13 June 1929, Page 4

COAL STOCKS LOW

DEMAND EXCEEDS SUPPLY. RAILWAYS NOT HAMPERED. COMMENT ON SOUTHERN POSITION. (Per Pri'sr, Association. —Copyright.) WELLINGTON, This Day. A Wellington coal merchant at a ted yesterday that there were no stocks of Newcastle coal in the city. In fact, any sort of coal was so short here. thaC no merchant had a. reserve, but all were wo rhino- from day to day, and even then were finding it difficult to keep up with the demand, t In reply to a question today as to whether the Railways Department would be affected as to the result of the curtailment of supplies from Newcastle, and coal being obtained from England, the Minister of Railways, the Hon. W. B, Taverner, said the .Department was only affected so far as stocks from ''Newcastle wore concerned. It might be possible to meet the deficiency by utilising local supplies. The Minister stated that no supplies were on route from England for the Now Zealand railways kt present. The department, however, had been obtaining quotations for coal from the Old Country.

Mr T. O. Bishop, secretary of the N.Z. Coal Mine Owners' Association, stated that the normal conditions of the coal trade in Now Zealand for several years past had not been sufficient to keep the mines anything like fully employed. As far as Christchurch was concerned, the chief source of supply, for domestic trade, at any rate, was the Otago and Southland mines, and he was at a loss 1w account for the alleged difficulty of obtaining supplies for that city. The' position should not be fkffeoted by the strike Of the Blackball miners or by tjho strike in Australia.