THE NATIONS BREAD.

North Otago Times, Volume CVI, Issue 13983, 20 November 1917, Page 8

THE NATIONS BREAD.

1< I *1 .1 1 ® \ l| | • *•. i > '.WHEAT, rO# ALLIED V,' j L f ) v j * ! UP, / '* I ! SYDNEY, *lS T ovon)b6i' 1. Two ships, one in luul oily m Melbourne, ha\e ictusod to nciept : wheat, which was fouml to bo weevily, 1 At- .flic same time the shortage of the: i, triicksi>thl-entcna -to: curtail, .Svditcv'» , wheat;supply so inuclv'thnt flour jmlls will have to close down. • • >i because thg master of n sailing slnp 1 ' coinplmtiod of t}ie qmility of tho wheat which was" being .put into the holds of , his vessel by the Wheat Board, both the ' sliip'alul. the. crew luivo bceiyheld up ju £>ydnoy;foi\many weeks. ',-' y . ; j Soon after the \jessel> arrived she was I taken to ii berth at Darling Harbour, ( to, load a full cargo of grain 'for the Allies, and all went wfell until someone on the ship reported that the wheat was not fit-to ss|). : , ■ "'■■■•' s 1 r .: - Captain Takes Action, i 'Work ' was stopped,', and. tho master, through liia Sydney agent, asked thai the cargo be unloaded, and ~ii belter > class supplied, '' > At that time there was about 5000 > 'hags aboard, and,.a('cofding to the men oil tho vessel, every bag was in a weevily ) condition, and unfit for human con- : sumption. 1 ' t The captain refused ,to allow, any more weevily cargo to be shipped, ami 0 as lie was not offered anything better lie had nothing to'dp but .to throw, ii his vessel idle. i- iThis was done, and has resulted in r the owners of- the ship being put to . very heavy expense. Nothing has vet c been done to relieve the captain of his wejyily wheat.. The matter was placed .before the ( Wheat Board, hut so far no derision has been arrived at. While' those respon- . s.iblc for. the loading of wheat that is 1 deemed to he unlit for consumption are • discussing the question, the owners of the vessel are missing big freights, and the Allies are without the serviceVof a il fine. ship. s Similar Case in Melbourne . A similar case is reported from Mel-' e bqurne, . '' ' 1 But'for the public spirit and energy of an Englishman resident in Vi.itorin, e says the Age, of Monday last, a lar.->a e 'consignment of wheat 1 for tho Allies would have left Williani3town this J month in a condition which is ai\ absolute disgrace to the detail ndministra- ' tion of the Victorian Wheat Commis--3 sion. 3 "The facts are briefly, this;—On • Thursday last a certain ship was being s loaded with wheat from Williamstown, s The wheat was taken from old 1 -slacks under, the control of the commission. J, The Englishman; knowing the destination of the wheat, became interested in the process of loading. The wheat •seemed to him to be particularly lively,. 5 A close inspection aroused suspicions. Samples were taken, and were found to be simply swarming with "black weet vil." J "The attention of the authorities was ji called to the condition of the wheat l and tic scandal which must ensue if diseased and foul wheat was shipped to the Allies in Europe for the men at the front. It was not, however, until 1 'Saturday that definite action was taken 0 to stop further loading of the ship with ' the weevilv wheat. »j "Gravely Inadequate," 1 | "By this time 5000.bags, it is calculated, are in the vessel's'holds. This ' will have to 1$ overhauled and sound wheat substituted. An exhaustive in- | qnirv is promised by'the'-Victorian L Wheat Commission, whose inspection system and loading supervision ar--5 rangpinents are shown to be gravely in ; adequate. "The Allies have no direct reprosens tatives on duty at the loading wharves, and are thus dependent upon the effi- ' ciency and good faith of the representatives of the wheat-selling Government—in this case the Wheat Board—--1 through the officials of. the Victorian ' Wheat Commission'.. The whole matter > will to-day be brought under the notice of the British Trade Commissioner, Mr • Milne!" \ [ THE SYDNEY SUPPLY. ) f 1 FLOUR MILLS MAY GLOBE DOWN. f k Mr T. Quill, secretary of the Federated Flour Mill 1 Employees' Union, stated to-day that, owing to tlip small p supply of wheat on hand, a number of the metropolitan mills had threatened t to close down, and that unless prompt j action was taken b.v : the Wheat Board the postion would be extremely serious, 1 as the supplies, in a number of in- [ stances, were sufficient- to last only until the middle of next week, The mill owners, he said, had been assured of. an ample supply of 'wheat by thi> board, '•< but the promise had not been fulfilled. A large quantity of wheat being sent out of 4he State;, Several of tho mills were on the eve of giving their, employees a week's notice. A quantity of the ]fll(i-17 wheat, slacked at vari- } ous places, was not suitable for millers' requirements. ' It was explained by a prominent miller this afternoon that the whole ' position was one of supply, and that, it a was not desired that the mills should dose down. If a sufficient quantity of . wheat was forthcoming, mill owners f ' would be glad tb keep-their mills go- ' iug. There were many bags of the v . 191 G -l' wheat stacked ciose to Sydney, but it was in such a condition that it _ :was necessary to have old wheat to mix , wii.li it. Difficulty was being experienced in getting suitable, wheat from . country districts owing to the scarcity of, i;ailway.?trucks, ,