SHORTAGE OF WOOL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15964, 8 July 1915, Page 3

SHORTAGE OF WOOL.

WORK FOR THE TROOPS. ':i LOCAL SUPPLIES FAILING. UNPRECEDENTED DEMAND. Dtthxxg the last 10 months the business of knitting has received a world-impetus which is now bringing New Zealand, as well as other oountrief, face to face with a serious problem, the shortage of wo*'.. On every hand one now hears the cry. " No wool." "I don't know what we are coin" to do." said the secretary of the Ladies' Patriotic Committee. In a month or two we shall have to begin sending further supplies of woollen things to the men at Gallipoli for winter wear, and how we are going to manage none of us knows Another prominent local worker on behalf j of the soldiers said, -The last lot of nocks I sent to Trentham were all nattier blue. J for 1 couldn't get a bit of khaki wool in / town.'" That apparently is the universal I experience of patriotic workers, for the ! last consignment of knitted goods sent to j Trentham resembled Joseph's coat in the [ variety of its colouring. Many make J shift brands ot wool are perforce being I used, makeshift in quality as well as in i , colour. I la the matter of securing wool these I days, it is literally a cose oi 'first come I first served." Some individual workers I have been able to keep going, but only, / by keeping close track of the local market | and purchasing immediately fresh supplies j, come to hand. Certain grades of linger I ing and wheeling wools used for knitting , Socks, mufflers, and caps are now stated to ! bi quite unprocurable, while supplies even j in other grades and colours are rapidly diminishing. I Difficulties of Retail Firms. The difficulties being experienced by individual workers are but a repetition of those confronting the retail trade, which I is quit* unable to keep up with orders. j *" It is the sudden boom in knitting that I is resjjonsiWe." stated the manager of a prominent local firm. '" Where Auckland ! . women formerly l>ought a skein of wool they are now buying a head, consisting of I 10 or 12 skeins." A great quantity of the \ wool on the market formerly came from V English mills. As soon as the increased f demand set in large orders were placed, 1 but it is stated that supplies from Eng- ! lish firms in large quantities have now 1 practically ceased, their output being con- I i sumed by requirements of the Home Gov- j iernment. Occasionally retail firms,are for- i I tnnate enough to secure a small portion of \ i their orders, but this is invariably swallowed up by standing orders before it ; ha* a chance of coming on the local market. Again, there are also difficulties of shipment to be met: one firm, for example, placed an order for knitting wool with an English firm last July, and the shipment- only came to hand last week! The abnormal demand and increased! cost of manufacture has naturally resulted in a rise in price. Various expedients have been tried in the endeavouar to keep pace with requirements, one being the dyeing of lighter-coloured wools in order to obtain the khaki shade so much in demand, but this method, while in some instances quite successful, is not altogether satisfactory. Questioned ::« to the possibility of replenishing stocks from Australia. or I America, the head of a local firm stated I tint the position of Australia is just as I acute a« here, while America produces I practically no wool at all. Overtime at the Mills. "" If we were to "undertake to fill every order on hand our entire output for the next two years would be consumed." This was the opinion expressed by the manager of the local branch of one of the Dominion's biggest woollen mills. ** As it is. we find it absolutely impossible to fill even a portion of our standing orders, and. much as we regret it, have been obliged to disappoint numbers of our customers of many years" rtanding." This aptly describes the position of affairs with all the large wholesale firms which have hitherto supplied a considerable portion of the wools and yarns used throughout the Dominion. Government contracts are now keeping every New Zealand mill busy manufacturing blankets, khaki cloth, piece flannel for soldiers" underwear, and so on, and by the time the needs of _ the soldiers have been supplied there is little material or labour available for outside orders. Although every effort is being made to keep up with the demand, not a wholesale firm in Auckland or elsewhere will tike an order for khaki wool with guarantee of delivery even weeks ahead.

Shortage of Labour. What seems at first an anomaly is that, notwithstanding the existing scarcity of knitting wool, there is ample supply of the raw material in the Dominion, the past season having been an exceptionally good one. The solution which naturally suggests itself, therefore, is increased plant and labour for making up the raw material, and there, in the opinion of those qualified to speak, lies the great difficulty. " Even: now. we are only working an : eight-hour shift at the mill," said the manager of a well-known woollen company, " whereas if we could get enough hands we could work three shifts, and even then be unable to get ahead of our orders!'* It was further explained that skilled work w;ts necessary for weaving and other branches, and that it took two or three years' training to produce a skilled worker. The difficulty in obtaining increased plant was also stated to be great, the engineering trade of practically every country now being concentrated upon war requirements. Meantime, busy hands and still busier, ! machines are so rapidly reducing available stocks, that it seems inevitable tf't'ns a short time New Zealand's patriotic workers will find themselves compelled to " down knitting-needles," face to face with a wool famine.