FUEL FOR THE WINTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17846, 29 July 1921, Page 5

FUEL FOR THE WINTER.

PLENTIFUL SUPPLIES,

: ORDERS BEIN"G FULFILLED, ! ! FIRST TJME IN FIVE YEARS. The abandonment of the M go-slow M policy this winter by the Waikato miner?. ' together with the comparatrvely mild season. h.%s made a great deal of difference to the comfort of Auckland homes during the last few months. Normal supplies of coal are now coming to hdJid, and dealers have no difficulty in filing orders. "Things are ver'v different this year," remarked one dealer, " and very glad we ar e of it. ; This time List year wo were almost J driven mad by the public clamour fo» coal, with the telephone ringing all dav, I aid letters and demands in every form, : and wo were at our wits' end to know i how- to fill even a small portion of the j order?. < The same with firewood, when : the gas supply was threatened. \Y 0 had j never had such a run on wood." Another merchant stated that acting I on last winter's experience, farmers Lad cut out a great deal of wood during t£e ■ j summer in anticipation of another shortbut this had not been realised. " I | suppose there has been a falling off of j quite 30 per cent in the demand for ! firewood this year." he said, " and as ' I for coal, thu? is the first winter in five j years that we have been able to keep I up with orders." Tho increase in supplies of firing has | ■ in some measure eased the position also ! for poor people in Auckland, who can | rarely afford to purchase it, and who rely 1 ' on waste scraps of wood from the mills I fox the family firing. Last year, the mills were absolutely bare, however, and j small boys with trolleys made manT a vain I journey in search of chips and such i flotsam and jetsam as might serve to cook the family dinner. Things are a little i better this year, for with increased sup- | plies upon which to draw, there is not the same demand for the waste products of the mill yard so that tho small boy once more makes his unpopular raids there, with some measure of success. Although supplies 0 f ooal are more plentiful, the price is still too high to enable poor people to purchase it. Oldage pensioners always find the winter a hard time, and the present season has been just as hard for them as others have been. "We had a generous gift of sir tons of coal the other day," remarked Sister Esther yesterday, "but so great is the need of our poor people, that tho whole lot, between 70 and 80 bags, was apportioned the first day. It proved a veritable boon to many of the old folk, who would suffer cruelly from the cold but for the help we are able to. give them, and enabled us to relieve, in part, a very real and pressing need."