LACK OF COMMUNICATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20961, 26 August 1931, Page 10

LACK OF COMMUNICATION.

STEV/ART ISLAND ISOLATED. -> CABLE OUT OF REPAIR. &F-or some time past the cable connecting Stewart Island to the mainland has been oiirf of repair, and wifeless has had to be used as a means of communication between the two places. At a meeting of the ' j c a T executive of the Southland League Mr. A; S. Russell stressed the urgency of repairs being put in hand, and the meeting decided to communicate with the Post-master-General, Hon. J. B. Donald, and the Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. P. A. de la Perrelle, urging that the necessary repairs -to the cable he carried out.

Mr. Russell said there were between 600 and 1000 people living at Stewart Island, and at present they were isolated. The cable had been out of repair for some time, and that meant that all the telephone!! at the island were useless. Many people in Bluff arid Invercargill wished to communicate with the island, and found they could not do so. There was a wireless set at Stewart Island, but it was inefficient. The league should ask the Government to repair the cable.

■Mr. W. B. Dixon said that if the cable •was in repair the nurse at Stewart Mnnd could communicate with the doctor at Bluff and obtain advice over the telephone. With the ■! wireless that was not possible.