RAILWAY SEEVICES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16981, 18 April 1917, Page 5

RAILWAY SEEVICES.

DRASTIC CURTAILMENT. SEQUEL TO SHORTAGE OE COAL. TO OPERATE FROM MONDAY

TJie strike by the miners and the consequent, reuuctiuu ni tne supplies of coai nave forced tue itanway uepartnient to lake action in Uie airecuon ot cutting uown .tne railway tervice*. Several trains «ire to Dβ cut oul, and many places wjiicii nave intaerio a aaiiy service win have u> be content witn grains about tnree tunes a weeii. T-iie ciiun»-es will come into lorce next Aionuay. Only one .tram each way will run in the Duneum-unriaiciiurea service. The train irom uuneuin will leave ax, a a.m., and m aduition to the usual stoppages -will stop at, Warrington aua iUaiieno. The tram iroin Uiriscohurc-n to Uuneuin will leave tue tornwr piace at O.b p.m. Tne services on liio lviu'ow and Ngapara brancnes will be run only on Tuesuays, In uradays, and Saturdays, and .that on the Tokarahi branch, on Jkondays Weduesuays, and Fridays. ' A daily service will be run between Dunedm and Palmerston, but the morning train, from Oamaiu to Duneain and tne aiternooa train from Dinioain to Oainaru will run omy on Tuesdays and Fridays. The nioriuiig train from Dunedin to Oamaru and the afternoon train from Oamaru to iJunedin will be out out except on Wednesdays and Saturdays.' The early morning, train from talmersion to Oamaru and the aiternoon train from Oamaru to ralmerston will run on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The morning train from Dunedin to Olinton, the aiternoon train from Clinton to .Balclutha, and the evening train from iialclutha to Dunedin will run only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the morning train from Clinton to Dunedin and the aiternoon train from Dunedin to Clinton on Mondays, Wednesdays, and' Fridays. The services on. the Otago Central and Lawrence branch lines will be confined to three days a week—Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. J On the Catlins River branch trains will run only on ; Mondays and Wednesdays, with the exception that one train will run each way between Balclutha and - Maclennan on Fridays. The morning train from Mosgiel to Outram the afternoon train from Outram to Mosgiel will run only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER. I.PE!i UulTKt> 1J8t.83l J 8t.83 ASSOCIATION.) \VrJLLIiStiTUiN, April, 17. The Minister oi niaoo the following statement tins evening witn retereuce to tne announcement t>y the itauway .uep<u-tnieut aoout curuiiteu. jbeuviees as iruin ivionuay :— " Consequent on a serious shortage of coal tne government considers tuat the time has arrived when it is imperative to curtail the transport faciuues. Aitnough tne railway, iias. iair stocks of coai, it has not been abie to build up the necessary reserves owing to the requirements or transports, esientia! industries, ana also the ■ gu-siow' policy of the miners ana tne dimcaity of obtaining olnps to bring codi iroin ±\e\v fck>ul<tt Wales. The recent action oi tne maners on tne YVe*>t Ooaot accentuated tne portion, ana makes a arastio curtailment an absolute necessity without waiting till May i, the date when, tue stari-saviug scheme was to be inaugurated. • . ■" From Monday next a ' coal-saving" service will be brought into operation, and will apply to passengers and goods in order wat tue coal stocks of the railway may be eked- out as long as possible, it will be necessary to limit tne goods tramc strictly to foodstuffs for local consumption and ior export for the u&e ol the Imperial authorities. Perishable articles, animal fodder, and such items of general merchandise will come under the heading of essentials. Goods, such as timber, builuers , materials, fencing material, green nax and tiax in baies, cement, corrugated iron, all straw, all minerals except coaL and coke, and goods which come generally under clashes ~ N," "e," and "Q," and tune for manures will not be earned. It will, therefore,, be seen that the action of the miners will have a serious effect on many essential industries, which give employment to a very considerable number of workers and from -which the railwaysderive a iarge amount of traffic. "It is very desirable that those members oE the community now away from their homes 'should be immediately warned through the press to return not later than Saturuay, as after tihen a strictly limited passenger and goods, business only can be provided for until such time as the coal miners resume work and ample coal stocks have been accumulated. This intimation is given so that the public may have the longest warning possible. It is hoped however, that the visit to the West Coast of Sir James Allen and Mr Mac Donald may have the effect of inducing the miners to return to work before Monaay, in which case tihese curtailments, which will entail inconvenience and loss to the public, mav be avoided." ■ PROTESTS AGAINST CURTAILMENT. The combined boroughs of Mosgiel Port Chalmers, Ureen Island, and West' Harbour despatched a telegram to the Minister of Kailwuys on Monuay asking for a 9..50 p.m. tram from Dunedm daily wihen the new service comes into operation next month. Mr Moiler receiveu the iollowinoreply from the Hon. W. H. Hemes yesterday : " Representations of joint meeting about proposed) curtailment- of suburban train services embodied in your telegram of yesterday's date will receive careful consideration." The following letter was sent to the Minister yesterday, and was signed by the Mayors and town clerks of Port Chalmers Mosgiel, West Harbour, and Ureen Island : "in support of the telegram we despatched to you in reference to t3ie proposed curtailment of the suburban train service from Dunedin to Port Chalmers and to Mosgiel, we now .forward this letter to point out to some extent the reasons for our emphatic protest against the proposal to run no evening trains after May 1 : —(1) No evening trains , will mean no more technical education for suburban children attending the Dunedin technical and other schools. (2) No evening trains will mean loss of employment to a large number of people who earn their diving in the city and live in the suburbs. (3)" No evening trains will mean an undue hardship to shipping, and unnecessary delay in transport work. We respectfully submit that conditions do not yet warrant such drastic measures as will inflict the hardship involved in stopping all evening suburban trains. We protest against children and youths being debarred from obtaining further technical education unless such a hardship is absolutely unavoidable.' If the evening traJDs are stopped a large number oE people who. have made their homes in tho suburbs will have to shift to the city and this means a great loss to them. To stop tho evening trains will practically stop the working of overtime and thus inflict suoh a go-slow pofsy on shipping that it will practically paralyse the trade of the Port of Otago. We therefore appeal to you to make the most careful inquiries into the conditions prevailing here before you decide to stop all evening trains, because such a stoppage will not only mean unnecessary individual hardship, but also a national hardship in the matter of delaying transports and unduly hampering export trade."

By the misplacement of an apostrophe in tho advertisement of Messrs Arthur Bar-' nett (Ltd.) in yesterday's Times a meaning Was, given to one of tho lines of the advertisement which it was not intended to bear The words "The opponent's eyes will be Gieen" wore intended to have appeared With tho word " opponents' " in tho plural possessive, and thus to have applied to all those who are opposing Mr Green, and not personally to his opponent in the mayoral contest. Tho carefully-selected films shown a* Sing Sing Prison, New York, are said to havo an excellent effect on tho inorals of the convicts.