SUPPLIES SHORT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26226, 9 August 1946, Page 6

SUPPLIES SHORT

COAL, GAS, AND POWER EFFECT ON CEMENT WORKS (P.A.) AUCKLAND, Aug. 8. The housewife is now in the cleft stick of simultaneous gas and electricity restrictions. To-morrow there will be no gas for mid-day cooking. It will be available only between the hours of 6 and 8 a.m. and 4.30 and 6 p.m. To >make matters worse, most of the daily 30-minute electricity cuts fall in the latter period. Butchers report that housewives have in some cases cancelled their orders for week-end joints and bought preserved meats instead. Owing to the uncertainty of the gas supply situation, the production at the Portland cement works is still being reduced because of coal shortages. It was stated to-day that there was still sufficient coal to keep the kilns at Wilsons (N.Z.) Portland Cement, Ltd., operating at half the normal output, and when fresh supplies arrived it was hoped to be able to increase production slightly, The Kaimiro, which is understood to be bringing a load of coal to Portland, is held up at Westport, and is not likely to arrive for some days. The full capacity of the works is 3200 tons of cement a week.