STEWART ISLAND ISOLATED

Taranaki Daily News, 27 August 1931, Page 11

STEWART ISLAND ISOLATED

CABLE OUT OF GEAR.. For some time past the cable connect-. in<>- Stewart Island to the mainland has. been out of repair, and wireless has had to be imed as-a means of communication between the two places. At a meeting of the executive of the Southland League Mr. A. *S. .Russell stiessefl. the urgency of repairs being put in hand; and the meeting decided to communicate with the Postmaeter-Gcneial, Hon. J. B. Donald, and the Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. P. A. de La Perrelle, urging that the necessary repairs to the cable be carried out. Mr. Ruseell said there were between 600 and 1000 people living at Stewart Island, and-at present they were isolated. The .cable bad been out of repair for some time, and that meant that all the telephones at the island were useless. Many people iu Bluff and 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 eaid that if the cable was in repair the nurse at Stewart Island could communicate with the doctor at Bluff and obtain advice over the telephone. With the v.'itelces;tbat wasnot possible.