Chopping up fences for firewood

A Wanganui resident has received a letter from an Auckland friend stating that in many instances where the household coal bin is empty, cooking is being carried on under extreme difficulties, and any material that will

make a fire is being utilised. Wood is practically unprocurable, and backyard fences are disappearing as if by magic. Should the coal shortage continue, the writer of the letter had grave fears for the welfare of some of the owners of tenement houses, as the occupants, as a last resource, would not hesitate to remove a few boards from the building, in order to keep the kettle boiling.