CO129-580-9 Air Raid precautions- supply of equipment 14-2-1939 - 24-11-1939 — Page 16

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TEL. No.: VICTORIA 6826.

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AIR RAID PRECAUTIONS DEPARTMENT,

HORSEFERRY HOUSE,

THORNEY STREET,

LONDON, S.W.1.

22nd November, 1939.

Dear Andrews,

I am writing to you, as I arranged to do over the telephone this morning, regarding an application which has been referred to us by the Board of Trade for an export licence for Colours & Chemicals, Ltd.,

1 Grosvenor Gardens, S.W.1., to export 10 tons of activated carbon to Messrs. E. Penn & Co., National Bank Buildings, Hong Kong. The carbon is said to be

required for the manufacture of gas masks.

The position is that Colours & Chemicals Ltd. intend to obtain the carbon from Messrs. Price & Stutfield, who in turn are being supplied by the manufacturers, Messrs. Farnells.

Messrs. Farnells have a contract running for charcoal for us which is due to be completed by the 16th December, but which, judging by the present rate of deliveries, does not look like being completed until about the 20th January. We need all the charcoal we call get urgently and in the circumstances we propose to tell the Board of Trade that we cannot recommend them to grant a licence in this case, but if you or the Hong Kong Government wish to make any special representations to us in the matter, we should, of course, be prepared to consider them as sympathetically as possible.

Whether or not we shall be placing a further contract with Messrs. Farnells after the completion of the present one I cannot say at the moment, but we should be prepared to intimate to the Board of Trade that we might reconsider the application towards the end of January in the light of circumstances then existing.