Campbeltown Courier From Our Files – 11.10.24

TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO
Friday, October 8, 1999

Councillor’s outrage over Scotland’s petrol prices

A Kintyre councillor was horrified to discover that a supposedly “third-world country” could sell petrol at 95 pence a gallon while Scottish consumers are hit so hard.

Councillor Alasdair Blair of East Central Kintyre ward, blames the “greedy government” for taxing Scottish consumers to the hilt and making petrol prices sky-high.

He was on holiday in the Dominican Republic, which has no natural resources except sugar cane, rice and, more recently, tourism. And even though the Dominican Republic has to import all its fuel from Venezuela, it still manages to sell petrol for just 95 pence a gallon.

Councillor Blair said: “I couldn’t believe it when I saw how cheap petrol was selling for in the Dominican Republic. It really opened my eyes. Our government has got a very closed-eye attitude and we get hit with fuel price escalators.

“Scotland has got its own natural oil resources around its shore, yet our rural communities are being penalised. 

“How can these happen when a third-world country which imports all its fuel can sell it so cheaply?”

“The answer,” he said, “is because of government tax.”

FIFTY YEARS AGO
Thursday, October 10, 1974

STD comes to Islay

At 8am on Tuesday, 22nd October, 1974, a new automatic telephone exchange will be opened at Port Ellen, which will be the trunk switching centre for all the other exchanges on Islay, Colonsay and Jura. 

When the new exchange, which cost £186,545 opens, all subscribers on Islay will be connected to the Subscriber Trunk Dialling system and will then be able to dial a high proportion of their trunk calls and all their local calls themselves. 

Although the present manual exchange which opened in 1935 will close on 22nd October, operators will be available at Campbeltown to connect calls which cannot be dialled direct for any reason. 

The dialling code to obtain the operator will be ‘100’.

Emergency calls for fire, police, ambulance and coastguard will be dealt with on a priority basis at Campbeltown exchange.

The code to dial for emergency calls will be ‘999’.

Dialling instruction booklets which contain dialling codes, charges and other helpful information will be sent to all subscribers before the 22nd October.

People using public call boxes on Islay will also be able to avail themselves of the STD system.

Dialling codes, call charges and all necessary instructions will be clearly displayed in all call offices.

In order to assist subscribers and familiarise them with the STD system, a demonstration caravan will be situated at Frederick Crescent, Port Ellen, from Thursday, 17th October, to Wednesday, 23rd October. The hours of opening will be 9.30am to 5.30pm on week-days and 9.30am to 4pm on Saturday.

Subscribers in others parts of the country who have STD facilities will be able to dial calls to all the exchanges on Islay by dialling the appropriate STD code followed by the number.

All exchanges with STD will not immediately be able to dial calls to Islay because the originating exchanges will have to be programmed to take the new codes, but this work will be completed as soon as possible.

Colonsay and Jura will also be getting STD facilities about the same time as Islay. They too will be able to dial over the STD network and receive incoming STD calls. 

The present small manual exchanges, known as magneto exchanges, which serve subscribers on Colonsay and Jura are the last of their type to be in use in Britain. Thus as the latest type of automatic telephone system opens one of the earliest type of manual systems closes.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO
Saturday, October 11, 1924

Mr Alexander M’Millan

Mr Alexander M’Millan manager of Lochindaal Distillery, Islay, was on the 30th ult., on the occasion of his retirement, presented by the employees and other friends in the village, with a wallet of Treasury notes as a tangible token of the esteem and respect in which he is held by the men and the general public.

Distillery Officer, by Mr John Justice, who, in felicitous terms, referred to the good-will and harmony which always existed between the popular manager and his workmen during the last 17 years.

Mr M’Millan was a just, upright and humane man, who treated his employees with great consideration and absolute fairness, and because of his high moral tone, they rendered him in return efficient and faithful service.

His retirement, which involves severing his connection with the island, was not only regretted by his own men but by the whole community.

Mr Justice then called on Mr Alexander Turner, the oldest employee of the firm, to hand the gift to Mr M’Millan.

Mr Turner, in doing so, wished Mr and Mrs M’Millan many years of health and happiness to enjoy there well-earned rest. 

Mr M’Millan suitably replied. He said it was an acute wrench for him to part with his staff and the good friends he had made in ‘green, grassy, Islay’, and that his sojourn in this lovely island would always remain green in his memory.

Mr M’Millan, it may be added, took an active interest in the social and religious life of the district.

He was an elder and Sunday School teacher in the United Free Church, president of the Games Committee for Kilchoman, and treasurer of the War Savings Association.

He had four sons serving in the late war, two of whom were killed in action on the Western Front. 

It should be noted that he was the leader of the salvage party who rescued the crew of the ill-fated Flying Falcon, a naval tug-boat, which was driven ashore in Machrie Bay, Islay, in the early years of the war.

Mr M’Millan, who is a native of Campbeltown, is taking up his residence in the town.