ALL BLACKS SAIL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 69, Issue 158, 16 April 1949, Page 3

ALL BLACKS SAIL

TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA. (P.A.) AUCKLAND, April 15. The All Black team sailed in the Tamai’oa. for Capetown on Thursday , night. Several thousand spectators were present at Central Wharf . A broadcast farewell to the team and to the Mayor and Mayoress of Auckland (Mr and Mrs J. A. C. Allum) was combined by the Public Relations Office, and good wishes for the tour were expressed by several speakers. The chairman of the Council of the New Zealand Rugby Union (Mr A. St. C. Belcher) offered the good wishes of the union and of footballers generally.

Nearly 1100 passengers sailing in five ships and two air liners, left for overseas on Thursday.

Fifty members of the Returned Services’ Association sailed by the Huddart Parker motor-liner Wanganella for Sydney to take part in the Anzac day services throughout Australia. The party, rvhich in led by Mr C. V. Chamberlain, of Wairoa, will split into six sections in Australia and the groups will go to Perth, Hobart, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.

The Aorangi sailed for Sydney to complete her voyage from Vancouver. She carried 300 through passengers and 180 joined her here. Two smaller passenger ships sailed on Thursday evening for the Islands. The Matua left for Suva and other Island ports with 97 passengers. They included Queen Salote of Tonga, who had been in the Dominion on holiday for two months. The Government motor-vessel, Maul Pomave, loft for the Cook Islands with 20 passengers. Bound for the Prime Ministers’ conference in London, Mr Fraser was one of 24 pasengers who left for Sydney on Thursday morning by Taeman Fly-ing-boat. Twenty-two passengers were carried by the Pan-American Airways clipper which left later in the morning for Seattle.