ON THE OPEN DECK.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 9, 12 January 1926, Page 11

ON THE OPEN DECK.

BOWLERS' DISCOMFORT. BLUNDER OVER TERRY TRIP. SAD NEGLECT OF VISITORS, The British bowlers who are touring New Zealand boarded the Wahine at Wellington last evening to find that no cabin accommodation had been reserved for them. Most.of them bad to be content to spend the night on mattresses spread on the hard decks in the open. It was poor hospitality, made worse byreason of the fact that many members of the team are past midle-age, and are unused to "roughing it." Resentment was expressed freely by many of them (says the Christchurch ,"Sun" of Saturday). To make things worse, the Canterbury centre of the New Zealand Bowling Association cannot be commended for the arrangements It made in Christchurch for breakfast for the party before it resumed its journey to Dunedin. Several disgusted visitors left the party and sought breakfast elsewhere. What should have been a happy gathering on the railway platform was not remarkable for its cordiality. ever is particularly responsible for the muddle on the ferry Bteamer has given the country a poor advertisement; in any ease, the Council of the New Zealand Bowling Association, which has its headquarters in Dunedin, must bear some portion of the blame. Australia gave the visitors a royal welcome, They were feted and treated as men whom the country delighted to honour. It was a fine advertisement for Australia, and one that will enhance the reputation of the country as a place for tourists. Once the party, which numbers Ttbout 50, and which includes many ladies, arrived in New Zealand, the tale of mismanagement began. It was taken to Rotorua, and there, it is stated, hotel accommodation had not been reserved. Fortunately, a resident came to the assistance of the visitors and several were accommodated in his home. . Merely Pencilled. At Wellington the party were joined by Meters. H. E. Mercer and J. J. Marlow, president and a member respectively of the New Zealand Bowling Council, Dunedin. In ignorance of the fa.t that cabin accommodation had not been reserved for them, the visitors boarded the Wahine., So far as can be gathered at this stage, accommodation for the party on the ferry steamer was pencilled in Auckland, but there was no compliance with a rule that a deposit must accompany the reservation before cabins actually are allotted. It is stated also that a letter waa Bent to the Union Steamship Company, Ltd., . Wellington, giving the information that a party of bowlers was travelling South, but giving no information about who the visitors were, or other details. The Wahine waa a full ship. Other people besides the bowlers had to be content with a "shake-down" in the Open, and most of these passengers philosophically made the best of it. But for some time the bowlers were not prepared to accept, the conditions. Some of them are too eld to accept eueh conditions without risking their health. One of them is well over seventy years of age, and a passenger took compassion on him and gave him his cabin berth. A Christchurch resident interested himself on behalf of another member of the party, who is S9 years of age, and, at a result of his activities, a steward found this bowler a berth that had not been claimed. But most of the other male members of the party had to accept the open-deck accommodation. Had the Canterbury centre risen to the occasion and whisked the party away in cart to a hotel for breakfast as toon as the visitors arrived in Christchurch, much of the resentment might have been dissipated. But, instead, tfie provision for breakfast was at the railway buffet, tables being booked for 8 a.m. Delayed Breakfast. The visitors, tired and hungry, arrived before 7,30 a.m.—-a time when breakfast began for ordinary travellers. The platform was crowded, and the cup of resentment for many of the visitors overflowed. Th_jr.objected to the wait under such conditions, and some of thorn B»id so. Some drove to various hotels-, and had breakfast on their own account. After breakfast a little more cordiality was discernible, and when the visitors left hy train for. Dunedin they wet* cheered by enthusiasts On the platform. But the fact remains that the welcome was not nearly such a friendly UttM affair that it might have been. Oiie aspect is that the visitors are paying their Own expenses. However, the New Zealand Bowling Council mapped out the Dominion tour, and centres are responsible for arrangements regarding accommodation in their particular districts. Mr. Mercer, president of the council, told a Canterbury official that he was not prepared to say who was responsible for the muddle on the' Wahine until an investigation had been made.