PASSENGERS BY NIAGARA

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21972, 22 December 1936, Page 11

PASSENGERS BY NIAGARA

WOOMSUYEUS MISS FIRST N.Z. SALES EFFECT OK STKIKK ON TOURIST TttAUE [THE PItESS Special Service] AUCKLAND, December 21. Relief at their arrival in New Zealand after being put to considerable inconvenience in the United States because of the shipping strike on the Pacific Coast was expressed by a number of passengers who arrived at Auckland by the Niagara from Vancouver. Some of them had actually been stranded for a time in San Francisco by the delay in the Monterey s departure, and had been forced to go to Canada to take a chance of getting a berth there. Others had intended to travel through the United States on their way to New Zealand and Australia, and at the last minute had had to alter their plans, in order to catch the shin at Vancouver. Several of the Niagara's passengers are making business visits to New Zealand and Australia, and a few of them have missed some of their appointments. For instance, two woolbuyers, Mr Otto Sommer and Mr S. P. Warburton, wanted to arrive at Auckland in time for the first sale of the season, but now they have not only missed this sale and the Wellington, Christchurch, and Timaru sales, but also they will have three weeks on their hands before they can start work with the second Wellington sale. The Niagara brought more than 450 passengers, a number of whom would, in the normal course of events, have travelled from San Francisco. In the holds, too, there was some cargo from the United States, and it was stated that probably some of this would have been sent by the other route had it not been for the strike. Dissatisfaction Expressed The danger of the strike affecting the tourist trade to New Zealand was mentioned by one of the passengers. He said that he had heard several Americans talking about the disappointment that had been voiced in letters from Americans stranded in New Zealand who had been unable to make arrangements to return home in time for Christmas. Dissatisfaction about there being no ships apart from those engaged in the Vancouver service to relieve the position had also been expressed, and statements had been made leading him to believe that the strike might have, at least for a lime, a discouraging effect upon AmerU cans when hey were choosing which countries they should visit for a holiday. The strike has also stranded many American and English tourists in Hawaii, and although Pan-American Airways machines are booked out for every flight they make, and are relievin.; the situation to some extent, there are numbers of tourists whose plans have gone hopelessly astray.