THE HOLIDAY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 102, 23 January 1908, Page 8

THE HOLIDAY.

•J. A SMOKY;.ANNIVERSARY;DAY. It was a smoke-permeated atmosphere that Wellington . had to inlialo, to keep .alive yesteruay,.when tho city celebrated in 'conventional ways 'its sixty-seventh anniversary! - ..The .'up-country hush and grass fires that have, only been held' in :cheei< by tile absence .of wind, freshened up'w;lien the northerly-' breeze stirred the. embers into ilanics that arc. sweeping over the parched countryside in twenty places in, thc/province. The smoke of adjacont fires reached tho city on Wednesday ■ night, when its thin, even h'azo turned. the silver of. the moon into deepest gold.. By yesterday morning ..the smoke had becoino much thicker,'- shutting out from the, view the hills.beyond Ngahau r ranga, the Hutt valley, and' the eastern side of the harbour 'completely, ilie \suiji threw a; .saffron glow over-, every things • and - the atmosphere generally was inclined to be oppressively stuffy. After all, we are fortunate indeed in Wellington city, and our sympathies must go out to tho brave settlers who are suffering ,so severely in the fire-stricken districts round Pongaroa, Nireaha,, Taihape, and other.'-badly-affected places. ' Still, a holiday is always a holiday, which must, of 'necessity, bo spent in it-hp. Juint. for .pleasure. People were early astir yesterday; and after, assuring themselves - 'that' .'the- atmospheric density was smoke and (unfortunately) not rain- clouds, were soon making for trams,'trains, or steamers, bent on getting off the' beaten track, if only ; for a tew hours. Thore was a-rush for the race trains to Trentha'm by people, the majority .of whom had the winners safo up their sleeves —until after the races. Crowds swarmed on to tho trams bound for Seatoun, Miramar, and Island Bay, to get a whiff of tho briny as far away from the smoke-dried city as possible. The carnival at Seatoun, and tho merry-making at Miramar's "Wonderland," wore responsible- for' particularly heavy (raffle over the south-eastern suburban line. The harbour steamers did good business, the Anniversary Regatta and the presence of the Squadron lending interest to marine pleasuring, and 'the suburban trains carried heavyloads of passengers into tho country. RAILWAY TRAFFIC. j The excursion traffic on tho Government line was exceptionally heavy, the bulk of it being in. the direction of Trentham Racecourse. Tho estimated figures'for this trip alone totalled 0100, or 800 over tho total for Annivetsary Day, 1907. Add to this 700 oxcursionists, who came from Masterton .to attend the race meeting at Trentham, and the grand total swells to 6800.

Tho suburban traffic was also.. heavy, the oxcursionists for wayside' stations between Wellington and Upper Ilutt totalling 3500, or 100 in oxcess of tho previous year. Five hundred more booked tor stations beyond Upper Hutt. Altogether no fewer than 10,800 people were carried on the Government trains yesterday. Tho traffic on. the Jlanawatu line was appreciably heavier than on previous Anniversary holidays. Two thousand oscnrsionists were booked to Paokakariki, while 500 were carried to various stations beyond. ■BELLEVUE GARDENS. A goodiy stream of holiday-keepers poured into the Bellevue Gardens at Lowor Ilutt yesterday. Mr. Minifie's String Band played in the rotunda, and full advantago was ! tukcn by visitors of tho facilities for partaking of alfresco meals in pleasant surroundings. IT ARBOUR TRAFFIC. It was pretty ..jumpy throughout the day in the harbour, but that proved no deterrent io holiday-makers keen oil crossing the ! water. Between HOOD and -1000 went to I Day's Bay, and about 2000 to Karaka Day Land ijeatoun. ' '