ROYAL ENTRY INTO THE CITY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 55, 7 March 1927, Page 5

ROYAL ENTRY INTO THE CITY

SAIcJRDAY'S POPULAR DEMONSTRATION

STREETS LINED BY CHEERING

CROWDS

So well were arrangements for keeping the roadway open carried out that almost/everyone had a clear view of the; Royal visitors, but there was eauso for,one-general regret, that the cars ran'by. so. quickly. The 1 route, followed from Lambton Station- was by Featherston street to Bunny! street, turning there under the arch'of welcome 1 into Lambton quay at; the: corner of Government Buildings. The-whole-of the station, square was closed (from about half-past four, when the-Tramways i Municipal Band assembled ito help time pass till the Royal train''arrived. In Featherston street,; Bunny-street,;' and' ■ about the- Govern-ment-Buildings-.the, biggest crowds -of/ any=along' the route, with the exception perhaps-.of'those at Courtenay place ami- Kent -,terracej assembled early, in

the; afternoon, all front, second, and third, row places being filled up shortly after-3 o'clock. Every side street in the ■vicinity was a parking place for cars *in> surprising quantity, but as they arrived early and additional traffic menwere detailed for this area arrangements were carried out splendidly. It'was. a-curiously quiet crowd that waited' behind the rope barriers and on' the footpaths further -along the Quay where; barriers were not considered .necessary;'they stood till they were tired of standing and, in sections, ■atjon- window: sills or the kerbing edge; .and: kept on waiting. The sun shone warmly, and a pleasant day makes'waiting not so long.

There was a false alarm when the pilot train .whistled well outside the station and a few minutes later rumbled in. ;The sound of that rumbling did not reach far up Lambton quay, but word that. |'They. are here" aiyl a burst of cheering was .rapidly passed along and a wave : of ..movement passed along, the crowd.. Word' that the arrival was a mere\pilot;,train passed along behim

DUKE AND DUCHESS OF YORK WARMLY WELCOMED

Wellington was determined to see the Duke and Duchess of York, not at some time during their stay, but immediately after their arrival, or just as soon thereafter as., was possible, for the welcome that is belated is, after all, but half a ■welcome. Wellington, therefore, set out very early on Saturday afternoon for vantage points along the route of the Royal procession, and as early as 1 o'clock, with more than four hours' wait ahead, people commenced to gather about the Government Buildings, Kent terrace, and at Government House gates; by 3 o'clock the full route was lined and gradually the lines filled in and double and treble banked, with dense crowds at. favoured points. It was an ideal day, warm and sunny, and .the long wait was therefore not so Jong, while bands at various points livened up the afternoon.

and there was more waiting, but merely for minutes. The Boyal train arrived to the minute, there was a brief ceremony of reception upon the station platform, and the Duke and Duchess were in their car, spinning, along Peatherston street and round into Lambton quay between the line of'cheering people and waving flags and handkerchiefs after, the escort car of the Commissioner and chief officers of the Police Department. This is the day: of speed in "all things, not excepting • Royal processions, seemingly, and: so smart a paea was set by the escort car that many who had waited for so- long .; were disappointed—the Duke and-Duchess had arrived and ' .passed, almost i before they knew they ; were round>the corner. So smartly did the Commissioner's car lead off, moreover,; that 'half :.the official cars, in

which were th,e Ministers of the Crown and city officials, had not time to fill before a big.gap separated them from the leading cars, from which they wore further cut off when the crowds on either side forgot the barriers and commenced to fill the roadway. The space between was made up along the Quay.