EXODUS FROM ROTORUA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17461, 4 May 1920, Page 6

EXODUS FROM ROTORUA.

FIRST EXPRESS CROWDED. LONG WAIT FOR SEATS. Tho first Auckland-bound express since last Tuesday left Rotorua yesterday morning with a full complement of passengers. After having spent several days in endeavouring to devise means of leaving the town, a number of the visitors decided to wait a day or two longer in the hope of avoiding the first rush. There were sumciiat people compelled to leave, nevertheleiis, to cause the demand for seat* to be keen. The railway authorities refuted to reserve accommodation, giving those first on the spot the earliest chance of getting a seat. In consequence many people rose earlier than customary and made their way to-the station, determined to secure that first chance.. The doors of the carriages were found" to be locked, however, and those who were on the spot at six o'clock— some were— were faced with the alternatives at risking leaving the business to a later hour, or of waiting a couple of hours in the raw morning air. At a-quarter to eight the doors were thrown open, and an immediate rush for first place occurred. Many of those who had anticipated reserving seats with hand luggage, and going away to breakfast, decided that it wonkl be wiser to remain on the spot. A number of breakfasts which had been ordered wore not eaten. By nine o'clock the dozen or so carriages comprising the train were crowded to capacity, and most of the platforms ; had an occupant or two. A number of Maoris en route for their homes down the line crowded the secondclass accommodation and over-flowed into the first. No one who seriously attempted to travel by the train appeared to find it impossible. The express did not pick up a great many passengers on the way, and by the time it arrived in Auckland its complement was normal, numbers having left at intermediate stations. Between 350 and 400 people must have left Rotorua however.