RUSH FOR HOME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18690, 22 April 1924, Page 9

RUSH FOR HOME.

BAST TRAINS BESIEGED. GREAT CBOW9 AT STATION. ,THREE THOUSAND DEPART A SCRAMBLE FOR SEATS. ROOM FOUND FOR ALL. The new? that the railwaymen were going on strike at midnight filled thousnnis of holiday makers with consternation ],-irc yesterday afternoon, and without diuht the uppermost thought was. " We must ,get back tonight!" The situation appeared as acute to country visitors, enjoying a few days Easter jaunt in town, as to the race-crowds from the South, and the total '" homeward rush " traffic totalled fully 2000. Anticipating a very large increase in th« usual holiday traffic, the. railway authorities made provision for an exceptional demand for accommodation, with the result, that 1150 passengers got away by the two Main Trunk expresses. While this does not establish a record, it represents the biggest crowd that has left .Auckland by the Main Trunk evening trains tor a long time past. .No one who v i=hed to make the journey was left behind, arid every passenger secured a seat. The first express, which left about a. quarter of an hour late, consisted of fourteen coaches, including two sleepers, and. carried 500 passengers, a very much larger number than usually travel by tS's train. There were spare seats on %ni3 tr.iin. which carried four e\tra cars for Frankton.

Th? demand for accommodation on the so'and express, timed to leave at 7.40, was particularly heavy, and it was neany v twenty minutes past eight before a very lone; train, carrying some 650 people, steamed out of the station. No fewer than ei_:ht unreserved coaches were required to meet the extra demand for accommodation on the two trains, while scores of passengers who had hooked seats for to-night's express hurriedly changed their plans and made a dash to get home last evening. Not everyone, however, could make an eleventh-hour change, of plans so readily, and without doubt there will be many hundreds of Southerners in Auckland today, faced with the prospect of a prolonged holiday, who will wish they had been numbered among the luckv ones who made their dash for home before the wheels had ceased to turn. A Patient Waiting Crowd. The scene at the station last evening from five o'clock onward was a memorable one. As soon as the outward suburban traffic had been dealt with the Main Trunk passengers began to arrive. By six o'clock there was a crowd of several score outside the barriers to the platform. They sat on little piles of suit-cases and luggage, and speculated on their chances of securing a seat. Some of them munched buns and sandwiches with the air of those who know neither when nor where they may get their next meal. For many were by no rreans sure that the trains would run rigut through to Wellington, ajid the anxious query, "Where shall we he a - ; midnight?" sounded frequently. By the time the gates were opened there was a dense- throng of passengers waiting to get through, .women with babies in their arms, old folk, young folk, all ■with the fixed intention of securing a seat if it were humanly possible to do so. They crowded down the platform in 'hundreds, and in five minutes, it seemed, every seat was taken. Thereafter came much distracted running about, appeals to the ionmasttr ana other officials,, always courteously answered and rvwssuring. "He says there will be some more cars down in a moment," seemed to be the slogan of the next quarter of an hour, and, sure enough they came, four cars for Frankton only, which were quickly filled. There was no confusion, and the train finally steamed out at twenty-five minutes past seven.

An Exciting Few Minutes. The real excitement came a few minutes afterwards, when the bulk of the passengers for the 7.40 had assembled. By halt-past seven, the crowd outside the platform extended far back into the roadway, and the outer fences were densely packed with onlookers and friends of the passengers. When the gates were opened for "reserved ticket holders" only, there was a sudden surge, and for a moment it looked as though the crowd would 'Tush'' the platform. The crowding at the entrance was very severe, and one woman was knocked dewn ?n>Jf-a-dozen excited men and women dashed on to the platform. There were pitiful cries for "Porter!" from elderly women who could make no headway with their luggage, and one or two women with children had a harassing five minutes of it. Then the pressure became so great that the gates were closed for ten minutes, while the crowds already on the ) prat form boarded thetrain.

A hearty cheer went up as the gates veiled back once most, and for the next quarter of an hour the; platform was like a hive of bees, that has lost its queen. The early-comers w°:*e quickly seated, but others were not so fortunate, and soon there was a crowd of several hundred waiting at the end of the platform for extra cars. There were many anxious faces among them, women eager to get back to their families. basinet men faced with dislocation of the wheels of industry and commerce which a strike always brings in its wake. The wetting drizzle of rain which had set in made things no pleasanter, and the long line of misty veik>w lights shone on «or*3 rather forlorn faces during the next half hour.

Seats Taken Anywhere. Then a string of half-a-dozen carriages was backed in to No. 4 platform. With a wild scramble and rush., the passengers were quicklv aboard. They were not particular w*here they sat; ordinary rules went by the board. The ladies' car was half-filled with men, and ladies took as kindly to the "smokers" as to the others By ten minutes to eight the clamour had quite died down, and everyone was comfortably seated. Walking along the tw/ train-lengths, drawn up on either side of the patform, one. could discern no sign of any spirit of uneasiness or apprehension however, now that the main objective, the securing of a seat, had been achieved. Women with little ones on their knees knitted placidly, the men read and smoked with their usual philosophic: calm. Here and there a, maiden in tea.rs leaned out from a carriage window to bid a last farewell, but it did not seem to be the strike that was worrying her. At. a. quarter past eight- a lady in orange stockings and a fur '-oat. accompanied by a man with a huge hatbox. galloped smartly down the platform and leaped on to*a second-rla?s carriage. At sixteen minutes past eight the bell clanged, the final farewell? were spoken, and the last South-bound express which Auckland may see for some time steamed out into the misty night.