A CROWDED SHIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21130, 12 March 1932, Page 10

A CROWDED SHIP.

HOLIDAYMAKERS FOR SYDNEY.

CARNIVAL SCENE ON WHARF.

DEPARTURE OF MAUNGANUI

BRIDGE OPENING ATTRACTION. The largest number of passengers to loavo Auckland in an intercolonial steamer for a very long time sailed by the Maunganui for Sydney yesterday afternoon. A total of 431 travellers was hooked on the vessel, a number that has rarely been approached since the days of care-free prosperity. There was also a remarkably largo crowd on Prince's Wharf to sec the steamer depart. Several factors contributed to the Maunganui's lengthy passenger list. The large staff of a circus which has been visiting Auckland helped to swell the numbers, but the fact that the Maunganui was the last ship to leavo New Zealand in time for the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge on March 19 was responsible in great measure for the augmented number of travellers. An additional factor was that tho season for travelling to Europe is now at its peak.

Great Interest in Function. The opening of tho Sydney Bridge is a function that is being anticipated by New Zealanders with a great deal of interest. Many residents who had cause to visit Sydney this year, or to pass through Australia on their way to Europe, arranged their journey so as to be present at tho opening. This decision was reflected also in tho passenger lists of the last three steamers to leave New Zealand prior to the Maunganui. The Ulimaroa left Auckland on March 4 with 297 passengers, and the Marama, on March 4, and Makura, on March 7, left Wellington with 466 and 377 respectively. With yesterday's departures the total for the last four ships is therefore 1571.

The scene on the wharf prior to the Maunganui sailing yesterday was an extraordinary one. A dense crowd was massed below the ship's side and the coloured paper streamers which were stretched from ship to shore gave the appearance of an almost solid canopy overhead. Some of the more venturesome passengers stood upon the rails of the ship so as to obtain an uninterrupted view of friends on the wharf, or in order to preserve unbroken as long as possible the streamers in their grasp. Atmosphere of Carnival. An atmosphere of carnival prevailed until the ship moved away and the broken streamers fluttered downward. It was a foretaste of the high carnival which the opening of the Sydney Bridge holds in promise. Laughter and the cheerful sound of calling to and fro hid many a heart-pang from a parting friend. Everyone seemed merry and for a brief while thoughts of the depression were banished. A number of spectators who were present to see the circus animals loaded on to the ship were disappointed. That task was accomplished earlier, with an orderliness that impressed those who saw it. No sooner had the last act finished on Thursday night than preparations for shipment "were commenced. Shortly after daylight the first animals were put on board, and the work continued smoothly throughout the morning, being finished about mid-day. At 3.15 p.m. the Maunganui's ropes were cast off and the vessel moved slowly from the wharf. The last farewells were called, and, with lines of human forms crowding her rails, she gathered speed and passed out into the stream.