CORONATION SEATS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22515, 4 September 1936, Page 11

CORONATION SEATS

ROUTE OF PROCESSION NEW ZEALANDER'S DIFFICULTY LONDON, Sept. 2 A prominent New Zealander, who has endeavoured to reserve seats on the route of the coronation procession, told a representative of the Australian Associated Press- that not ono seat was available at a reasonable pricie, though he had offered three guineas for moderate positions.

It appears that speculators snapped up all the available positions as soon as the route was announced. Some even gambled on the route and booked heavily beforo the announcement. New .Zealand is understood to have applied for a reserve to accommodate 1000 people, for which hundreds of applications have already been received.

An official secretary is circularising applicants, stating that it is anticipated that the demand for seats will considerably exceed the supply, and urging that private reservations are desirable.

"If a 'prominent New Zealander' expected to book seats on the coronation route and considered three guineas a normnl figure, hp under-estimated the value," said an authority on tourist business in Auckland yesterday. "We have been making tentative bookings for a considerable time, but from the start values for good seats have been around fivo guineas. Rent has to bo paid, stands have to be erected, and provision has to be made in case of rain."

Heavy bookings have been made by steamers leaving early next year, which will reach England in time for the coronation. Accommodation, of course, is still available, but the best cabins have been taken, and applicants have to take whatever is offering. It is not yet possible to estimate the number of New Zealanders who will visit England for the coronation, but the shipping facilities are expected to be fully taxed. Suggestions have been made by returned soldiers' organisations in Australia and New Zealand that a ship might be chartered and an excursion run under troopship conditions, but it is pointed out that such a scheme would involve two empty trips. The ship would bo empty on the outward voyage, and again on the return to England after "the excursion. Existing lines were able to handle all the cargo offering, so no help could be expected from this source.