HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7319, 24 December 1910, Page 1

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

OVER 1000 SOUTHWARD-BOUND PASSENGERS. MAORI AND' MONOWAI FILLED. Probably ..fifteen hundred people crowded down the .Queen's wharf last evening U> ' witness vac -uepaimre. oi U'Aea-& southward-bound by •’ the /Maori and Monowai. Profiting by the, unpleasant experience when the.crowd became-un-ruly, alongside the Rotorua on her arrival. from Loudon last Sunday week,the Harbour. Board officials and the Union Company erected a barrier, across the wharf at tno approach to berths Nos. <1 and 0, whore the steamers -lay. ! Only those persons with ticke.s wore permitted through the barrier, /thus-obviating 'the crush alongside the- boats, which generally, hampers the handling of baggageand the embarking of passengers- .< Mr A. V. Halo Monroe,' wharfinger for Jhe Harbour Board, had; a staff, of assistants on hand to aid the’ police in regulating the - traffic* at the barrier.-: The/ Union Company had their ticket boxes/outside the 'barrier,- where passengers: were-bookr ed by hundreds who arrived by v the late trains. The new scheme worked ad; mirably. Both the ;Maori and Monowai were advertised to sail for Lyttelton at 8.20. At 8.25 the Customs officers on duty at the Maori’s gangway .announced that the vessel.had reached the limit ot•Her • passenger, permit, 'Which provides for 083 persons.- 'The gangway was promptly lowered, and the vessel was under wav- in . another minute. The stream of' passengers ' still - continued, but was 'diverted .tq the Monowai.- A±. 9.5 pun. tho Monowai had gathered in her. licensed- complement—329 passengers —and five minutes luter she was backing out. - ;

■ Altogether about, twenty ’passengers wore left behind—a very small proportion compared with the 1012' who were able to embark. These- twenty, were.somewhat perturbed at being left on the wharf' at .Wellington after having* travelled from long l distances to catch thev boat. As is. usual in holiday time the country H ams were considerably .behind lime in arrivr ing at "Wellington, with tho result that nanny passengers reached' the-wharf after 8.20 n/m. —five advertised time, for thp departure of the boats. The- steamers were under an obligation to connect with tho southern expresses at Lyttelton, and therefore could not await the leisurely arrival? o? tho trains.; Some passengers were under , the impression that if they telegraphed for a berth that was all that was; necessary to secure a passage. But unless the necessary passage money is remitted at time of application for o. berth tho Union Company cannot undertake to keep a berth empty. Passengers having return tickets, should, far their own comfort a.nd convenience, make early applications for berths. This will, enable the Union Company to more adequately gauge tho number of passengers intending to travel and then, if necessary, an extra steamer can bo got ready.