EMPIRE EXHIBITION

Southland Times, Issue 19098, 16 November 1923, Page 5

EMPIRE EXHIBITION

THE NEW ZEALAND COURT PROGRESS OF THE WORK THE ACCOMMODATION QUESTION. (Special to Press Association.) * LONDON, November 14. (Received November 15, 10 p.m.) Good progress is being made with the erection of the New Zealand court and cinema hall at the British Empire Exhibition. The concrete floor and framework have been completed, and materials for walls and roofing tiles are on the ground. It is expected that it will be ready late in January or February for the mural decorations which are being prepared in New Zealand. Inquiries regarding hotel accommodation in London at the Exhibition period, suggest the advisability of making prior arrangements, possibly through the High Commissioner’s office. PASSENGERS TO ENGLAND. ACCOMMODATION DEMAND. So keen is the interest taken by New Zealanders in the opening of the British Empire Exhibition next year that it would appear as though the stream of Homewardbound traffic would partake something of the nature of a general migration (says the Auckland Herald). Accommodation on all vessels leaving Auckland for England in the early months of 1924 bids fair to be at a premium, despite the fact that the shipping companies have not announced any lowering of fares. A member of the Auckland staff of T. Cook and Sons stated on Friday that all first and second-class accommodation had been taken up on vessels on all routes leaving next February and March, with the exception of a few single berths. Many of those who had expected to travel in those months are now being faced with the alternatives of arriving in England in the chilly weather of early spring, or of missing the opening of the Exhibition in May. Another event that will draw many New Zealanders to Britain will be the opening of the Sunday-school Union’s World Congress in Glasgow in June. A large number of business men are included among those who have booked passages to England, while it is evident that a considerable number of people from the country districts will also take the opportunity of,making a long-anticipated visit to the Homeland.