EASTER HOLIDAYS

Southland Times, Issue 19836, 6 April 1926, Page 5

EASTER HOLIDAYS

ABNORMAjuRAILWAY TRAFFIC. QUIET TIME IN INVERCARGILL The Easter holiday season in Invercargill has passed off very quietly and the deserted appearance of the city streets lends support to the statement that the majority of the citizens have taken advantage of the respite from their daily occupations to spend the short holiday season in other parts. The principal attraction has undoubtedly been the Exhibition and the numbers who have proceeded there by train and motor must have run into some thousands. The annual meeting of the Riverton Racing Club has also attracted fair patronage, while the excursion to Queenstown on Saturday last was also fairly well patronised. Golfing enthusiasts have had their wants catered for by the annual tournament of the Invercargill Golf Club at Otatara and despite somewhat unfavourable weather the fixture has been productive of a good deal of keen competition and evident enjoyment to those participating. Yesterday the weather was slightly better than it had been over the week-end and consequently those people who had been unable to go far afield were enabled to spegfkthe holiday yesterday in the way that they wished under fairly comfortable circumstances. The railway traffic was again abnormal and the northward and southward bound expresses were liberally patronised. The through express which left Invercargill at 7 a.m. carried over 400 passengers and the afternoon mail train which consisted of twelve carriages was also well filled. The mail train from Dunedin, which arrived at 1.30 brought a fair number of people who had been visiting the Exhibition, while the evening express and the special train wftch arrived late in the evening, were filled to overflowing. The volume of train traffic to the Riverton Races yesterday was somewhat less than on the corresponding day last year, only 589 passengers making the journey from Invercargill as compared with 1,059 on the same day last year. The special train from Kingston which reached Invercargill at 3.25 carried a fair number of passengers. The traffic on the Bluff line was, however, disappointing and doubtless the number of countgr attractions and the unsettled weather caused a dimunition of traffic to the seaside port. with a Southland Times reporter the District Traffic manager (Mt. W. I. Hessell) stated that he was pleased with the volume of traffic and also with the manner in which it had been handled by the officials. Dunedin had undoubtedly been the great draw for the majority of people and when the figures showing the bookings were available in a few days time it was his belief that the number of passengers who had been carried would eclipse all previous records. The two expresses from Dunedin last evening, at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., were also liberally patronised by returning holiday makers. The first train consisted of 16 carriages and brought 548 passengers while the second, which was composed of 17 cars, also carried a full complement.