QUIET HOLIDAY IN CITY

Southland Times, Issue 24759, 2 June 1942, Page 4

QUIET HOLIDAY IN CITY

Fewer Attractions Than Usual

The King’s Birthday holiday observed yesterday was probably one of the quietest public holidays ever experienced in the history of Invercargill. There were few people about the city at any part of the day. In the morning the streets were practically deserted, and though they were a little busier in the afternoon the volume of traffic was never equal to what it would have been if times had been normal. ,

Although the day was a holiday for many city workers— nearly all shops and offices were closed—it was for the majority a holiday spent at home. Apart from a golf tournament and a basketball tournament there were no holiday sports fixtures in the city, and there was none sufficiently near at hand for Invercargill residents to attend. The usual King’s Birthday race meeting was not held at Dunedin this year. It is interesting to recall that on June 5, 1939, the last King’s Birthday holiday before the outbreak of the war, the sports attractions in the city included Country Day Rugby matches at Rugby Park before an attendance of 5000, a basketball tournament, the annual six-a-side tournament of the Southland Men’s Hockey Association, a golf tournament, a rifle shooting match at Otatara and whippet racing. In addition there was a race meeting at Dunedin which was attended by many people from Invercargill. Road and rail traffic that day were heavy. BUSINESS AS USUAL No special trains were run from the city yesterday. In fact for the railways it was not a holiday at all. The railways having been classed as an essential industry, it was, as with other essential industries, a case of business as usual. The normal goods services were run and practically the only sign that the day was a holiday was the fact that the number of passengers who arrived and departed by the Dunedin expresses was larger than usual. In the past it has been the custom to run the Invercargill-Christchurch and Christ-church-Invercargill expresses on the King’s Birthday holiday—these expresses no not normally run on Mondays—but they were not run yesterday. Apart from any war-time restrictions the number of passengers might not have warranted this. Other workers besides railway men who did not have a holiday yesterday were the coal miners, saw mill workers, and the beef butchers at the Mataura and Makarewa freezing works. These men continued at their jobs because they were engaged on essential work. 'Hie Army Office was one of the few offices open in the city yesterday. The men in the local military camps also carried on as usual. It was not a holiday for the troops. FINE WEATHER The weather was fine yesterday, though there was another stiff frost in the morning—13 degrees compared with 14 degrees on Sunday morning. There was a considerable amount of cloud about in the morning, and at once time it looked as if the day might end in rain. However, after mid-day the sky cleared and the afternoon was beautifully fine with sunshine that was pleasantly warm. It was a day that called to the open, and in spite of the absence of sports attractions a good many people would probably have been abroad if they had had petrol to run their cars on such jaunts. Many people employed the holiday at home in attending to necessary work in the garden. Members of the Home Guard have found that because of their duties in the Guard work in their gardens has got a good deal behind. Yesterday, therefore, gave a good opportunity to overtake arrears, though because of the frost conditions were not propitious. Among those who sought relaxation away from home the picture shows were popular. They did good business. QUIET DAY IN AUCKLAND (P.A.) AUCKLAND, June 1. The King’s Birthday was celebrated very quietly at Auckland. There were no races and few sporting activities. Many workers in essential industries carried on as usual.