FORTY THOUSAND CROWD

Taranaki Daily News, 11 August 1930, Page 11

FORTY THOUSAND CROWD

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BEFORE AND AFTER TEST ! 1 , 7 I I GCOO MOTOR VEHICLES IN USE. • UH ■. »■ I " ~r-w ■ CAPITAL’S BREAD EXHAUSTED. .J 7 I—. i f I ■ ; By TefcgrttDh-—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. It all the motor vehicles brought into use to convey the public to and from ’ Athletic Park on Saturday were placed in procession, allowing 20 feet for each car, they would make a line approxi- ■[7 mateiy 25 miles in length, and their •' 7 passengers probably accounted for abouta quarter of the vast crowd which wit? nessed the final Rugby Test. The ' fie department’s tally, taken by expert- ■ /„> enced men, was 6180 motor vehicles of 7 . all kinds. The estimated number of 7 spectators was 43,000;: . At 6.30 a.m. on Saturday at the main gates some 60 people had- formed the L head of a queue, which was to swell tflT such dimensions later. A few of them 7 had been there since 4, o’ejode They - j were seated on boxes or sacks and ’; v : were making-breakfasts off sandwiches, etc., with the aid of thermos flasks! The gates at the park were opened .\ at 9 o’clock, and the big crowd of-poo- ,/. pie 1 then . assembled soon found their places for a four; or five hours’ wait. Apart from those who gained admission there were probably 400'0 or 5000 people who occupied “free •seats” on th® 7. 1 banks and hillsides round the park : and the roofs of houses and similar points of vantage. ; At Um Wellington /South school' th®. ‘ ? playground was thrown open by j th® school'committee for parking purposes at a feo of Is and w.as in charge! of /scouts. The committee will reap ajbpui £lO as a result. The grounds of- Lewisham Hospital were ■.similarly., iiiicld,! and , also numerous vacant .sections, /(j; i . Of course there were many, early U* birds who took something dthejrJ 'than. . 'flasks' of tea, and the' bottles were : ;drop- ’ / ped in any convenient corner or under the staging. Boys with an eye to bhsi- / < ness Were soon going round with S|acka * 7; collecting. Several lads secured • full 7 saeks, which they slung over their shoulders and carried away to turn into ?; cash at the bottle stores at a penny eaelu . ---a2 > Hundreds of spectators carried benzine cases, etc., into the park to use as seats or stands, abandoning these at tn® close of the game. There was also a great rush for these, one lad being smart enough to have- a good-sized truck in readiness, and he secured enough firewood for weeks to eome.

Due no doubt -to the influx of some 12,000 outside visitors for the Rugby Test Wellington ran out of bread on Saturday. Housewives who delayed purchasing week-end supplies until a late hour found it impossible to obtain bread.