CHANGED PLANS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26639, 9 December 1947, Page 4

CHANGED PLANS

HOLIDAY MOVEMENTS QUEUES AT BOOKING OFFICES The flare-up of the infantile paralysis epidemic in the North Island and the closing of schools in the South caused fresh queues to be formed in railway booking offices yesterday by holiday-travellers and pupils of boarding schools wishing to change their travelling arrangements. The Government Tourist Office also had to deal with a number of cancellations of tours to the North Island but the total was not as large as might have been expected in the, circumstances.

One of the chief reasons for the queues in the railway booking office was that the early closing of schools made it necessary for boarding pupils to make new arrangements for returning to their homes. . Reservations at the end of the week had to be

cancelled and an endeavour made to secure seats on trains leaving Dunedin in the next day or two. The result of the changed arrangements is that the 11.35 train for the north is fully booked for this morning and other trains will be crowded. The Central Otago train to-morrow is also almost fully booked. The staff of the booking office was also kept too busy all day to keep a tally of the large number of cancellations made by people who have abandoned holiday trips to the North Island. Some of the people who did not wish to venture into the danger zone beyond Cook Strait tried to make other arrangements for the holidays. Many made reservations to South Island towns, but the question of accommodation at this late stage is a difficult one. As a result of a large number of people who had planned a holiday in the north will now be staying at home.