TWO RECORDS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 203, 20 April 1932, Page 7

TWO RECORDS

SOUTH AFRICAN CHURCH WITH LICENSED BAR ATTACHED. WORLD'S LONGEST PLATFORM. CAPETOWN, March 24. Rhodesia claims two records this week. The first is that it possesses the longest railway platform in the world; the other that it has the only church eonseerated for divine worship in the coUtinent that forms an integral I part of premises licensed for the sale ■ of intoxicating liquor. Additions to both ends of the main platform at Bulawyo railway station ■ extend the span to 2200 feet and make it the longest in the world. Previous Record. Hitherto the record has been held 1 by the famous connection of the Ex- ' change and Victoria platf ormS at Man- ! chester, with a reach of 2125 feet, ' while Australia is now deposed into third place, Flinders Street station, Melbourne, being 2006 feet 2 inches. Bulawayo's fine platform is a favourite stroll for railway men going to work, while for" nearby up-in-the-morn-ing-early residents the stretch of nearly half a mile of level asphalt sbeltered from the heat of sun and rain, provides an ideal morning eonstitutional. This morning Mr. H. Chapman, the general manager of the Rhodesia Railways, with Mrs. and Miss Chapman, Captain H. Allen, M.C., Secretary, and other leading officials of the railways, left by train for the Victoria Falls, where they will attend the dedication of the new church to-mor-row morning by the Bishop of Southern Rhodesia. The church is a hall exclusively set apart in the recent additions to the magnifieent hotel for divine worship. It is situated in a quiet corner of the hotel pile, and is beautifully equipped with altar and ornate furnishings. There is seating for about 30 people, and it will be used by all denominations. The Bishop has declared the beauty of this little chapel to be "in harmony with the beauty of its surroundings." It is on record that the first organ j ised church services ever to be held J in Rhodesia took place in a now defunct Bulawayo hotel in the pioneer days, and itinerant Priests still use rooms in country hotels for the purpose; but there is no known other instance in Africa of a eonseerated .•churcli being within licensed hotel premises.