FINE HOLIDAY WEATHER

Southland Times, Issue 24885, 27 October 1942, Page 4

FINE HOLIDAY WEATHER

HEAVY TRAFFIC ON RAILWAYS

Although the weather outlook for the holiday yesterday was not promising at the week-end, the skies cleared late on Sunday night and Labour. Day in Southland broke fine and remained fine throughout the day. It was a day for the sportsman and the holiday-maker, and full advantage was taken of the limited scope of the programme. . Bowlers had a full day in tournaments in Invercargill and Gore, tennis players were catered for in the Winton tournament, golfers had fixtures at Invercargill and Gore, and followers of field and track athletics were provided with a full calendar at the Otautau sports meeting. All of these fixtures were largely attended, and judged by the extraordinarily heavy railway traffic on all lines the city and country residents went “out for the day.” OTAUTAU SPORTS Patronage at the Otautau sports depended largely on the transport provided by the Railway Department. The special train left Invercargill with more than 600 excursionists, but by the time the train reached Otautau it had a holiday complement of upwards of 1100 holiday-makers. The train was filled to overflowing and many passengers taken on at intermediate stations had to be accommodated in the van. Bluff was the most popular seaside resort for the day. Several trains carried picnickers to the port town—it is estimated the total was about 1000. The expresses, too, were heavily loaded. The 1.45 p.m. express to Dunedin carried 500 passengers when it left Invercargill and the 6.40 p.m. train for Dunedin had a crowd of about 900 travellers aboard. Trains arriving in Invercargill were well filled. The 11.0 express from Christchurch and the 10.15 p.m. special train from Dunedin brought hundreds of persons to Invercargill. Many of the holiday visitors to Invercargill for the week-end will return north by the 6.15 a.m. express today. It will leave Invercargill with a big load, the accommodation for almost the entire train being reserved. The good weather of the day broke in the evening and a change to a cold temperature and heavy showers of rain was recorded.