RACEGOERS CHEERED.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 45, 23 February 1927, Page 14

RACEGOERS CHEERED.

! U WHILE STAJTD BURITED c UNDER THESL ; o ■Proa Crcr Crxi Gorrsspe-den:.; i . i ~ aYDN'EY, February 15. j a , was biaxir.i - rr.eath them, racegoers at to leave rhe:r roints of vantage until * the conclusion if the race. Some~cf the.--: £ had narrow =-aw. starting in a small riredest.oyed the Guineas "'- ;7000 persons and worth £-y;~L*JO.'~"~ll t: orofce out wLi»e the second race was ; - '.'. ' progress, and —as so swift in its euvelot.-- : - : ing the place t :at it iiad spread front tic- ~ lower fcor to ".he upper by the time the — rare had conceded. " ; y Underneath the stand were refresh- 2 men:: rooms, :n which afternoon tea --' was being prepared, and it is concluded °' that the rire started either in that room ' ror through a cigarette dropping through: w the cracks in the flooring boards or' the j *"• stand. A: any rate it was noticed when 1 w was no water available to* use in tnent. • 0i lower portion of the stand inmediateiv left the building and watched it burn.' r ' Bat the racegoers on the top deck were * c they refused to believe that anvthir.g' — . investigations. By that time the names CI I were showing no on the too floor too. r * j and 3. rush had to be made by the back "~ stairea.se to get clear. Firemen were on P* the scene early, but the Strang? lack of ; ~ water handicapped then:, and by the time '"' ; they had rigg'ed a long h-:~eime to the r ' '. Cauineld railway station, the dames had 5= too good a hold to be checked. Anyhow. -- only a trickle came through the hor?e from »•"• . the station. The tire itself was merely an tr 'added attraction to the racing, as the '■' programme was net interfered with in it was insured for £55j000. damage in full tb ' is placed at £50.000 by VA-T.C officials, it It is the second fire of the kind est-en- let . enced by the Cauineld racing "ofneiais. to ' for on the morning of Canlfield Cup Day! H I v»nen \\ nittier won the race, the" mam vc j grandstand was burnt to the ground. 'of