LISTENING TO BROADCAST.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 130, 4 June 1930, Page 9

LISTENING TO BROADCAST.

EXTRAORDINARY SCENE AT OTAKI. TOTALISATOR DESERTED. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON", this day. An all-absorbing interest in football was piquantly displayed at Otaki yesterday. When nearing the close of betting on the fifth race the usual throng of patrons were milling round the totalizator, whei\_ suddenly there came the sound of tremendous cheering, punctuated by the voice of the announcer of 2YA at Athletic Park, giving news of the match, Wellington v. Britain. Immediately racing became a secondary consideration, and the crowd rushed away from the totalisator to take up positions within earshot of the loudspeakers, which had been erected on the stands for the purpose of enabling racegoers to follow the progress of the match, and there they remained. So disastrous was this to the business of the totalisator that it became necessary in the interests of v racing to cut off t'he broadcast throughout the greater part of the second spell and set it going again during the slack time immediately after the race, for the people simply would not leave the vicinity of the loud-speakers. The closing stages of the game were "silent," but the final announcement that Wellington had held its lead was received with great cheering.