"TOFUA STAKES."

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 181, 3 August 1931, Page 11

"TOFUA STAKES."

MOCK RACE MEETING,

FUN OX ISLAND STEAMER

There were no cheering thousands, and there was a total absence of the atmosphere of strained concentration always associated with a racecourse, but the mock race meeting held on the Tofua in the course of her last trip was quite the event of the voyage, and was the topic of conversation among officers and passengers alike when the ship arrived in Auckland this morning. The idea was that of the purser, Mr. D. A. Butler, who with the aid of the most enthusiastic of committees, the officer. , ;, the bos'nn, Mr. H. G. Davies, and Messrs. Alport, Barker, and S. Kronfeld, arranged everything. They even supplied the "horses." Every officer, from Captain Chatfield down, entered into the spirit of the thing, and the engineering staff provided the trophies, two miniature cups from tobin bronze, set on teak pedestals.

The sports day was fixed for the evening before the Tofua arrived at Suva, when she was coming through the Koro Sea from Apia; and the sports deck made an eminently satisfactory substitute for a track.

Captain Chatfield was judge, Mr. Butlei was starter, promoter, general manager and information bureau, and the clerk of scales was Mr. P. Brewer. Mr. H. Collier, in the orthodox red coat, was clerk of the course, and duly delivered his charges to the starter. Each jockey underwent examination from the vet., Mr. C. Stewart. The timekeeper was Mr. H. Pike. It is said that the bard times are reflected in the totalisator returns. There could not have been any depression on the Tofua. Patronage was excellent, and tho double event card was fully subscribed. The prize money was distributed by the judge, and a dance wound up the most memorable day of the voyage.