DEFIANT CROWD

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21685, 20 January 1936, Page 10

DEFIANT CROWD

Yisiting Broadsiders Obstructed * | • i DIFFICULTY WITH 10,000 SPECTATORS i Ten thousand people, a record crowd, went to Monica Park to see the broadsiding and motor-cycle circus on Saturday evening; but no more than 500 saw all that was going on. The world-famous Putt Mossman and his American motorcycle circus were such a powerful attraction that all available accommodation was filled, ’and the management, rather than turn people away, allowed a large number on to the inside of the course. The crowd on the inside, about 500 in all, refused to sit down, and the remaining 9500 spectators saw only glimpses of the racing and the circus stunts. The announcer appealed to the 500 to sit down and give everybody a full view of the entertainment; but he might as well have remained silent. Mossman himself, in his attractively novel American accent, asked the “folks in the centre” to be more considerate, but they refused. They may have had some grounds for their action in that the grass was probably damp from the evening air; but the spectators in various corners of the ground began at once booing, hooting, and counting out the offenders. The situation looked unpleasant. Mossman did his best under this tremendous handicap, and those who did see what was going on must have been thoroughly satisfied with the quality of the entertainment. The tricks were as thrilling j as they were original. : Hooting and Booing | But it was obvious that the un- i fortunate spectators on the far side j of the ground would not allow | themselves to be cheated out of j their entertainment. They began I hooting and booing and whistling and counting out again, and Moss- j man found it necessary to take a more drastic step. He told the people on the inside that unless they sat down the show would not continue. This had some effect, and after five minutes’ interruption he was able to continue his stunt. No sooner had he begun than the people on the inside stood up again and those in the far stands began to get exasperated. Mossman, having a trying night—he had already had two or three falls—then announced through the loud-speaker that he would give his stunts on both sides of the ground for the benefit of the “folks on the other side.” This was greeted with cheers, and the visiting champion at once became more popular than ever. Privileged Few Apart from the extra work it gave Mossman and his team this idea seemed a solution to the problem, but it was only the beginning of more serious trouble. The crowd on the inside, not content with standing on one side of the ground and seeing a stunt there, wandered over to the other and watched it a second time. One stunt Mossman had to do in four different parts of the ground to satisfy everyone, and those in the centre had more than their money’s worth by taking a close view on each occasion. At one stage the crowd gathered thickly round the perfoi'mers’ motor-cycles on one side of the ground, and presented a serious obstruction. An appeal, this time fairly successful, was made to them to keep away from the machines. With the stunts repeated so many times the programme dropped further and further behind its schedule. To add to this Mossman had trouble with a midget car in which he was to make an attempt on a record, and he and Ray Grant, one of his team, both fell heavily from their machines in rounding corners in a race. Mossman suffered all kinds of bumps and thumps cheerfully and although he was busy doing two things at once most of the time he found time to sign autograph books for small boys much to the amusement of the crowd. Programme Cut Short it B ?’^ 0 ‘ 45 p ‘ m ’ [t becam e obvious that the programme could not be completed. Mossman then appealed i to those on the inside to move i back from the edge of the track, where they were in danger of being injured, but a more defiant! crowd can seldom have been seen I at a sports meeting in Christchurch. Mossman refused to begin his stunt —a leaip through a flaming wall till the crowd had complied with his request. He waited 10 minutes without success, and he and other visiting riders then broadsided towards the crowd, and cycled into their midst, still without much effect. Just before 11 o’clock Mossman performed his stunt, one of the most spectacular of the evening, to the entire satisfaction of those who saw it. This ended the programme, but the evening was rounded off with a chorus of boos directed at those on the inside from the hundreds on the far corner, who had been denied the pleasure of seeing the trick. Although three events had to be deleted from the programme it was after 11 o’clock when the huge crowd surged out of the ground For some time there was a blockage in Ferry road, and the last trams in the square had to be delayed while the special trams brought thousands into the citv from Monica Park. It was such a night as broadsiding enthusiasts have seldom seen in Christchurch.