Showmen say sideshows need cleaning up

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32450, 10 November 1970, Page 1

Showmen say sideshows need cleaning up

Eight sideshow men questioned yesterday at the Show Grounds where they were putting up stalls and erecting equipment for the three-day Canterbury A. and P. Show which will begin tomorrow, said that sideshows needed cleaning up.

They said that a small minority was giving the whole industry a bad name. Four sideshow men convicted recently of fraud and a fifth found guilty of theft from a fair stall on the West Coast still had their showmen’s licences.

All those interviewed said they did not want their names published as they did not want their stalls wrecked or their “rides”, sabotaged. “It is no good opening with a burned-down stall and no stock, or a ride with parts missing or the meters smashed," one said. “That is what happens if you put a foot out of line.” Thd northern districts council of the Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand is the only organisation that licenses showmen. Showmen without licences are not allowed on showgrounds run by the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association and the Auckland Manufacturers* Association. Several other organisations running shows or fairs in Auckland also insist on showmen being licensed. Some licensed The tanterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association and the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association do not license showmen. However, many of the showmen on the South Island cir cuit have northern districts council licences and some convicted of criminal offences still have them. Shots were fired at this year’s Industries Fair in Christchurch, according to one showman. A cog and electric motor were stolen from a ride, and later- found in the River Cam, near poi“A circus tent top spread out over the sheep pens mysteriously caught fire and $7OO went up in flames, so quickly we all knew that fuel had been used,” said another.

“The ferris wheel that tipped over in Greymouth was put up correctly. The owner was supervising and you don’t risk thousands of dollars worth of ride and endanger the public so that they are put off rides . . . but it still tipped over. . . . “You can’t put a ferris wheel up the wrong way; it will not work,” another ride operator said. 1928 procedure One showman said that when he began in 1928, at a Royal Show in the North Island, he was vetted by the police. "A| showmen were

licensed then. If you had any “form” the police would not let you on the ground. . . . “If you have a criminal conviction you are not allowed on a racecourse. Far more harm to people and damage to gear can be done at a showground fair but many showmen with criminal convictions are working with impunity now.” Sole right The Canterbury A. and P. Association, for-the first time in 108 years, has this year let the whole of the amusement area at the show. The lessee is Mr W. M. Jones, of Christchurch, a showman with seven rides, and the biggest show and fair ground operator in the South Island. Mr Jones has already paid his rent to the association and is sub-letting lots, at $3 a square foot (on a frontage basis) to other showmen. Mr Jones has sole rights at several shows and fairs in the South Island. He collects the bents from his sublessees .because they know he will not sub-let on the next ground unless they pay jip. In the northern area of the North Island this system has worked for many years and, with licensing that is enforced by refusal to reissue licences to those who defraud the public, has resulted in sideshows being of a higher standard, better presented

and with much less cheating of the public. Hopes for system The secretary manager of the Canterbury A. and P. Association (Mr H. M. Studholme) said yesterday that sole rights had been granted for the amusement area because then the association’s office did not have to chase showmen for rent and did not have to deal with bickering showmen who last year threatened not to take any ground until the day before the show opened. He said that it was also hoped that the system would lead to a great improvement in the standards of sideshows and showmen. This would be a test year for Mr Jones, but it was hoped that he and other likeminded showmen could put pressure on the poorer type of showmen in subsequent years. The agreement signed by the showmen and Mr Jones stipulates that the minimum charge for rides at this year’s show will be 50c for adults and 20c for children, the latter price being an increase of 5c on that for some rides last year. Mr Jones’s manager said that rising costs had forced the increase.

Most showmen considered that the game, “hole-um” for which four showmen were convicted of fraud, would not be run at the show this year. Some considered that the darts game, red, white and blue, which was illegal, might be run. “The police should move in to clean the industry up; it is getting a bad name because of the standards of a few,” was the consensus.