TWO-UP AND THREE-UP.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 72, 18 December 1907, Page 9

TWO-UP AND THREE-UP.

• ~ SCHOOL AT AUCKLAND. ■VvKEGULAR SUNDAY GATHERING. f (FROM OTO SPECIAi correspondent.) ,/ (. Auckland, December 17. The. .'.'Star" sheds'.its searching light upon . nothertwo-up school. "For two and a half i. yoarsj"'..it says, ,"a gambling den has'systematically carried on business in the very heart of tho city,- and,during that period a coterie of Sydney .'thugs' waxed opulent on those addictedi to tlio gaming vice. The Tovblatioils - mado in these columns some Tvecks ago had the desired effect of closing this-den, and the establishment has ceascd, for.', the present at least, to carry on its Bofarious work. Tho daring effrontery, which enabled tlio 'proprietary' of tho gambling'den to'barry joh successfully for so long a poriod is equalled by : . tho. Dagrancy_of; another outdoor, gambling school. - That it should be possible for-200 people to congregate in tho open'ai'nd devote the wholo of Sunday to the fascinating and/exciting pleasure' of 'two-' np'r sooms incredible. Sunday after Sunday large, numbors-devote thomßblves' to the. dcUghtsVofrthe" gamo'. As in tho caso of tho Bchool in tlio city ( tho promoters ovidently consider,, that suspicion is least likoly to be courted,-. v by. establishing thomsolvos right undor, the noso of tho-law. Thus it comes about V.that, strangers wlio. pass round. Freeman's' Bay .are often at a loss to understand the reason of so largo a congregation as. is to be,'found in a .natural hollow formed by tlio' cliffs. Possibly they paGs, on with the belief that, it i:! a prayer or a political meet 1 - ingV'./In;reality the assembly, is a large 'twonp'; .scho'ol,vwhich meets in this spot evory Sunday' for the express purpose of indulging ini'any.undisturbed game. The gamblers ai'o well; served;ui.their selection of a galling grouiidi v, A '.police, raid could only . bo manoeuvred- .with considerable ingenuity. They ! aro ensconced in a natural hiding placed .From Victoria Park : it is scarce a atone's throw, but the brow of tho cliff hides it,:- from "all possibility of . suspicion. Tho water.'is a considerable distance away, and ..' thei",likelihood, of a raid, in that direction is, •' minimis'cd' by- tho quantity of logs, timber, etb.Y, ; whicti. strews the.' sea frontage. Overhead;.; the" cliffs' are precipitous,. and the fact , that-tho Convent 'Grounds "overlook the site gives, it ah added! security, whilo the natural. environments are-such as to form a protcotibu.yiin 'themselves / from an ambuscade. No 'foHkncesi are taken,' and, scouts lino tho hill-top and the. only approaches at oitlicr end,.;, - I'lnis securely hiddon '.the gamcstors, withotit'fear, dpvoto themselves to tho gamo. Notion tent .with. the,, fascination of .the. recognised .form of 'two-up,' tho players have adopted'S'a. new phase of tho game, and it is nowj'known as 'thrce-un.' ..Instead of playing . with two pennies, three. coppers aro laid on ..the'kip; and tho. cliances aro in favour of. is .to.'say; with;three, coins thb'ro-.'is less ' delay, in'.' securing two ' heads or two tails', aiid tho.game rages faster and morp:furiously..-. It ; is a'motley crowd which forms, the- 'school.'. All are drawn by .the excitement of tho £amg, , rind at' times -the attondarice is '-large,, .varying' from 50 up to about .200. ; The advantages, of playing in Eiich-a''secluded. spot as that at. Freeman's 1 Bayj 'arer/iiasOy iinasinuch as the situation "is in itself. ,i shfegjiard.? The thoroughness with which- tlie ; gamblers ;entrench thomsolvos in inaccessible positions is borne out by the fact that, the 'two-up school is hold Sunday after Sunday with the Utmost regularity and impunity." '