CUP FEVER

Evening Star, Issue 25942, 6 November 1946, Page 6

CUP FEVER

SYDNEY STOPS WORK TO LISTEN-IN TRAFFIC ALMOST AT STANDSTILL (From C, R. Mentiplay, N.Z.P.A. Bpl. Cor.) (Rec. 12.16 p.m.)"SYDNEY, Nov. 6. Sydney city traffic came almost to a standstill and business telephone calls hurriedly cancelled as Cup time drew near yesterday. Traffic policemen on normally busy city intersections disregarded vehicles which stopped for the vital 10 minutes. Stock ,■ Exchange transactions ceased, The Grenfell Police Court, which is hearing evidence on a murder charge, hastily adjourned. Sydney police and detectives on duty in wireless cars heard the broadcast as they cruised through the city and suburbs. The machinery in many factories was stilled as the operators listened to the race over public address systems. i ■ I have yet to find an Australian who did not have a bet on the race, either in an office sweep or in a more substantial way. In a sweep conducted by the Canberra Press Gallery Mr Chifley won the first prize of £lB. He was able to follow his fortune as Cabinet /adjourned for the occasion.-' In an inter-State consultation on the result New Zealand subscribers won five prizes totalling £62,600. The usual crop of tips and hunches was played. It is believed that many Communist trade union executives and Left-Wing supporters are the richer for carrying their convictions on to the track by backing Russia. The member of a large Sydney department store staff found i{ a good omen when a member < of the Russian Embassy walked into the shop yesterday morning and bought a silk hat. Cup fever reached its height when two groups each of 44 businessmen, whoso only luggage consisted of binoculars, boarded two chartered Skymasters and flew to Melbourne for the race, and returned to Sydney the same d.ay. The unkindest cut is administered by a Melbourne paper this morning, which comments: “Thanks to the Skymasters, Sydney now assumes its rightful place as a suburb of Melbourne.”