SWEEPSTAKE MONEY

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 80, 16 March 1934, Page 10

SWEEPSTAKE MONEY

Bright Ideas lor Winners AUCKLANDERS BESIEGED There is no royal road to a fortune, but those who become unexpectedly possessed of one, be it large or small, find that there are many m the community eager to suggest ways of expending it. Aucklanders have had more than an average share of successes in sweeps and lotteries lately, and the fortunate people have been good marks for others who wish to share in their good fortune, or advise them as to how their windfalls can be improved upon. The syindicate of five which last week won a £12,000 first prize in Tatters al Is consultation is a case in point, and as one of the group commented, ‘‘some of the people who have written to me would make me a millionaire overnight.” Each one of the quintet has received many letters since their good fortune was announced. These vary in tone from the suggestion of ways in which to augment the £2400, which each of the synidcate will shortly receive, to requests for a share or the money in the way of straight-out gifts or loans. Two of the syndicate arc a mother and her daughter. The latter is .» young unmarried woman of 22, and in her recent budget of mail there have been quite a number of offers of marriage. The mother hag had a number of requests to assist people in distress, though they have been comparatively modest ,the largest involving the sum og £lOO. A diversion from the usual plea is a suggestion that she_ might pay rates owing on a country institution. The lady in question is a strict teetotaller, and there is no doubt a facetious strain in the request of one of her acquaintances that she be sent a bottle of whisky and a packet of cigarettes. A wine and spirit traveller who called upon her, however, was no doubt in ignorance of her temper-' ance habits. “My people are still living in Ballarat. Mother is 82, which were the last two numbers of the lucky ticket,” she stated, “and it is quite likely that I will take a trip across the Tasman to see the old couple again.” Congratulations were extended to one of the male members of the syndicate by one who, at the end of a hastily scribbled note, asked that he be given a “couple of quid” to keep him out of gaol, as he had been fined “a fiver.” The writer stated that he was waiting outside for an answer. It is a well-known fact that thousands of pounds leave New Zealand every month for sweepstakes abroad and there are hundreds, of syndicates which put away a shilling every pay day to send away for a ticket. One of the lucky participants in the latest success says that he had been a patron of overseas sweeps for thirty years. That the New Zealand successes lately have stimulated the desire to participate in these sweepstakes is evidenced by the frequent inquiries which have been made from all members of the syndicate for the channel through which the tickets Can be purchased Many of these inquiries have been made by post, hut in many cases the inquines have heen made personally.