IRISH SWEEPSTAKE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20724, 18 November 1930, Page 9

IRISH SWEEPSTAKE.

PRIZE MONEY £400,000. GREAT PUBLIC INTEREST. FORTUNES FOR WINNERS. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received November 17, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON. Nov. If,. A great Irish Free State sweepstake in aid of hospitals is to he drawn on Tuesday. It is remarkable for the enthusiasm it has aroused. Long queues of people are to be seen outside the selling booths and thousands of lot tors are pouring in daily. It is stated that, the prize money already reaches the remarkable figure of £400.000. The first prize is expected to be £185,000, the second £BO,OOO, and the third £42,000. To-day 2,000,000 slips, the counterfoils of the tickets sold, were removed under an armed police escort to the Mansion House, where the public drawing is to bo held. A cablegram from London on November 10 stated: In the House of Commons Sir John Davidson, Conservative member for Farcham, inquired whether the Exchequer had given attention to the nmnoy which .was going to Irish Free State sweepstakes. He asked if the Government contemplated the issue of premium bonds in order to retain the money in Britain.

Tho Financial Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. F. W. Pcthick-Lawrence, replied that the answer to both questions was in (ho negative. The Home Office has banned the great Dublin sweepstakes on (lie Manchester November Handicap. About £500,000 was subscribed, of which ut least 80 per cent, went from England.