IRISH DERBY SWEEP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20924, 14 July 1931, Page 7

IRISH DERBY SWEEP.

NEARLY 7,000,000 TICKETS. SHUFFLING THE COUNTERFOILS. THREE HUNDRED BUSY GIRLS. [from our own correspondent.] LONDON, June' 4: Nearly seven 'million counterfoils were borne through the streets of Dublin to the Mansion House in six common every-day motor-lorries. A uniformed policeman was mounted on the running board of each vehicle, and inside, as an additional precaution, was an armed plain-clothes detective. At the head of the procession were the principal sweep officials. Although the counterfoils had been mixed by hand and machinery for a week until no two consecutive numbers could remain together, the three hundred girl shufflers had a glorious final (ling. The loads of paper were divided between five huge tables.

One who was present says that the shufflers, supervised by officials, dived into the piles in front of them, and in a few moments a veritable snowstorm was raging. Thousands of "flakes" were' in. the air at once, fluttering down in huge drifts on every table. The final shuffle over, the counterfoils were put into the immense drum for the first day's draw and the portholes were sealed. It was a strange scene that met the eye in the Mansion House—silent and, save for a solitary light burning near the great cylinder, d;rk. In the shadows stood the police guards with loaded revolvers in their belts. Total of £2,789,696 Subscribed. All the thirty-three horses will be drawn on tho first day, giving the holders of tickets the fullest* possible opportunity to negotiate sales of shaies in their chances if they so decide. World-wide interest had been attracted by the draw, for tickets had been sold in practically every country in the world. The bulk wore, however, sold in this country, and a very large proportion of the winning tickets are held here.

The sweepstake was the most valuable which has ever been held, but owing to the subdivision of the huge sum received into units, the prizes vvere less valuable than in the earlier Irish promotions. The total number of tickets which were disposed of was 6,695,260, which represents a grand total of £2,789,696, Of this sum £1,900,544 was allocated for prizes, the Irish hospitals will receive £557,939, and the remainder was absorbed by the expenses and the promoters' remuneration. Out of the gigantic sum the prizes won were:—Nineteen first prizes of £20,000; .19 second prizes of £15,000; 19 third prizes of £IO,OOO ; 570 prizes of £833 for the drawers of horses; 100 prizes of £25. In addition, there were 3800 cash prizes of £IOO. Then there were the prizes for the sellers of the tickets which drew horses which finished in the first three —- £IOOO each for the 19 tickets for the winner, £750 each for the second, and £250 each for the third. In all, thers were 4494 prizes ranging from £3O,(XX) to £25. Lucky New Zealanders.

In the list of <hose who_ drew horses were "Waimarama," Windmill Hill Place, near Ilailsham, Sussex, who drew Cameronian (favourite) and the Herald Syndicate, Wanganui, who drew Lightning Star. Among the £IOO consolation prize-winners were: G. E. Flint (Wellington), and J. F. Thurston (Taihape), and R. Y. Pearce (Christchurch). When Cameronian was drawn there was a burst of cheering. "Waimarama" was the nom-de-plume of Mrs. G. E. Murray, a New Zealander, who now lives in Sussex, but who retains an in- her former homa in Hawke's Bay. Sirs. Murray had an offer for a half of her ticket. . She had, already obtained several tickets and was asked by her chauffeur's wife to get two more for friends. This she did and at the same time got two further tickets for herself. One of these was the ticket which has won £30.000. The Wanganui Herald syndicate win £833. Money for the Hospitals.

Irish hospitals will benefit to the extout of £697,424, bringing the total derived from the three sweepstakes yet held to £1,269,000, all in a matter of six months.

Even before the draw was completed, Captain Spencer Freeman, one of the organisers, said that tickets for tlia Manchester November Handicap would be on sale almost immediately after the Derby. A special watermark has been devised to safeguard subscribers against counterfeiters in the next sweepstake. "The watermark on the tickets," Captain Freeman said, "will not be complete until the two parts—the ticket which the buyer holds and the counterfoil which the*sweepstake authorities hold —are together. This will make it almost impossible for forgers to operate with any success, because they will hav9 to manufacture a watermark on a false ticket to coincide with the watermark on a genuine counterfoil."