THE “RABBIT GAME.”

Otago Witness, Issue 3829, 2 August 1927, Page 35

THE “RABBIT GAME.”

ITS LEGALITY QUESTIONED. WELLINGTON, July 29. Is the “rabbit game” played at the Winter Show a game of skill or chance? is a question on which Mr E. Page. S.M., reserved his decision to-day. There are several defendants. The “rabbit game” is a mechanical device operated by electricity. There are 12 small tin imitation rabbits, each of which is attached to an endless chain. These move up a boarded slope in a groove, and are propelled by means of a rubber ball which each competitor endeavours to jerk with a lever into a box. Twelve competitors take part in every game, paying 6d each to enter. Tha prize a box of chocolates, is worth about is 9d.

The game was played at last year's Show and at the Dunedin Exhibition, and no complaint was then made. Members of the Executive Committee of the Winter Show considered it a game of skill, and detectives said there was a noticeable difference in the levers, some being easier to operate than others. Moreover, the jumps made by the different rabbits were by no means equal. They had asked whether, if one rabbit were winning all the time, any adjustments could be made, and the reply was. “Y’es. it would not do to have one rabbit winning all the time. We would get no business.” The defence was that the sending of the ball into the trap properly was a matter of skill, and it was possible to regulate the length of the jump of the rabbit by the manner in which this was done.