WELCOME STRANGER

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 638, 15 April 1929, Page 6

WELCOME STRANGER

THE “JUBILEE PUNTER” VISIT TO RANDWICK It is recalled that not so very many years ago a man, a complete stranger, walked into a certain city of this fair Dominion, carrying a solid £7OO in cash to invest on gee-gees with the local bookmakers. course he was welcomed with open arms, the pdncillers of the recently-created city being: only too pleased to accommodate him. And the lamb, like Barki’s, “was willing.” Inside a fortnight his £7OO had vanished, not into thin air, but into the bookies’ pockets, and not satisfied with this, the complete stranger had got on the bad side of the ledger for a big three-figure sum. The books looked high and low, but of the “Jubilee Punter” not a sign has since been seen. As if the books had any grievance! This incident in the warfare between bettor and layer is recalled by the following article taken from a Sydney paper of a few days ago: Winnings Collected . Books at settling during the week have been perturbed over the nonappearance of a punter who made numerous wagers amounting to many hundreds of pounds on Saturday and Easter Monday, but failed to appear at settling. Nearly a score of the books are left unpaid for amounts ranging from £4O to £IOO, and the whole sum involved is well over £SOO. A phase of the case that aggravates the situation is that a big sum was collected in winnings, but no payments were made out of this. The backer concerned met another well-known punter on the course on Doncaster day, and asked him to put £2OO on Karamu, adding that he had £4OO to put on and wanted him to help with the commission. The £2OO invested by the second man returned over £1,400, and this sum the second backer collected and handed to a man, who in turn met the defaulting backer and passed it on. And Then—He Vanished That was the last seen of him. There is a possibility, however, that the £4OO for Karuma might have been invested for another party, and was handed over to the right quarter, while the punter himeslf, having had a bad two days on Doncaster and Cup days through failing to pick a winner, was unable to meet his obligations. Friends say that he may be short temporarily, but will turn up later and pay his liabilities. Books hope so, anyhow.