THE TOTALISATOR HOUSE

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 857, 8 November 1916, Page 10

THE TOTALISATOR HOUSE

CASH AND TICKETS REMOVED.

NO DISORGANISATION CAUSED.

When the stewards’ stand was well ablaze smoke completely obliterated Ihe view of the totalisalor house, which was in a direct line with the wind. The heat there was intense.

and it looked at one time as though this building also would become igniled. Luckily, however, the distance between the lotalisator and the blazing stand was sufficient to give protection, a fact which justifies the strong insistence of Mr A. I. Rattray, the club’s secretary, upon having the tote well away from the main buildings.

Long before the totc-house was threatened Mr W. H. Macdougall had made all arrangements for coping with any emergency. His staff of 120 is well organised, and he did not have any considerable difficulty in meeting the situation. At the time, the staff was busy paying out on the second race winners, and in the midst of the investment rush for the Cup. Every ticket, every piece of paper, and every coin, cheque, and bank-note were rapidly placed in boxes. Not a thing of value to anyone, bar the actual fittings of the building, was left in the building within a few minutes of the instructions to quit being given. Motor cars, under police protection, took everything from the totalisator house to town.

At 3 o’clock the machine was again set in motion. The paying out on the second race was resumed, and money on the Cup began flowing through the windows as though nothing untoward had occurred. Over £IO,OOO was taken in a quarter of an hour, a record for the race, and an amount within a few hundred of that invested on the New Zealand Cup at Riccarton on Saturday. At the end of the day, although only 10 minutes or so was allowed for the machine to take money on each of the last five races, the aggregate sum handled was only £2OOO below that which was passed through the machine on the corresponding day of last year. When the tally was taken at night, and all the hooks were checked, it was found that accounts balanced to a shilling. This is another remarkable feature of a remarkable occasion, and is a tribute to the excellent organisation of Mr Macdougall’s totalisator stall - .