"£1 NOTES FOR TWOPENCE"

Colonist, Volume LXII, Issue 15346, 9 April 1920, Page 2

"£1 NOTES FOR TWOPENCE"

TESTING A STREET VENDOR'S DIFFICULTIES.

"Here you are, ladies and gentlemen, genuine £1 Treasury notes going for twopence," was a cry"heard in Trafalgar Square, London, recently. No one seemed inclined to take any risks in the matter until the well-dressed vendor had stood for nearly five minutes. Then a daring individual advanced and offered twopence. He was presented with a grimy, well-worn "Bradbury," and told that it was genuine.

Ttte vendor (Mr Fred Barnes/ of. the music-hall stage) "ijhen explained that the notes were offered as the result of a bet! The buyer naturally wanted to ji£ purchase the entire stock at a little above the offered price, but the timelimit imposed by the bet—'five minutes— hud expired. The bet arose out of Mr ■Barnes's contention that the average pavement vendor has-a bad time, and more than earns his money. To test the matter a bet of £50 was made^ with a time-limit of five minutes. Fifty genuine notes were put tip in envelopes, separately; a, prominent notice of "£1 notes for 2d." was displayed over tho tray, and a note was on view to show that.the offer was genuine

Only one note was sold in the fivo minutes. ,