BRIDGE FOR CHARITY

Taranaki Daily News, 18 October 1930, Page 7

BRIDGE FOR CHARITY

OUSTING THE CABARET.

NEW FASHION IN SYDNEY.

. At three cafes in Sydney recently more than 1000 women were engaged in playing bridge, all as a means of raising inoney°for charities. The fashion in the forms of entertainment to raise money for these purposes has undergone a great change. - Two years ago charity organisers concentrated on cabarets and dances. The cabaret was especially popular as an afternoon event. As an instance of this more than one hundred ea'barets were held ,at city cafes, during 1928. The money raised by this means must have reached an enormous total. Then gradually the attraction of the cabaret ‘began to wane. Last year saw fewer, and this season there have been only one or two. Organisers have realised the immense attraction of bridge, and card tables have taken the place of the afternoon cabaret.

Bridge had. a tremendous craze in London some years ago as a popular .pastime but it is doubtful whether its followers realised its possibilities for money making. It has always had a large following in Australia, too, but this year it has become the popular means of raising money and the number of card parties held this season already must have run into four figures. September 9 provided a telling instance of the attraction of bridge. In addition to a thousand players at the cafes, there were several small parties in the city and others in the suburbs. Charity organisers report that bridge ' oarties have been the most successful medium to date for attracting the suburban matron. Play finishes in time for women who have domestic ties to be at their homes in time for dinner. This type of Woman, too, is not always iond of dancing, and therefore bridge has been the means of securing the patronage of those who were not .t--tracted to the cabaret where dancing formed the chief means of entertainment. Another reason; too, for the popularity of afternoon bridge parties is the fact that the tickets are cheaper, and leave a bigger margin of profit for the organisation which will benefit from the proceeds of the entertainment.