THEODORE BROWN'S SWEEP.

Observer, Volume 3, Issue 59, 29 October 1881, Page 100

THEODORE BROWN'S SWEEP.

The great question of the week lias been "When is Mr Theodore Brown's £10,000 sweep to be drawn?" An impression has got abroad that there is either an intention to draw the sweep privately, without any fair guarantee that it will be honestly conducted, or that the example of North, the levanting Wellington barber, will be followed. Of course, as to the latter, we merely give publicity to the feeling in the public mind, without any opinion of our own,. but if Mr Brown suffers from these unenviable suspicions, he lias only himself to blame. The manner in which he conducted last year's sweep, and the reticence he has preserved as to the date and manner of drawing that now under notice, have led to a general impression that he contemplates delaying the distribution of the prize numbers until the Gambling and Lotteries Act comes into operation, and furnishes him with the excuse that the drawing would expose him to the pains and penalties of the law. There remain only two or three days for the drawing, and already many of the ticket-holders are on the war-path, threatening to have recourse to extreme measures to prevent any attempt at welshing. Tarring and feathering arc among some of the mildest forms of violence threatened. Among other things some of the subscribers propose calling a general meeting, and forming a vigilance committee to watch Mr Brown's movements incessantly night and day. For our part we have determined that if any pending sweep be not conducted fair and aboveboard, we shall publish the portraits and names of the swindlers throughout the colonies, and do our utmost to expose them wherever they may take refuge.