SHARPERS ON TROOPSHIPS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7698, 6 May 1903, Page 2

SHARPERS ON TROOPSHIPS.

WHY MANY EX-SOLDIERS ARE PENNILESS AND STARVING. A returned soldier caused some surprise in a London Police Court- the other day by stating that he won £300 in. gambling on South African troopships. So far no adequate publicity has been given to the fact mat during the war transports to and from the Cape were practically converted into gambling dens. No organised amusement) was provided for the soldiers, who, in order to pass time, indulged in wild games of chance. Th» reeult was that throughout the voyage the troop-decks provided many exciting scenes. On board the majority of the transport* there was or clique of shady persons, whose sole obje/rc was to acquire the hard-earned pay of mcii who had fought and endured hardship. Their procedure was to make frequent trips to the Cape, join an irregular corps, serve a few months, and return home- by means of an indulgence passage, j By this means they were afforded opportuuity to make from £100 to £500 en route. Some of them were broken-down bookmakers, and they readily admitted' that "working, the war" was more remunerative, 'inhere was no concealment of identity, for on nearing. Southampton»they discarded kharki and blossomed forth in • big-chocked suits. . But for these pests many of the genuine ex-soldiers now starving and homeless would have been in a position of comparative affluence. It was a common occur- . ronoe to see cards covered! with gold, to the extent of £100. The officer® of one regiment, determined, to stop gambling, P B^ their men in £5 notes. Shortly afterwards £5 notes were exchanged wholesale for £3 in ready cash. Two days later nearly .the whole of this extraordinary pay issue had dirif ted into tfhe pockets of the enterprising sharpers, who were as much in their element on one'pf H.M. transports as they would have been on a racecourse.