“LUCKY” ROY MACKAY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16353, 16 February 1921, Page 3

“LUCKY” ROY MACKAY.

j GAMBLER'S AMAZING CAREER, DIED IN PENURY. “"Weekly Dispatch” gr*eg Xalls of the extraordinary career af a S ambler. Roy Mackay. who has juftta icd in penury in Brixton at tbe» ag© of thirty-two. after a life in which, hi* spent thousands and thousands of pounds. Rov Mackay’s wap one of* th© moeh meteoric careers of chanoe in th© century- Of good education, vet beginning life in a bumble wav ais an “enginee'-.“ to use the euphemistic term for chauffeur that he gave at his bankruptcy. Mackay was within a* few years Hying at the rate of 1:10.000 a year, all o*. which—and sometimes more—he acquired by a combination of sharp wita* dice, horses and cards. His fall to poverty wa© as sudden aft bis rise to wealth, and it was tonched with pathos bv th© desertion of all th© “ friends'’ who had made so rrruch of him during his days of success. Engineering mad© but a weak appeal to hin. His vivacious temperament demanded a more exciting mod© of life. His first venture to prove successful and remunerative was in the motor? trade. He bought up a, number? of seoond-haTid cars, renovated them, and then disposed of them at tbeip original price. in this way he mad® several thousands. FROM BUSTNESS TO GAMBLING. He liad already tried his lack set gambling in a small way. To some of his most intimate friends he used to tell jocularly of his first venture, aii ihe age of fourteen, into a: game of ‘‘ pitch and toss” with a nercapital of sixpence, given to him by », relative. His 'first big luck cam© when he had completed the motor-car deal. He gambled the mone-v h© liad made oil the rabies at Ostencl, and at the end of th© season returned to London with! more than £IO,OOO. After this, in sprite of fluctuating luck, he still managed to live in luxury* attending races, visiting all the fashionable resorts that are noted for gambling on a large scale. He was only vwentyvfour. however,' when ho appeared in a West End ofl London police court, charged with conducting. with another man. a gaming house in the AVest End. In the flat, which had a large staff of made and female servants, he received all his well-to-do friends, one. of whom, a woman of position, was said to have lost as much as £2S,OCO. Th© raid "**s onn of the most sensational of recent yearsTHOUGHT IN THOUSANDS. After this Mackay never bothered about “ little money.” He thought onlv in thousands. At Ostend. where for a time he ran' another gambling den, he had more than one narrow escape irom death at* tlio hands of cosmopolitan whom his phenomenal luck had ruined. T here was always somebody ready to do him an injury, but his keen wits never gav* them their chance—until his luck failed. On one occasion, after a certain notorious French gambler had lost about* £12,000 to him within a few days, an attempt was made on Mackay’? lib*-. He was strolling alonor among the sand dunes, beyond the Plngc. when two shots were fired at him from ? distant of about a hundred yards. Intrepid a* he always was, Mackay “scouted** among the sand dunes in the direction! of the sound, but. the concealment afforded by the dunes enabled hi» assail-4 ant to escape. ATTEMPTER ROBBERIES. On another occasion his flat was ©ft* tcred between four and five is 4 h3 morning, hut apparently only jobbery wag the motive, for the intruders fled' when Mackay was roused. He recognised one of them, however, and. meeting him in the T\urs;iaT the next afternoon, invited him to drink with him, and discussed the adventure of tbceariv hours as though he were unconscious of the man s culpability. Vet again, after he had won thousands at hi* own tabh*M. he found a gambler concealed in the flat after all the others had loft—for wliat purpeto" other than that of robbery was never disclosed- In such _ circumstances Mae* Kay was quite imperturbable, and treated the other in a. friendly maimer# as one “gentleman of fortune” to another. LUCK DESERTED HIM. 7t was after he returned from his Army service that Mackav’s luck cfi»serted him. He plunged, but lost, stead- • - lh got into debt to the extent of something like £*ooo, and had to seR his motor-car. Eventually. about, r. year ago, he found himself without either money or a roof. Tn his last bid for fortune, after h»B fall from luck, some valuable jewellery i hcTongiucto a one-time fnend -eras invoiced With his usual sharp wits Mac-k-ay ‘ borrowed ” the jewellery. He de- | posited ft with an acquaintance for fhw ; time being- - for safety—but when, later on. he called for the valuables, the arI n umn tan re refused to give them up Mins was Mackay cheated out. of th© proceeds of his last * stroke oPluck * ’ A few weeke before be died Mackay was seen limping about, his face covered with sticking plaster, and hi s arm in a sling. Ho had l icon to see some of his one-time friends.