£4,000,000

Waipa Post, Volume 45, Issue 3213, 6 August 1932, Page 3 (Supplement)

£4,000,000

A RECORD FOR ANY LOT^iEY. CLOSE GUARD ON THE DRUM. ARMED POLICE, NIGHT AND DAY. The Irish Hospitals Sweepstake seems to be one of the few things that have not been affected by the s.ump, for it has made a record for any lottery. The subscriptions amount to £4,000,000. Threequarters of this was distributed in prizes. The mixing of the counterfoils went on all day in the Plaza, in Abbey Street, Dublin. This was a highly picturesque affair, with the ballroom turned into a representation of the Epsom course and the woman mixers dressed as jockeys. The work began early and did not end until evening, for there were over 9,000,000 counterfoils. The mixing is done in. two electric machines, and there were 200 girls helping in the work.

The racing colours worn by the girls included, in addition to the colours of His Majesty, those of King Fuad of Egypt Lord Astor, the Duke of Atholl, Baron Horace Rothschild. Sir Abe Bailey, the Aga Khan. Lord Londonderry, Count John McCormack, the Duke of Portland. Lord Rosebery, the Maharajahs of several Indian States, and twenty-five U.S.A. owners. MIXING ENDED.

All the girls worked so well that the mixing was concluded by five-thirty, half-an-hour before scheduled time. At the conclusion the two hundred grils, the engineers, officials, and auditors assembled in the arena and were addressed by Captain Micing. The auditors then sealed the portholes and'settled down for their long vigil over the week-end. In addition to table tennis they were provided with a bagatelle board and table golf to pass the time. There were not enough bridge players among the auditors to enable a bridge tourney to be arranged. Armed guards took up their positions inside and outside the hall, and firemen came on duty. A final analysis was taken from a thousand counterfoils at the end of the mixing. Not one stray counterfoil was discovered, however. All the counterfoils, with the exception of eighteen bags, were emptied into the drum. The counterfoils in the eighteen bags were ceremoniously inserted in front of the public as part of the pageant in connection with the opening of the draw. The scene at the drawing did not lack colour. There was processions of nurses, and the eirls who were doing the mixing were on the platform representing all the countries in the sweep.