Our Contributors.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 452, 19 November 1880, Page 2

Our Contributors.

THE CHRISTCHURCH CARNIVAL

By Our Vagabond Reporter.—Continued,

The streets of the Cathedral City presented rather a peculiar appearance on Tuesday, the first day of the great annual j festival. There was a sort of " neither ono-thing-nor-anotherishness" about them. The shop-keepers were evidently halting betw3on two opinions-, and had not quite made up their mind.- whom they would serve—Pleasure or Mammon. However, by soon after noon most of the votaries of the latter had given it best ; and, with the exception of a few of the '• Do-you-vant-to-buy-a-vatch" order and " Wicked Marks," very few business establishments could be seen open. Meanwhile the streets were becoming thronged with pleasureseekers, and vehicles of every description 'were preparing to start for the races—

from the swell four-in-hand drag to the " one-horse shay." Of course the railway absorbed the great majority of those bound for the races, and the trams, which act as feeders for the rail, had all their work to do to carry their living freight to the station. The manner in which these enormous cars get crowded with ptvsengers makes one wonder what people did before their institution. Certainly all the omnibuses in tho place, if put in one line, would be utterly insufficient to accommodate a fraction of the people whom the cars carry ; and as for the cabs, they seem to do as big a trade as ever.

"Try not the pass, the old man said.'' In spite of this poetic warning, expressed in more or lesb prosaic terms, I did " try the pass " —that is, the Press pass—as a means of reaching the racecourse. In fact, the parsimony of well, never mind

whom—left me no alternative between doing that, or progressing on foot. ■ In spite of the warning, I am happy to say the trial was successful. Arrived on the course, my vagabond propensities led me on various exploring expeditions among' the heterogeneous mass of humanity congregated on the ground. Leaving out of

consideration for the present the visitors

(though among them there was plentiful matter for reflection to the student of human nature) tho professional frequenters of tho course claim attention. There they were, in full force as usual. They stood behind boards—not of green cloth alone, but of cloth of every hue,and shade, and for the.most part intensely

greasy at that. These gentlemen were apparently bent on dissipating large fortunes which had recently be< n left them by gambling with tho public on terms c v . ceedingly advantageous to tho latter. "So freely I lay ! so freely I pay !"''' black wins, and badly backed agin !" " doubles

I pay double, threbbles I pay throbble !''

"any more down ? any more? any more V —and so on ad infinitum —are some of the wiles used by this generous fralerniiy to

induce people to come and make a raise

One gentleman appeared to attribute the slowness of his clients in coming forward

to their Avant of sufficiently small coins. In this conjecture he was probably right ; but whether a superfluity of unchanged sovereigns nestled in their Avaistcoat pockets is perhaps open to question. IloAveA'er, the table proprietor aforesaid Avas determined that the absence of change should not prevent them operating-, and shouted—" Oo Avants change ?. Oo'll 'aye three shillings for arf-a-crown ? " To the credit of human nature, bo it said, the otter was promptly accepted. How the speculator Avho received this addition- to his floating capital fared I did not stay to obser\*e. Noaa*, there are two questions about this race-course-haunting, gamingtable fraternity Avhich appear to me insoluble mysteries. The first is—How do they contrive to Avin for a certainty at games Avhere the chances are apparently absolutely even, Avith the disadvantage to tho table-keeper that the public can increase or decrease their bets at pleasure ? But the second question opens up vistas of still more intense mystery : Where do they get to between the times of the various race meetings ? No human being ever set eyes on one of them except on a race-

course or show-ground. What becomes of

them in the intervals ? Do they " stOAv aAvay"inthe deserted grand stands, and

prnctice tbe " pop-it-down" business among one another ? Do they coil doAvn in the loose boxes with the four-footed

heroes of the turf ? Their existence during these periods of hybernation is just as mysterious as Sam Weller's problem about the dead donkeys and postboys. It is—" in

short" (as Mr Noodle Avould remark), "it's

mysterious."

Pushing through the croAvd avlio are I intent upon these mere accidental accessories, I find myself approaching the sacred enclosure devoted to the true votaries of the turf. Outside the saddling paddock are several vociferous sportsmen, Avhose source of profit is much more apparent than that of the gentlemen with, the tables. Each of them stands on a box which gives him a slight elevation above the croAvd. He has behind him a sort of easel, on Avhich is fixed a board, announcing the odds on the \*arious horses for the race about to start. In stentorian tones he informs the public that he " Avantsto lay " on the Derby or the C-ip,a*-the<-/i-**-irt*iy be. In fact, these gentlemen do the some business in notes and half-soys. outside the sacred precincts that is done within them by the recognised metallicians in " tenners''

Nt ' yo:iic-i." Both sets have a power ul

■ival in the totalisators. of which instruments there was one outside and one inside the paddock. There is no doubt that this

strnrnent will have a powerful effect on

the book-making fraternity. It will not extinguish them, but as far as betting on

the course goes it will have the dual effect of taking a good deal of the business that would otherwise pass through

ic bookmakers' hands, and by its compe-

tition causing the lntter to give more favorable odds, in order to do business at all. It was somewhat curious to observe

how very near the odds obtained by those who ■' spotted" the winner in the

;otalisator were to those given by the

betting men outside, which of course settled themselves by the means of

competition

But I find that my vagabond or wander-

ing propensities apply to my writing W well as any other avocation, I have been a long time about it now, and have not yet got inside tho enclosure, let alone the show-ground. Really I must pull up, and for the future endeavor to get over the ground a little more directly. For the present I will leave my indulgent readers with my blessing.