Out For A "Duck" And 6s!

Chronicle (Levin), 17 November 1949, Page 4

Out For A "Duck" And 6s!

The consistent "Quack ! Quack! Quack!" of a toy duck with three of its "progeny" attached caused an amusing diversion for early morning shoppers in ' Oxford Street this morning. Their first casual glances turned to incredulous stares and then to uncontrolled laughter as the shepherd -of me flock was recognised as a well-known young bank offlcer and prominent official of a junior political party. It all started when the wife of a member oi the staff arrived at the bank with a large parcel containing the duck, destined to be a toirthday present for her two-year-old daughter. A demonstraDion of its capabilities was called for and this inspired the young man to accept a 2s 6d bet that he would give the duck an earlymorning trot up and down Levin's main screet. More bets w^re tende'red, • resulting in the cortege moving rapidly up the street carryiiig bets to the total of about 6s 6d. Supervising the performance was a nearfcy shopkeeper, who ran behind giving unnecessary encouragement for more pace and attracting the attention " of passers-by and shopkeepers. It was not long before a sizeable audience lined the "track," which was covered by the very embarrassed wager acceptor in a record time for the distance. The retum journey slashed even this gbqd time. He was not available for an interview, having probably secluded himself in one of the darkest cornefs of the establishment. It is also unlikelv that he will invest his well-eartted returns in any of the local toy shops.