THE GOLD CHASE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2867, 4 September 1916, Page 9

THE GOLD CHASE

EXCITING:HOURc IN THE: CITY "ARE YOU IIORACE GOLDIN?" MRi W HARDY- SAYS ART UNION, . .HAS,SUCCEEDED. .. '

'This gold .chase,,-organised. by Mr. /Horace'Goldin on behalf'.of the Anzac Art Union; caused great excitement in the-Gity on' Saturday.' .Mr. Goldin offered £25 :and, a fi;ee'pass for.'tho' seasou '.of'.the'^Hugh-D. .M'Litosli Com-. : pany,' iiow' to tlie onfi who would' first find 'him" after' 6.30 p.m; pn. Saturday,': and in doing so ask the .. .()u<!stion: :"-Are,you Horace.Goldin, the j magician, now:-performing at the Grand . . o|)era; Hotise?'.' At the same, time a ■ticket iri the art union had-to-be presented, stampedon the back .with. Mr. P. ; !A. M'Hardy' B' signature. The- conditions '.v.werb- freely set' out in the'papers, and - also' the locations where , Mr.. Goldin ... would'be bettveeh 6.30 and 7.30 p.m. . was never a moment of-doubt in :the success of/tli.o ruse.. At. 6.80 there : must'have, been'between 2000 and 3000 people -standing apparently unconcerncciiiii the .-vicinity of'the' "Economic" oii/Lambton.Quay, whilst opposite Mr. ,'J. •Speed; having set up a stall' out T ,'side -his own' silly),' disposed of art • union tickets as fast as he could handle thein: The writer had not been on the/scene .three minutes when a long, • gaunt man approached him, and in a hollow, cadaverous voice, said: "Are s you >Horace Goldin ?" Not' being able Mo oblige' him witlv an affirmative ho said with a wry. smile: "Well, youv ought to be!" ' Then he drifted oil his .way,, a rer.v melancholy. Sherlock Holmes. Gradually, as the clock ticked away the minutes ; tlie crowd f as by a . single '■• impulse, v- strolled in great groups, couples, 'and solos, up thb .Quay, and Hnto Willis: Street.AtStewarfevDawson's CorneiV a hansom cab Was seen'- to round 'the corner on - :tlio wrong side, and was' bailed up by a constable,'whose.prompt action-avert-ed "a"-possible : accident. Slowly, the •crowd;-, augmented.every minute, surged up'iWillis Street, until that narrow . thoroughfare 7 looked like 'a : river of humanity; through which the street cars . liad to cut their way. In ... Manners Street the crowd still thickened, and incredible excitement arose outside theNcw Zealander Hotel, when it was ; whispered that Goldin had "been .caught. ... "They've- got _hiin.!" : , was a word that flashed from lip to: lip until tho whole of the.cro.wd believed tliat tlie magicianhad; been netted; and .a vast mob cannoned up against the hotel anxious to have a peep-of the-causa -of all the trouble. Then a policeman. emerged from the door,'and it got'round that the man was not Goldin at all, but someone else, and those who had grabbed him would not believe him, .andhad hustled him'into'the'hotel, despite his protests that he '-had only come to town that day! This gave the hunt a . new zest. Resistless as.the tide, they swept': along Manners Street, and banked tip-.between the Bank of New land Corner and- tho Grand Opora House'."', A whisper that he'-lliad' been caught in a cab on tho Quay was generally disbelieved, , but none really know whether ■ Goldin was lost/ or. found.. Tram traffic was blocked, and waves of humanity, impelled by the slightest rumour, swayed this and that way. At length a terrific rush set in 'down lane leading to, the stage •'entrance/of the Opera .HoUso.V This time vthciy wero sure it-was thought man. Tlie victim •on this occasion was Mr. Glanmoro Jones, the burly tenor of tho La Blanc : Company..,' Ten .. minutes .later there . Vas, another .''influence" on the "other side, of: tho the'atro, towards Winder's Building. ; .-Aygrftiljially iiicreasmg'rdar set .it/resolved itself into tho. shout, "Hero lie; is!" "Got .him'.. at last!" And they.had. -Hurled along; partly' on and as nnieh off his feet was a sadly dishevelled figure, short - and stubby, -with-a black' felt hat, smoked goggle's, and/an ovprMat, perspiring. ' and ■ fighting for moro air - than the . ciuwd lvas-iriollhod'to give hiniJ The magician was hurtled , into tbo foyer of the theatre; down to the stalls door' (ths one-not usually opened), tod from' there lie iwas admitted,. mth 'his'

detector (Mr. Rupert Sproul) and protector (Mr.- Frank Levy) to the auditorium, from..whence lie .mado his way dressing' room,, to 'regain: his breath and retail his _ stojmy experiences. ' "" : - ■ ■ ■ .Coldln's. Experiences. 1

"I've liad about tlio liveliest ltonr Vn my .life," 'jsjtid' Mr.. Goldin, "and I'm glad, it's. over. Phew, what a crowd 1 ■Wo started'oiit'by taking a car, and' met a- hansom cab at an" appointed

platic in Clyde Quay. There I'took charge of the.cab'..jii a. disguise, while the cabby and'!Jfr'., L'nij .were jhy pas.scngerfc,! , We : wept ..' along the waterfront, and' through one of the ' side streets., to ;L'ambton Quay,' where the big' store .'(the;. "Economic") .was. There 1 had a'narrow'escape.. A man jumped out'of a motoMar. and-asked if I wore

Horace Goldin) .biit as he did jwfc. pro- - noiince tlio full question, as stipulated, I growled .out, {You're .. wrong, 1 .' and went on.', Then I drove,tip,the Quay just, before.7 'o'clock,'and' at the corner ueafGrand, Hotel' nearly got' into trouble through; getting on the wrong side.. -A, policeman made a. grab at the reins, aid I'm iiofc sure, that ho did; not. gabblesomething at "me, 'but I whipped the horso iip, drove steadily up Willis Street, along Manners .Street, and up Cuba Street, and all the time .1 was oon-, scio'us of being followed, by that man in the motor-car/ In a street off Cuba Street I pulled.up,, and again, the man from the car .asked the question without, putting it in. the right way, and again I told .him lie was wrong. Then I drove away up to the 6q'uare'(Basin Reserve), and down, Kent Terrace to the back of the Opera House. There 1 handed over the cab to the proprietor, nnd, hanging on to Frank Levy's arm, ■wo came up Lower Taranaki Street andalopg Manners Street past tho. Opera House. I was now a poor blind man ■with a limp,, a bandage round one eye, and black goggles.. The orowd was very thick .in front, of the theatre, and "I had a job to keep-hold, of my protector's ami, but : . we'cams right , past without being accosted. Then a boy came at \ me, put the question correctly, but lis lie showed no ticket, I moved on. A little'farther along,'a young man came right, at- ine, put the question, and shoved out, his ticket! He was the winner, and Miv Levy grabbed him at once and we fought our way- back to the Opera House, were nearly killed-.in-the stampede, and hero we are I" Tho winner gave bis name as Rupert, Sproul, of-20 Kent, Terrace. During tiie interval the cheque • was handed to the.- winner before the audience by ■ Mi ;-William Pruit (of the Goldin Company)) who explained that -several people had approached Mr. Goldin during the evening,-but some had put their question in the wrong words, and others had no ticket when-they had put the question. He congratulated tho winner, who was too nervous'to make any kind of response. : - Mr. M-|Hardy -Interviewed. The Anzac Art Union closed on Saturday liight.- Mr. P. M'Hardy, who has been the- big leader in . the movement to raise funds for the objeot in view, .was an interested spectator of Saturday's merry interlude. He said that the art union had achieved its. objeot, which was to'build'and endow tho hostel that was to be erected for soldiers 011 the section of • land iii, Palmerston North, he had given. He anticipated that weH'over £13,000'h.ad been realised from the sale. of . tickets, ' whilst at the outside he did not think

that the advertising account would amount to more than £2000. An affair of this kind had'to bo well advertised, and the justification was to be found, iu the result. Now they wero safe as far as the hostel was concerned, and what was more important it would ba decently endowed. That was really the most important part of it. If there was not £200 or £300 coming every year to keep the thing going, it would, soon after the war, go to seed. Now It had a. reasonable prospeot of life. Mr. M'Hardy, on behalf of the committee, said ho was very grateful to Messrs. Goldin and Crawford for the assistance they had given him in Wellington, and also to all helpers, and tho public for the fine response thoy ■ had made. The art union is to be drawn at the Opera House, Palmerstoit North, on Friday evening next.