NEWS BY MAIL.

Hokitika Guardian, 21 September 1923, Page 4

NEWS BY MAIL.

PETTING AMONG SCHOOLBOYS. LONDON, July 25. The Select’Committee of. the House of Commons which is considering the, taxation ol hotting will conclude the taking of evidence to-day or to-morrow. Remarkable evidence of the prevalence of betting among mboolboys was given yesterday to the committee by an assistant mistress in a London County Council school for hoys. She did not divulge her name, and was referred 1.-: as “ Miss Blank.” WINNINGS IN THE BANK.

She stated that as the result of an accidental remark on Lincoln Handicap day she found that certain hoys in her school were hefting. She added:— “ The average age of the class is I 11 years, and on making inquiries I found that betting is “pretty general”: 19 out of 42 boys owned to backing horses. Some of them hacked horses only in big, races, but three or four hoys made it a Imhit and betted three or four times a week. One hoy admitted betting every dav.

“ I have ascertained that Imotmakers take bets from boys from 10 to It! years ol age—hots as small as a penny. ( know a shop where such bets are taken. As far as I 'have ascertained, the woman ol the shoo took the bets and handed them to the bookmaker when he called. One boy offered to place a bet for me if I wanted it.” The Chairman: “From your knowledge of what is going on, have you reason to believe that your school is not peculiar in this respect!-'”—“Yes. I have spoken about it to colleagues in different parts of London.”

“ Miss Blank " added : “ The hoys said they betted and hoped to win in order to put money in the haul;. One hoy told me lie had thus put H!)s away. The majority of tiie hoys come from rather poor homes. They seem to lie encouraged by their parents.”

The chairman remarked that it was a serious olfeme for a bookmaker to take bets from school children, and other meniliers of the committee suggested that “ Mis Blank ” should send the address ol a shop and a description of a bookmaker mentioned by her to the police.

Superintendent Denton, of the Sheffield City Police force, said that, since the- war betting on licensed premises in Sheffield bad very much increased, lie pul that down Iy> unemployment. He went on : "There is a great deal of betting in shops. The shopkeepers either receive bets on behalf of Imolkmakers or themselves act as hiokmakers. In some cases the business is purely a cloak for a hefting business. It is quite common to find hoys of 1(5 hotting oil their own account. Women in Sheffield hack to a very large extent. I hey use relief inoncv and unemployment money. Women and children subscribe in pennies and even ball pence to bet.

DOG’S NERVE ON MAN. LONDON. July 'll. lIoT a dog’s nerve was successfully grafted on to an injured nerve in n man’s arm was described by Dr Gossett. of Paris, at the resumed congress of the International Society of Surgery in London yesterday. Dr Gossett said sensibility of the nerve was obtained in L!8 days and power of movement in 340 days. Two ex-soldiers, wounded in the war, were present on the platform to demonstrate successful cases of bone grafting dealt with by Mr Piatt, of Manchester, and Mr Bristow, of London. The results of tendon trail-plantation said Mr Platt, had been strikingly good, and lie cited the case. now. he said, regarded as classical, where three transplantations had been made in one arm. Patients in whom that procedure had been carried out were known to lit capable of undertaking heavy work. Mr Young. Glasgow, referred to tincase of tlie man whose nerves showed no signs of functioning 10 months after repair but who was able to return to France subsequently as a motor driver, and who four years after the grafting had a completely useful arm.