NIGHT CLUB RAID

Hokitika Guardian, 5 August 1932, Page 6

NIGHT CLUB RAID

DANCERS TAKEN TO GAOL. TRIP IN BLACK MARIA. , SYDNEY, August 3. A sensational police raid was earned out early lasi, fcunday morning, when odicers paid a surprise visit to tlie exclusive ‘‘so-50 Club” at King’s Cross ilariinghurst. ihei clut> was packed with 300 revellers, and of these the police arrestpd and charged 12/ wan offences under the; Licensing Act. At this club every mgnt, and up to any hour in the early morning, dancing lias gone on, and liquor has been freely sold; and for some 'time the police have been trying to "get a case” against the proprietors. There were difficulties in the way—a sliding panel in the only door, H password without which entry could not be obtained, and a, natural reluctance on the part of the club officials to deal with strangers. , , To, this pleasant abode there came a few days ago a well-dressed stranger, with suitcases thickly besprinkled with .labels, goli dubs, and all the usual praphernalia of social comfort and distinction; and there for a week he stayed. i

The gentleman .evidently belonged to the affluent tourist and in accordance with. the. traditions of “the best society” lie had ii valet to wait upon him, and he spent quite a busy week in driving round in a smart car, playing golf,\ going to the theatres, and entertaining on a' most hospitable scale. At the end of the week' he “threw a party,” and the guests had :no reason to be. dissatisfied with their reception nor the waiter s with the tips. But even while the party was in progress, the valet was .packing the tourist’s “bags”— “an urgent wire from Kosciusko” had called him away. And then the bolt fell! Several of the guests, all in immaculate evening dress > cast off then disguise and appeared in their “proper persons” as police constables > and under the guidance of their inspector they arrested several members of the house staff and carried them off to Darlinghurst! And the ■charge,'' selling liquor without a license”—-and there were 400 bottles of “the very best’” escorted with them to the police station to prove it. h; 1 The Black Maria made many trips to the police station, and there some amazing scenes were enacted as the names .were taken, and bail granted. All were fined the next day. ;.

The proprietress and the waiters were fined £3O, and of course, the fines were paid at once, and no doubt it was a-very amusing incident. Especially; so for Police Constable Keni y, of the “anti-vice squad,” the extourist, and “perfect host,” who had lived like a millionaire for a glorious week in a luxurious flat, in the most fashionable society, dining, wining and. lipping to his heart’s content —and all at the public’s expense. "But even the people who w r ere amused naturally asked themselves if this method of detecting “sly-grog selling”' was not needlessly extravagant.

Naturally the] advent of the police produced a great sensation. Some pf the women fainted, many of the men cursed—but the police callously draft-, ed them into squads of half a dozen, and shepherded them downstairs. Those whose names were on the club’s member list were allowed to go, but for the rest it was gentlemen to t 1 * i left, ladies to the right” into the waiting vans and cars. In all 127 bewildered and resentful prisoners were haled away to Darlinghurst. It took more than three hours to transport them, and many' of them had toshiver in the gaol yard in the bleak hours before sunrise because the cells were too full' to hold them. Some of the prisoners tried to relieve the situation by staging the “Prisoner’s Song” and other appropriate ditties, and one girl an American, created some diversion by earnestly imploring the police to arrest her and give her “a ride.in the hurry waggon”—an.,experience, .which Fate hitherto denied her. Bv all accounts the gathering was a highly miscellaneous one—from 1 “doctors, solicitors, wool buyers” down to clerks and labourers. “Many <lf the women were in) backless gowns and heavily jewelled”; for the “50-50 Club” has become “a favourite haunt of certain members of State Government House staff,” a(id therefore “society' had taken it unofficially under its wing”. I don’t know whether this last may be accepted as a reason or an excuse for the presence of “two New Zealand Government officials,” who, over here on holiday, “had been invited by friends ,to see sonte of Sydney’s night life.” They probably saw more of it than they bargained for, before morning came.