TWO-UP SCHOOL.

Hokitika Guardian, 11 October 1932, Page 8

TWO-UP SCHOOL.

A BAG RAID. . OYER FIFTY ARRESTED. ,- v SYDNEY, September 30. Thii week the police scoied a signal success by raiding the must (famous two-up "school”' ip the metropolis, xts, location* af the time was Mary Street; not far from the Great Cathedral; bud the police have had rea&o.i to complain that it was liable to U.Oie rapidiy irom one! plate to another, in castv <jf an urgent warning. Jtxcypt for tfiolb' who and; regarded t ‘safe,!’, it was noc easy to get access, to the “school,” as the approaches were carefully guf-rjqd. Gut on this, eventful- night the rain was so heariy that the. “cockatoos” 'who were supposed to. give the alarm were sheltering from the stornj, and the Law got in through on, open doorway.

The! police made a big haul. The. place was crowded! npt only with ordinary citizens, ,blif with doctors, law- ! yers and business mem—this “school” had never'catered for, the common herd—! all busilly engaged,iq “heading them’/ 1 * or “backing their fancy.” Fifty-three were arrested and taken to the police station in their own luxurious cars brim the “Black Marfa’” 'as the 1 , case J might\'be/; Biit whether they ajt answered to the names that they Had givert, when called, upon to •“ahswfer to their bail?*' on Monday morniqg, “this deponent sayeth not.”

The fexigtence. of. such, establishments, and the popularity—tb;‘say nothing of; the fipancal success—that they attain is a standing prodf ofi the impossibdity of preventing or 1 Australians front gairibling.' ‘ ‘Two-up;” ; which ‘is nearly as fair "a gajne of. chance as human, ingenuity can devise, has such a stropg hold on the peqple over here that it; has been called' “Australia’s national s.-ort,” and fortunes'have been lost and won in these” felt-lined and padded “schools,” on the.throw of ! l ‘bends” aiid “tails.” Of; course to attain : real .' prominence a “school” mus j, be above, suspicion* of anything approaihjfig fffcud of 'foul play, and, the . veteran manager' of ‘‘school” raided this week—bq/is simply “Joe” to all the value! of a good reputation. >- • No 'rumour of “greys”—doubleheaded or double-tailed pennies—has ■evet asailed his prestige, and "the coins are examined after every tlirowi AIL complaints are carefully attended to; and,, anybody. may leave when he being allowed fifteen mmu'es “laiv!” and if he, is carrying heavy ’ winnings, being conducted ; ‘frem the premises "!by ,armed men” till 1 be ds in safety. 1 “Joe” ha s giveh’his customers !: comfortable,, not- to say luxurious, quarters ip:' which they' 1 'can gamble to thrir ‘jibarts’ content; and, of course: he -has' his reward.“’He 4s iq the £ out <6f all. wiftningS; which ’rather! detracts/ from the “evenhanded justice?’ usiially attributed to “twoup,” for if you win £lO6. you get' only £BO,-and the odds are , therefore; always against'You. However,' that is a small matter m . the genuine gambler’s 'eyesfrhd :sd the’ 'padded / floor of the, “twb-up l school” may be piled with notes, representing hundreds, of even thousands of ’ pounds for ' one evenirig’s amukement.

Of course there is a blacker, s’dp to the picture. The “cockatoos.” or, paid guards, 1 are Charged to, keep all. suspicious-looking people at a distance, and there ar,e’ instances? of peaceful citizensi being “beaten up” in the best American'fashion by the watchers, who believed that they' ’were spies or. wpre acting in, the interest of the police.-' Of course, the whole business is illegal, and 1 this suggestion of possible violence always associated with, such naturally quickens, the desire‘of the ’authorities to “clean them up.’”