Sporting

Manawatu Standard, Volume XL, Issue 7918, 26 September 1904, Page 3

Sporting

The HawKe's^B.ay Jockey Club Has purchased a new totalisator, whicu will be worked on different lines to the ones the people in the province have been accustomed to. The machine itself is 9ft 2in long, 7ft 6in high, and 13in deep. All the work, ticket-selling, ringing- on, etc,, will be done from the inside of the house. The tickets will be sold-from windows, three of which are on either side of the totalisator. A separate set of tickets'is handed to each seller for every'race. These tickets are numbered from 0, upwards. The first ticket sold on each horse is, therefore, No. 0, and it will be understood that a glance at the ticket racks will enable the officials to tell at once how ' many tickets have been sold on the ! different horses in the race. The investments will not be rung on singly, but m tens, an official being provided for thp purpose of calculating the num bers of tickets on each horse, and transmitting the same to the machinist. The machinist stands at the back of the totalisator,' and by means cf a small lever registers the lens as he is instructed by the calculator. As each number is brought up on the face of the machine, the same figures are shown at the back, as well as the grand total on the raoe. The numbers are painted black on white metal plates, and are of such a size that they can be discerned from a, distance of over 50 yards. The machine will accommodate' 24 horses, there being four row 3of six horses each. When the race starts, an electric bsll, which has been fitted over the rotalisator-house, will be rung by the judge, and the sellers' windows will be immediately closed.