FORBURY PARK TROTTING CLUB.
ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the Forbury Park Trotting Club was held in the Early Settlers' Hall on Monday night. Mr W. J. Gore (president) was in the chair, and there was a large attendance of members. The following is ti.e annual report presented: — "From the statement of accounts members will see that the club has had another orospovou- year, havin.' started with £156 13s lOd in the bank and £1000 on fixed deposit. We now close with £867 14s 2d to our credit, after increasing the stakes by £495 and paying £2495 IBs 3d on account of the new grounds at Forbury Park of which sum £2463 12s 5d has been paid out of the club's funds. This should be considered highly satisfactory by members. In accordance with the rules, the president, vice-president, and three members of comnittee retire annually The following have been proposed for election- — President, Mr W. J* Gore ; vice-president:, Mr G. Hodjf<»s, committee — Messrs \ . Findlay, F Johnston, J. Morrison, T. T. Ritchie, and J. A. SUgo. As theie are more than the required number proposed for the office of committee a ballot will be taken at the annual meeting. " In moving the adoption of the report and balance sheet, the Chairman said that from them members would see that the club had had another very prosperous year. They had started with £156 in the bank, and had on fixed deposit £1000, and closed with £867 to their credit, after increasing the stakes by £495 and paying £2495 on account of the new grounds, of which £2463 had been paid out of the club's funds. This, be thoaghl, should be considered highly satisfactory. Witu regard to tlio sport for the last 12 months, he thought members wojld ujirce th.it it had btoii fully maintained The class of horses had been fa : rly good, and he hoped that the success attending last year would be continued. Last year they had »i»en away in stakes: £3195 — an increase of £495 on the pi 3-. ious year, — and he thought the club ciuld easily see its wav to still further increase the vLakes in tne coming year. lie thought they would confess that that would be a Ftep in ths right Jiiection. During la«t year the committee had held 19 meethirs, besides iiiu>ici'ous meerirjg3 of subcommiftws. Wirh rogard to the purchase of J'\»biiry Hark, no doubt mc>«t of them woiild know that the area acquired was 30 acres, includiiii? the buildings thereon, for £6300. Out of that they had naid £1500 in cash, the balance lemaining at 5 per cent, interest, on the understanding that the club paid off not less than £250 per annum. To enable the club to do this it had been necessary to issue debentures to the extent of £2000 at 5 per cent, interest. They had passed o resolution to borrow £3000, but they found they could do with £2000. Out of that members of comwirteo had subscribed £900, which showed thc-ir faith in the investment. Roughly, the cost of works to be rarrifd out was: Completing the track. £1000: outside fence, £545; renovation of buildings and nciv totalisator building. £7t>o; asphalting, £30; and plumbing £50. These weie only esiimates The tntfll would bf something like £2400 or £2500 They found the old buiMings. althouqrh it was 14 or 15 years since anything had been done to thorn, in a wonderfully good state of preservation, except the in«ic'e grand stand, the ba-semont of winch had (tad to ba strengthened. This had bf«n made a thorough gool job of. The outside grand stand was in a wonderfully good state of prpser\atiori It cost, he was informed, somothinc like £1400 to erect, bo that they had a gift in the purchase of it. lhe rr»tali«aior iuuldir.? rm the inside they found wondorf jllv sound, although it was oniv a shed Th's {hoy would niter, and make it up to date, the same as that on ♦•ho lvire.Tt.on Ground. The outside totalizator building would require to he rebuilt. Thoy h.ifl thouirltt that the A. and P. Sooietv mia-lit li.-<\e .illowod them to remove the buildinc? at Taliuna Park that they had erected. but they could not, compel the «-ocietv in the mailer unless the cluh paid £50. and it was thought, it would be better to put up &
new building for about £60. T6e council had waited upon the Dunedin Tramways Committee with the object of trying to get the tram line extended from St. Kilda to St. Clair so as to convey passengers to the main entrance behind the stand, but unfortunately the tramways manager had reported adversely upon it, and it had been shelved. However it was hoped that the Tramways Committee would yet be persuaded in the matter With regard to the totalisators they were going to have a 10s machine inside as well as outside. The committee was satisfied that it had ! made a mistake in not having this, .but I at the time it could not do otherwise than j it did. However, the committee acknowledged it was a mistake, and that a 10s machine was necessary inside. With ro^ gard to bookmakers, the club had had to license them last year, and, taking matters ail round, they had worked fairly amicably, except in one case during last meeting! In the race won by Doughboy the bookmakers had started to pay out before the '< club had decided a protest. To obviate this in future the committee proposed to arrange with the bookmakers, or make it a rule, that they must not pay out except after the club hid decided that they should pay out on the machine. Instead of having the clerk waiting upon them it was proposed to hokt a- flag- of a certain colour which would, be- an authority- to the bookmakers to pay out. He thought that would get over any difficulty in- the future As they were aware, other business that evening was. to come before.. the meeting was the election of office-bearers, and owing to the absence of opposition he had to declare himself elected president and Mr G Hodges vics-president, and he had to return his sincere3fc thanks for the continued confidence shown in him and Mr Hodges. Mr P. Miller seconded the motion, and ottered his congratulations on the satisfactory position which the club occupied should be foremost in sport, and he thought the report was most satisfactory and reflected the greatest credit upon the office-bearers of last year. The motion was carried. The Chairman said there were two notices of motion in his name, the fir«t being that Rule 2 bs altered to read as toilows:— The annual subscription shall be £1 Is payable/fn advance, on or before August 1 in each year." Speaking to the motion, he said that, as they were aware, for some time past the subscription had been half a guinea, but the club would now have to expend a considerable sum of money over tho new purchase, and they wanted more revenue from some source, and he thought the 10s 6d was a very small fee for the privileges members enjoyed. He could not believe that the majority would vote against the motion, and pointed out that metropolitan clubs charged two guineas. The gz-cs receipts last year had been £1798. from which had to be deducted £938 for working expenses. Assuming that the expenses were the same this year, there would therefore be left a margin of £700 or £800 to pay off the principal sum owing on the ground. T,he second motion was that the following be aSded to the rules : — " That in the election of committee members must vote for three candidate;, otherwise the vote will be informal." In moving this he said he thought the Forbury Park Club was the only one that allowed plumping. A member might be placed upon the committee by a minority of votes under the present system. If plumping was not allowed members would be elected on their merit*. Mr J. A. Sligo seconded the motion. Mr F. Scanlon opposed the motion to increase the subscription, and said Ihe position of the club was largely due to thp 10s 6d enabling the working-man and artisan to become members. Mr J. Davis also opposed the motion for increasing the subscription. Mr H. H. S. White said he thought there was more behind this than they were aware of. He thought the two motions were most unconstitutional, and that <t was quite wrong to put two qwastions like these before the meeting, and refuse to 1 accept an amendment. He would mo.va that the subscription be 15s, although the chairman refused to take an amendment. The Chairman said one half ot the votes of members were already in the ballot box, and he could not take an amendment. He could not take an amendment when they were voting by proxy Mr White: Tbeii I will give 14 days' notice. The Chairman : You will have to call a special general meeting. Mr Whke: Well. I will give notice now. Tihe Chairman, in replying, said that when ths majority of the olubs found it best to prevent plumping they could not be wrong. Members had their chance at t>he t-allot box, and if they did not approve of the motions they could vote against them. A ballot was th^n taken, with the result that tihe motion for raising the subscription wa<? carried by 106 votes to 55, and the motion for altering the method of election was carrie-d by 144 vote? to \2 Tho voting for three members of the committ~e re-Silted as follows: .1. A. Slieo 115. F. Johnston 111, J. Morrison 105, T. T. Ritchie 91. and A. Findlav 66. Mr R. A. Crawshaw was elected auditor at th-e same remuneration as previously. On th-3 motion of the Chairman a vote of con-dolence with the family of the late Mr Geo. Payling was placed on lecord. the Chairman remarking that the deceased gentleman had boon a most energetic and enthusiastic eport.
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Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 1 September 1909, Page 57
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1,683FORBURY PARK TROTTING CLUB. Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 1 September 1909, Page 57
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