RARE INCIDENT ON TURF RECALLED

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5330, 18 February 1947, Page 2

RARE INCIDENT ON TURF RECALLED

NEW PLYMOUTH. An incident probahly unique in | facing history is recalled hy the j death of Mr. R. J. Matthews at New j Plymouth. It occurred at the Tara- | naki Jockey Club's meeting at New Plymouth on Boxing Day, 1895, when the totalisator was unable to pay out on £11 10s worth of tickets held hy Mr. Matthews on the winning horse. The horse was a mare called Flying Fish, owned by Mr. Matthews, hut so little was known by the general public that out of a pool of about £§00, only £13 was invested on her chanee. When he presented himgelf af the pay-out windows an embarrassed totalisator manager had to admit that the totalisator was not in a position to pay out, and Mr. Matthews was requested to return later in the afternoon. In those days no money was takou to the totalisator and the pay-out for the first race came from the money invested on that race. On the day that Flying Fish won, a good deal of the betting on the totalisator is reported to have been done with I.O.U.'s, and those who had been betting in that manner had not been successful, with the result that i." good deal of the totalisator's monej was in the form of these promises. Later in the day Mr. Matthews col lected his winnings hut he persisted in spending the rest of the day at tht races with over £500 in notes of all denominations in nearly all his pockets. In fact, there was nol enough room in his pockets, and he was seen carrying some tied up in i large handkerchief.