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SYDNEY’S DERBY DAY

Austerity Ignored

(Air Mail) SYDNEY, October 13. Austerity was forgotten or ignored on Sydney’s Derby Day last Saturday, when 74,800 people attended Randwick racecourse. The attendance was only 10,000 less than last year, when peace still reigned in the Pacific. *• Because of rail restrictions there were no interstate visitors or horses, but Sydney racegoers made what the Prime Minister (Mr J. Curtin) later described as a “Roman circus out of a national tragedy.” They plunged heavily on each race, people who normally invested 5/- at a time lining up at £1 ticket windows. Bookmakers were surrounded by milling crowds 20 deep, flourishing handfuls of notes. Before each race scores of people were turned away from totalizator windows without having had time to place their bets, yet totalizator receipts totalled £100,809 against £92,852 last year.

Because the Government’s ban of one race day a month had fallen on the previous Saturday, the racecourse refreshment bars had a double ration of beer, and the crowd, quick to realize that they were privileged, swarmed around the bars, often while races were being run. A recently introduced law which prevents women from drinking at bars was circumvented by men carrying their women friends’ drinks into passageways. Before the Derby was run thousands of empty bottles were on the tables in the oyster bars and at every table were women. There was no show of austerity, either, in the clothing worn by the race crowd. Not one man’s “victory” suit was seen, and the few women who wore austerity clothing were stared at and made to feel uncomfortable. Aircraftman Sydney Max Falstein, who was released on October 3 after having served 28 days’ detention for insubordination, was one of four Federal politicians present. Another was the Minister of Commerce, Mr J. Scully.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST19421029.2.61

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Southland Times, Issue 24887, 29 October 1942, Page 6

Word count
Tapeke kupu
300

SYDNEY’S DERBY DAY Southland Times, Issue 24887, 29 October 1942, Page 6

SYDNEY’S DERBY DAY Southland Times, Issue 24887, 29 October 1942, Page 6

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