COURSE GUARDED

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 479, 8 October 1928, Page 1

COURSE GUARDED

NO SUNDAY VISITORS As a result of the happenings of the previous afternoon it was considered advisable to close the racecourse to ali visitors yesterday afternoon, the usual band performance being abandoned. Every entrance was locked and carefully guarded by the police throughout Saturday night and yesterday. Owners, trainers, jockeys and newspaper representatives were subjected to careful examination before being admitted. Those who had ho cause to visit the course, and there were several hundreds during the day, were promptlyrefused admittance. SUFFICIENT POLICE “TROUBLE WELL HANDLED” This morning the police stated that there were 30 constables and sergeants and 10 detectives on the Ellerslie Racecourse on Saturday, as well as senior officers and men who were on leave. One of the senior officers who was on the course said that the crowd was very hostile and the policemen did their best to keep them in order. Most of the harm, he said, was done by hooting and booing, thus disturbing others who would otherwise have not taken any active interest in the disturbance.

He considered that there were quite enough policemen on the course.

The town could not be left empty. At one stage of the proceedings the police had part of the track cleared. In the circumstances he considered that the state of affairs was well handled. The crowd was prevented from entering the birdcage, as it would have done had not sufficient police been there, and later the insurgents were kept away from the cage.

Inspector J. W. Hollis said this morning that the disturbance was not so bad as that which occurred at Potter’s Paddock (now Alexandra Park) about 25 years ago. On that occasion there was a false start in a pony race and the crowd became incensed. Palings were pulled off a fence and some damage was done with the wooden weapons.

TRAFFIC RUSH FINE WORK DONE | Usually when the races end at [ Ellerslie there is a long: string of j tramcars, and two or three trains waiti ing to deal with the rush of passenger j traffic back to the city, as well as | numerous taxi-cabs and buses, but j Saturday saw a tremendous demand for transport facilities long before the ! usual hour. Fortunately events on the racecourse inclined people to tarry and be- ' fore the real rush to the city commenced the tramway and railway departments were taking the opporI tunity to rush cars and carriages to I the racecourse sidings. ! Buses and taxis reaped a harvest from the first throng to leave the j course, and these and the fix*st tram- [ cars were overcrowded, but by 4.30 p.m. a string of trams drawn from Gaunt Street and Epsom was directed to the Great South Road, and about the same time railway facilities became available, so that under the circumstances the sudden and unexpected demand was met extremely well