“FIRST COME—FIRST SERVED”

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1023, 14 July 1930, Page 1

“FIRST COME—FIRST SERVED”

CHITS ISSUED TO EARLY-COMERS IRATE QUEUE THREATENS VENGEANCE RETURNED SOLDIERS WAIT FOR 25 HOURS IRATE men, weary-eyed and tired, after waiting- for 25 hours in the bitter cold, threatened vengeance on the Rugby Union and the owner of a sports depot this morning. They were out-of-work returned soldiers who had been employed, through the R.S.A., to wait in the queue and purchase tickets for the Rugby Test on July 26.

However, their plans had been up,et through the issue of chits by Mr. j_ h. Watts, owner of the sports depot in Exchange Lane. As there were sufficient people to take all the available seats, he had decided on this action rather than see them stand from Saturday night to Monday morning in the bitter cold and rain. The returned soldiers, each of whom held a cheque for £G with which to purchase six tickets, had decided to start their queue at 4.30 Jdclock on Sunday afternoon. They had been employed through the Returned Soldiers’ Association, and were to receive a fee of 5s for each ticket purchased, thus making gOs for their long and weary vigil. The information concerning the action of these returned men was published in the newspapers. People saw it, and decided to get in first, with the result that a queue started to form outside Mr. Watts's office soon after midday on Saturday. By the time the returned men arrived there on Sunday, a considerable queue had formed outside the sports depot. Although there is accommodation on the main stand at Eden Park for about 1,400 spectators, only about 400 to 500 seats were available to the public. The remainder had been allocated to the New Zealand Rugby Union, the Auckland Rugby Union, country unions, and city clubs. All these seats must be paid for. It is understood that every union in New Zealand except Southland It has "been stafed by Mr. rrosi that if there were 10,000 seats available they could be sold. “NOTHING TO SAY’’ Mr. H. Frost, chairman of the management committee of the Auckland Rugby Union, stated this morning that he had nothing to say on the subject. The following statement was made to The Sun this morning by Mr. J. H. Watts. “I was watching the football at Eden Park on Saturday afternoon, when I was told that a queue was forming outside my office in Exchange Lane. I came in after the match and at 6.30 p.m. there were 10 people waiting. I returned at 9 p.m. and the crowd had swelled to about 50, and at 10.30 there were 120 people waiting. “If I had started selling the available seats then I could have done so easily. However, it would not have been possible to sell all the seats before Sunday, at that would have been illegal. “I decided to make an appointment with the sergeant of police to meet me at my office at 12.10 o’clock on Sunday morning. The crowd got a bit excited when it knew that I was not going to meet its demands by selling the tickets then. • "Someone suggested that chits be issued in order of rotation. After due consideration and with the aid of the sergeant of police, f told those waiting that 1 would put them under cover and issue the chits if they remained quiet. They all seemed quite Satisfied with this arrangement. “I stayed on until after 1 o’clock on Sunday morning and told the people in the queue that I would be down again later in the morning. When I left the crowd was all on the stairs leading up to offices in this building. “There was plenty of room. "I returned to the office at 9 o’clock on Sunday morning. By this time a big crowd had gathered in the lane. I told the chit holders to return at midaight, as it would then have been legal to sell the seats. It would have beer. Monday morning. All the chitholders went away. I put out a big notice to the effect that all the tickets Jbr the test match had been sold out. The crowd went away and when I left at about 10 o’clock on Sunday morning there was no queue. In the afternoon I received a telephone call to aay that another queue was forming and that my notice board had disappeared. I got into touch with Mi'. Haben, Mr. Frost and Mr. Billington, and they upheld my action in issuing the chits. It was a humane thing to an- It was tar better to issue the chits and allow people to go home inatead of their waiting all night in the tain and cold in a queue. "Last night I received a telephone t'ng from the police saying that they tnought, because of the crowd, I should not go down to my office, so I “‘d not go.” Mr. Watts stated that many of the ® CII to whom chits had been issued out of work and w ere being paid •or waiting in th«j queue. “At far as I am concerned everything I as been done openly,” be stated. “There has been no monkeying’ with the seats.” The returned men maintained this morning that they should be given Preference for seats and that, as kings were at present, they should at east be given the first chance to obain seats for the temporary stand, the ‘oozing plan for which will open on Wednesday. Some of the returned men to whom Sun representative talked were y*f. ssrß S. Higgins, Parnell; W. laney. Khyber Pass; S. Bickerton,

Sandringham; H. Schubert, Eden Terrace; P. Samways, Vincent Street; R. Morrison and H. A. Holden, Grey’s Avenue; and J T. McKenzie.

They alleged that some of the allotted seats had been raffled in the city and thaT! they knew of three seats being disposed of in this way for £25. This statement has not yet been confirmed. Altogether 35 returned men waited in the queque, but some of them became so disgusted when the chits were issued that they went away and only 10 stayed through the night. They stated that the chits were hardly legal as they did not possess names, and no money exchanged hands. The last one Issued was obtained by a returned man who said that some one followed him [o give it to him. NO AUTHORITY?

One of the men said that he had gone to the police station to obtain an opinion and was told the** that the officials had no authoring to Issue chits.

“We refused to listen ta Mr. Frost when he tried to address us,” one of the men said. “We considered that it was better to stand on our dignity. If they have been so kind as to issue

A TYPICAL EXAMPLE of the "chits,” which were issued after, midnight on Saturday to the waiting people. chits to others they should give us chits for the auxiliary stand.” When Mr. Watts was asked this morning if he would do this he sta-ted that he could not do so as he had no authority and there was no booking plan ready. The returned men deny that 200 men were turned away after the chits had been issued. The booking office was advertised to opeii this morning at 8 o’clock, but it had not opened at 10 o’clock. Nor was there any likelihood of this being done. Exchange Lane was still full of people, including the returned men and many others who tenaciously held to their places iu the queue. Mr. Watts arrived at his office before 10 o’clock but he could not open up to do ordinary business because of the queue. Several policemen were in attendance but there was no disturbance of any kind. “The police have been very good to us,” one of the returned men said. “They have not interfered in any way.” Except for four or five men, the queue had dispersed by 11 o'clock today. CONFLICTING STORIES There are several conflicting stories regarding the crowds which waited on Saturday night. One man told a Sun representative this morning that he had decided to wait all Saturday night but as it was so wet and cold he went home. At 5.30 o’clock on Sunday morning he walked down to the depot in Exchange Lane. There was no one waiting then. He obtained a chit and went home again. It has been advertised that the chits will be redeemed any day after today. Mr. Maben stated today that the chits had been issued as a gracious act. If people had been forced to stand in the cold for two nights, many of them might have contracted pneumonia or some other illness. RETURNED MEN TO WAIT AGAIN An official of the Returned Soldiers’ Association stated this morning that as a result of the "mix-up” over the tickets during the week-end, its men who were engaged by clients to obtain seats for the test, will now wait in the queue for seats on the auxiliary stand. These will be available on Wednesday. TAKING NO RISKS ALL NIGHT IN QUEUE DETERMINED RUGBY “FAN” Muffled in two overcoats, a rug slung over his legs, and wearing a motoring headcap, one “chit” holder was taking no risks. Sleepy-eyed, he sat

grimly on his benzine box, with his back to the door, the first in the queue this morning. He was Mr. W. Hounslow, intent on securing six seats, and determined to wait until he actually pocketed them. His sentiments are: “I am taking no chances of the ‘chits’ not being honoured.” He was thirty-fifth in the queue, which started l'ormiug at the door of the booking office at 12.45 on Saturday afternoon, and had suffered two sleepless nights in the open. At 12.10 on Sunday morning the Inquiries were made of the queue by booking officials to ascertain how many tickets were required, and those waiting were given “chits" for all the seats that were available, approximately 420, though all definite information concerning the number of seats vacant was refused. The final "chit” was issued about seven o'clock on Sunday morning. The “chit” theff ))CsVSl"and- id”SiU 4’tV their numbers at 10 a.m., 4 p.m., and 8 p.m., on the threat of cancellation if they were not present. Rain was then falling heavily, and the chit-holders were allowed on to the stairs of the building to spend the night. No one slept a wink, according to Mr. Hounslow, and after the eight o’clock roll-call “by numbers” the chit-holders were notified that they would not need to attend until eleven o’clock that night. LINING UP Meantime the early morning “queuers” were lining up rapidly and when a notice was posted outside the door stating that all tickets had been sold, the crowd was so irat.e that it tore the notice down. The queue continued to form, the crowd hanging on, despite the fact that Rugby Union

officials addressed them and stated the tickets had been sold out. ‘One needed a pair of boxing gloves instead of a chit to get into the queue at 11 o’clock last night,” said Mr. Hounslow. Those waiting were under the impression that the booking office would be opened after midnight last night and the “chits” would be honoured, and so the crowd stood and sat in the open. It was impossible to get a wink of sleep, though several times during the vigil he and others slipped away for a cup of coffee and a bite, others carefully guarding their posts for them. The queue at 8 o’clock this morning must have numbered three or four hundred, but there was no sign of the booking office being opened. The “chit” a Sun man examined was simply a piece of yellow paper with woW'TKln.y-'fff’t-. \fse a s^lWta s Oie in figures in blue pencil. It had no distinguishing or official mark apart from these words and figures. ALLOCATION OF SEATS NONE FOR AUCKLAND SUBUNIONS Regarding the allocation of seats for the match, it was stated this morning that under instructions from the New Zealand Rugby Union, two complimentary tickets had been sent to each of the major Rugby unions in New Zealand. All above that number who applied for seats were allowed preferential booking, but the actual number which applied was not divulged. All clubs affiliated with the Auckland Rugby Union were allowed to book six seats if they were running four to six teams. It has been denied that any of the sub-unions in Auckland were allowed preferential booking. ANOTHER QUEUE STARTS AUXILIARY STAND SEATS Queue “marathon" performers were again on deex early this afternoon when about a dozen lined up outside Watts’s Sports Depot in Exchange Lane to start a long and weary vigil until 9 o’clock on Wednesday morning. when hookings open for the auxiliary stand.