Labour Day Comes Round Again

New Zealand Listener, Volume 19, Issue 487, 22 October 1948, Page 11

Labour Day Comes Round Again

CTOBER is a pleasant month; it is about! midway between income tax payments. Rugby has died his seasonal death on local fields; the boots he has bequeathed to next season have been greased and~ stowed away, though, of course, this year his soul goes marching on to reconnoitre the South African scene. October is a month of hiatus when cold weather sports have fished and summer pastimes are just starting. It is the month for looking out the crumpled cricket flannels and ridding them of the remains of moths’ midnight suppers; for strumming on the strings of the tennis racquet and pitching them to match tone, and the time when, on Friday afternoons, the fisherman dreams of the week-end song of the reel. Bowlers, who through the winter have been able to do little more than watch the green-keeper at work during the day and take a hand at cards in the pavilion in the evenings (this is sometimes known as choir practice) are delighting in the feel of the new grass under their feet. By way of bridging the gap between the recreations of winter and summer, we can look forward to sunshine and blue skies, yachts on choppy water, beer in the pavilion at half-time, scorching sands and cooling dips, and canoes on rivers. But for many a New Zealander, merely looking forward is not sufficient.

He must have action. So next Monday, October 25 (Labour Day) he will give himself up to an intensive study of what the school-book called a noble animal with four legs. Labour Day is one of the ‘greatest racing days of the year. There will be eight meetings. Hundreds of thousands of people will visit the courses to see their favourites at work; a good many thousand others (interested solely in the commercial side of racing) will not stray far from the radio. Commentaries on the events on Labour Day will be broadcast as follows: From 2YA, Wellington Racing Club; 4YZ, Gore Racing Club; 3YZ, Greymouth Trotting Club, and 1YA, Auckland Trotting Club. In addition, all National stations will broadcast results of those meetings as well as results from the Waikato Hunt Club, Waverley Racing Club, North Canterbury Jockey Club and the Oamaru Trotting Club. Summaries of all events will be heard from 2YA at 2.0 p.m. and 4.45 p.m. Also, in the evening stations will carry special additional sports summaries at 7.0 p.m. and 10.0 p.m. Five days later, on Saturday, October 30, the New Zealand Trotting Cup will be run at Christchurch, and at approximately 1.0 p.m. a commentary on it, originating from 3YA, will be broadcast by all main National stations.