4i ON AND OFF THE TDRF. 



money was invested in sweeps on the Melbourne Cup 

 alone. This sounds big, but it is under rather than 

 over the mark. 



In Sydney there are scores of shops where double 

 event betting takes place on all local events of any 

 importance, and on every horse and pony meeting 

 held during the week. 



Lists are openly posted up in these shops, which 

 are supposed merely to be kept for the sale of 

 tobacco, etc. A few cigars may be seen in the 

 window, but the proprietor would probably be 

 astounded if anyone asked for them. Of course all 

 this is illegal ; but the police take the whole thing as a 

 matter of course, and the law is openly set at defiance. 

 A raid is made upon these shops at intervals, and the 

 proprietors are summoned, and fined a small amount, 

 which they willingly contribute to the revenue of a 

 grateful country. Three or four years ago matters in 

 this direction were much worse than when I left in 

 the present year. A sentence of a month or three 

 months' imprisonment, v/ithout the option of a fine, 

 has had a salutary eff'ect. The " double event '' men 

 had no objection to paying a fine ; but when it came 

 to a question of three months' hard, it was a very 

 different matter. 



The odds in these shops were laid to a shilling, and it 

 was in former days no uncommon thing to see as much 

 as fifty to a hundred pounds to a shilling, and more, laid 



