Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-02

son whose touch has never yet turned anything
to gold.
Two years back the winner was Miss Gwen
Thomas, girl insurance clerk of humble birth,
working in Liverpool office. She won around
81, 0O0, 900.
A week after the news of her dazzling for
tune the newspapers had o second sensation.
Miss Gwen Thomas had disappeared. clam
orous press sought her, suspecting a kidnapping
or, maybe romantic elopement. But the story
petered out In little villa In a London suburb.
The little new-rich girl had not succumbed
TO fortune hunter, or taken to pearls, gigolOs
and the night life. Frightened by an avalanche
OF begging letters, offers Of marriage, kilograms
offering unparalleled opportunities for the
profitable employment of her capital, and per-
sonal calls, she had fed to an aged and be-
loved aunt, to the quiet and simple life.
Mix-ups often occur. One Of the queerest
happened in 1923, when every one was mystified
by simultaneous reports giving different names
for the winning ticket. A Capt. A. A. Poole was
said to have won, and so was Dublin shop
assistant named Edith ODwyer, who was
named In a cablegram from Calcutta.
The trouble turned out to be due to the
economical sender of the Calcutta cable, who
had clipped a word from the message. Miss
ODwyer had won Calcutta sweep, but II was
the Marconi Calcutta Service Derby Sweep
which, not for the first time, had been con-
fused with the Calcutta Turf Club Sweep.
AS Miss O'Dwyer collected $500 600 from her
Marconi Sweep. however, she was not too much
upset.
occasionally confused with the Stock Exchange
Derby Sweep, which is conducted in London
and which this year was said TO involve Q
total of SIS ,o00, 000-within a million of the CAL
cutta sweep funds. The amount involved In
these and other huge British CANDLES is said
to be about $4,000 000
In the days when tickets were issued there
were endless instances of people carelessly
losing mislaying them. On the morning of
Derby day, 1921, Capt. Thomas Jones, retired
officer of the Royal Naval Reserve, was pro-
NOTED to place of assistant marine superintend-
ent at the Union Castle Wharf at Blackwell.
and cleaned up his old Office. Shortly before
o'clock the same day friend telephoned and
told him he held the winning ticket in the Cal
cutta sweep.
Good Lordi" exclaimed Capt. Jones. "I
don't know what I've done with the damn
thing" He had bought the ticket lust for the
fun of the thing" and had forgotten it. He
thought he must have torn it up with some old
papers.
The search that followed in ash cans. dusty
cupboards and waste paper baskets terrific
At length the captain thought of looking among
an armful of old papers he had crammed into
a portmanteau And there, dog-eared and dirty
was the little open sesame to the Calcutta
treasure cave.
7 Asst year the gigantic first prize won
- by an Indian: That story casts spotlight
on the fantastic web which gets woven III the
CLANCY passage of tickets from hand to hand
in the period between the time the club says
Col" to its members, and the GREATNESS
ment when the nose of the first horse passes
the white post on EPSON Downs
When the horses name flashed to London,
lists were consulted in clubs and newspaper
Offices, and the first report was that Mr.. H.
w. Webb an Englishman. had scooped the prize
of 81 100000. Mr.. Webb could not be found.
Where was he?
He had gone to sea. The ship was known,
the date of its departure, its destination, and
il was pursued by cable and radio The scent