Evening star., 1939-08-20
First of a SerieS.)
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star STAFF CorreSpondent.


past a resplendently new, yellow
stucco building, the glass roof Of
which covers nearly six acres of
suburban Dublin. A few months ago
the area was a children's play
ground.
The rows of tenements close by
echo the clatter of machinery-long
rows of American-invented brass
brains which labor constantly at
intricate accounting problems. At
the doors stand blue -and-gold uni
formed guards and ushers. Within
those walls between 5000 and 1000
workers, mostly girl clerks, typists
and stenographers, are at work.
The visitor is ushered into an
elaborately furnished reception room,
the floor covered with thick rugs.
Bowling attendants are constantly
at hand. 1t is one of the largest
and most elaborate Office buildings
in the British Isles-the largest in
Ireland.
~ 40 lliS AlSoAiAudl Va Nlldl 10
perhaps Fires biggest business, run
ming close to $50,000,000 a year. But
it is more than an office building.
1t is temple to goddess-the
almost universally worshipped Lady
Luck. Within nine years her cult
has grown, with constant expansion
from a little Office building and
some hastily constructed sheds Gust
off historic st. Stephens Green with
the lucky street number of 13 Earls-
fort terrace) to this suburban
temple, and from 300 temporary to
5000 permanent acolytes. These
include some of the handsomest girls
in Ireland. You may be carrying a
picture of one of them close to your
heart right now-illegally almost
anywhere in the world outside the
Republic of Fire.
Worlds Exchange Pours In.
Lady Luck's temple, of course, is
the headquarters of that world in
dustry - the Irish Sweepstakes
which four times a year scatters
fortunes lavishly over the globe after
harvesting constantly more lavish
crop of pounds, dollars. francs,
guilders, Ira, yen or what have you,
from Patagonia to Vladivostok.
Among the acolytes in that temple
are experts in nearly every Ian
guage spoken on earth and in all the
worlds currencieS, and there are
intricate machines for the compli-
Gated job of Transforming other
moneys into Irish currency.
1t might not be quite fair to de-
scribe luck's temple on the Dodder
as the worlds biggest gambling es-
tablishment. The real setup is
quite complex, combining features
OF horse-racing lottery, charity
rattle and some of the functions of
the Social Securities Board in the
United States.
In every sweepstakes there are
three sure winners-the Hospitals
Trust, the public and private hos
pitals of Ireland, the government
of Fire. Also, of course. the army
OF Dublin girls who work there for
very good wages are permanent win
ners, as is the world at large through
the weh-endowed and excellently
conducted medical research which
has been financed through the
sweeps for the last few years.
Ofhclally the government of Fire
has nothing to do with this world
lottery. 1t sanctions the establish
ment and profits by it. One of its
officials must approve the expendi-
ture of all moneys. The Dali NAV
maintain, with its tongue in its
cheek, that it is none of its business
to enforce the laws of other coun-
tries-particularly Great Britain and
the United States. It has no official
knowledge of the source of the
money and is quite severe with cul-
prlts caught selling sweepstakes
tickets from other countries which
interfere with major home in
dustry. To do the government JUS
tice, it seems to have got a bear by
the tail and would be in an awful
mess with its own citizens if it
let go.
Success Beyond Dreams.
Nine years ago the sweeps '
started as a semi-private enterprise.
A private concern, the Hospitals
Trust, Ltd, undertook to run the
lottery for six Irish hospitals for a
commission. The idea was not al
together new in Ireland, where
horse-racing is the major sport, and
where every town has two of three
turf accountants" as the book
makers are known. They are licensed
by the government. by the way, are
ruled by rigid code of ethics, and
are highly respected business men,
for the most part very successful
This Hospital Trust, Ltd, still
runs the sweepstakes. But the initial
venture succeeded beyond its widest
dreams. Almost overnight it became
big business" Maybe it hit the
world at a psychological moment. 1t
got lot of good, unsolicited adver-
tising. Perhaps its chief asset was
the known integrity of the men
behind it and the extreme precau-
tions taken from the first to insure
absolute fairness in the draws. At
any rate the money poured in so fast
that the government was forced to
take a hand The original six hos
pitals couldn't possibly have made
| good use OF the showers of gold