Former schoolteacher Verne Jack, who had a mind like an adding machine and organised toad races on Magnetic Island , has died . Mad keen on golf , he attending overseas major competitions, ran an open air vegetable market on the island at which he rapidly toted up in his head customer buys.
Impressed by his prowess to add up and call the amount to an assistant who took the money , this writer once told him he would make a good SP bookie . The response was illuminating . As a schoolboy , he said he had worked in an SP bookie's shop which had been raided by police . A newspaper report had listed Verne Jack , student, as one of those arrested . Modern day kids, he complained , arrested on charges of any kind did not have their name published .
Impressed by his prowess to add up and call the amount to an assistant who took the money , this writer once told him he would make a good SP bookie . The response was illuminating . As a schoolboy , he said he had worked in an SP bookie's shop which had been raided by police . A newspaper report had listed Verne Jack , student, as one of those arrested . Modern day kids, he complained , arrested on charges of any kind did not have their name published .
For years , he ran cane toad races at the Arcadia Hotel , thus becoming known as the Toadmaster of Magnetic Island. Some residents said such races with creatures dangerous to native animals should not be conducted on an island in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park . In one confrontation , a female conservationist was sloshed in the face by Jack .Over the years he helped raise money for many charities . Toad races are still held on the island today.
Jack , who lost a leg due to diabetes in recent years , surprised when he took part in an open air mixed market and midst his offering for sale were interesting items , including postcards . One which I bought marked the beer can boat voyage from Darwin to Singapore by former Labor Lord Mayor of Brisbane Clem Jones and Darwin used car dealer Lutz Frankenfeld , of the Darwin German Club . Called the Cantiki , the vessel , a publicity stunt, made Singapore in 12 days. Jones was the chair of the Darwin Reconstruction Commission after Cyclone Tracy .
