THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
TO 
 
 JOHN ADRIAN LOUIS 
 
 EARL OF HOPETOUN, P.C., G.C.M.G. 
 
 ETC., ETC. 
 
 Late Governor of Victoria 
 
 THIS VOLUME OF 
 
 IRemintscences 
 
 is (BY PERMISSION) MOST RESPECTFULLY 
 
 DEDICATED BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR 
 
 LONDON, January 1898 
 
SPORTING 
 REMINISCENCES 
 
 By 
 
 THOS. HAYDON 
 
 LONDON 
 BLISS, SANDS & CO. 
 
 12 EURLEIGH STREET, STRAND, W.C, 
 MDCCCXCVIIl 
 
SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 THE MAN ON THE MARCH 
 
 BY MARTIN COBBETT 
 
 (MR SPORTIXG NOTIONS) 
 
 Large Crown 8vo Price 6/- 
 
 HUNTING 
 
 HUNTING, AND PRACTICAL 
 HINTS FOR HUNTING MEN 
 BY G. F. UNDERBILL 
 
 Crown 8vo, Cloth extra Price 2/6 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IT has been suggested to me over and over again 
 that I should commit to print some of my reminis- 
 cences, and whilst I am fully aware that the said 
 reminiscences can interest but a very limited section 
 of the community, I have at last yielded to the 
 persuasive eloquence of an old friend, and jotted 
 down some of my experiences. 
 
 I claim no literary ability, and this volume is 
 launched with all its imperfections, its author simply 
 trusting to receive the indulgent criticisms of the 
 many friends of long ago. 
 
 T. H. 
 
 LONDON, January 1898. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 FLEMINGTON 
 
 Chap. I. . 9 
 
 Chap. II. ... 19 
 
 Chap. Ill .28 
 
 Chap. IV. ...... 38 
 
 SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 
 
 Chap. I. Moonee Valley and Caulfield . . 49 
 
 Chap. II. Caulfield continued . 58 
 
 Chap. III. Elsternwick Park . . .64 
 
 Chap. IV. Epsom, Williamstown, Mentone, Sandown 
 
 Park, Mordialloc, Aspendale, Maribyrnong . 74 
 
 UP-COUNTRY RACING . . . . . 83 
 RANDWICK ....... 9 1 
 
 VICTORIAN CLUB 
 
 Chap. I .109 
 
 Chap. II .137 
 
 AUSTRALIAN HORSES . . 145 
 
 TASMANIA . . J 55 
 
viii CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 COURSING 
 
 Chap. I. ... .173 
 
 Chap. II. . . .183 
 
 Chap. III. .... .191 
 
 Chap. IV 197 
 
 ATHLETICS 
 
 Chap. I. ... .207 
 
 Chap. II. . . 217 
 
 THEATRICAL MEMORIES . . . . .223 
 
 MELBOURNE MEMORIES . . . . .245 
 
 HOME IMPRESSIONS . . . . . 269 
 
FLEMINGTON. 
 
 (AUSTRALIA). 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 AMONGST the many hundreds of Englishmen 
 who have visited Flemington, few will, I think, 
 question the statement that as a race-course it stands 
 almost unrivalled with regard to the provisions made 
 for the comfort and convenience of the public. 
 
 There can be no doubt that of late years the im- 
 provements effected in race-course accommodation in 
 England have been very great, and I am rather 
 disposed to think that the Australian example is 
 being gradually followed ; but in no other department 
 of sport is conservatism shown in such a marked 
 degree as in the unwillingness of English race-course 
 managers or stewards to adopt suggestions whereby 
 improvements might be effected, or the public con- 
 venience studied. 
 
 They have hitherto appeared supremely indifferent; 
 having rested on their oars, arguing that what was 
 good enough for our grandfathers is good enough 
 for us, and, as I have remarked, until quite recently 
 the old order of things remained. Sandown and 
 Kempton have been the pioneers, the avant-couriers 
 in making decent provision for the racing public, 
 who, when all is said and done, actually find the 
 
 9 
 
io SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 sinews of war, with the result that both these courses 
 are highly prosperous and paying concerns. 
 
 This is all apropos of the marvellous convenience 
 and, I may say, the luxurious accommodation pro- 
 vided at Flcmington, in comparison with what was 
 met with at the ordinary race-meetings of a few 
 years ago. 
 
 My memory takes me back to the Derby of 
 Daniel O'Rourke, a wet Derby Day. I was a boy 
 at school near Epsom then, and Derby Day meant a 
 holiday. Seats were erected along the school garden 
 wall, and all of us were arranged in rows to see them 
 " come " and see them "go." These were the days of 
 turnpikes, when the whole of the traffic could only 
 proceed at a walking pace miles before reaching the 
 course, so great was the block. There was then no rail 
 to the course ; footpads from London tramped to 
 Epsom the night before to get their supplies of 
 "Dorling's Correc' Card," and then tramped back 
 along the route to sell them. 
 
 The telegram was unknown, and the news of 
 " What won the Derby ? " was disseminated by 
 means of the carrier pigeons. The flight of hundreds 
 of these birds directly the winner had passed the post 
 being quite a novel sight. 
 
 Rotten eggs, bags of flour, pea-shooters, pin-cushions, 
 money-boxes, and dolls were the " confetti " of those 
 days ; and when the fun was a bit too furious, many a 
 battle, without gloves, between swell and coster was 
 fought alongside the hedgerows. The Greyhound and 
 the Cock at Sutton, and the Woolpack at Banstead 
 were amongst the favourite stopping-places, and the 
 fun (?) of the road, especially on the homeward tack, 
 was, to put it mildly, a bit sultry. 
 
FLEMINGTON u 
 
 I suppose one's associations in early years have a 
 good deal to answer for as regards the development 
 of one's tastes. I was, unfortunately, a very delicate 
 boy, and was a source of considerable anxiety to my 
 parents and our family doctor, when, at a very critical 
 period of my youth, there arrived on the scene as 
 assistant to the said doctor no less a personage than 
 Dr Shorthouse, who then took me in charge ; and after 
 undergoing a somewhat severe ordeal for the doctor, 
 I fancy, believed in the kill-or-cure principle pulled 
 me through. We became great friends, for I was always 
 looked upon as one of his "perfect cures." Racing 
 and the pedigrees of race-horses was with him a 
 perpetual theme, and before long the doctor had every 
 opportunity for airing his theories, as he started and 
 edited the Sporting Times, now called the Pink 'Un. 
 He argued theoretically that Maccaroni from his 
 breeding would beat Lord Clifden and all the others 
 opposed to him in the Two Thousand and the Derby, 
 and, strange to relate, the doctor's arguments proved 
 correct, and, if my memory serves me, it was this fact 
 which brought him into prominent notice as a racing 
 authority. 
 
 The various articles and paragraphs partook largely 
 of the " spicy " character, and one column " On the 
 Gridiron," I think it was called brought him into 
 collision with Sir Joseph Hawley, to whom he referred 
 in libellous terms as "Sir Joseph Scratch-Crawley," 
 with the result that the old doctor had to spend some 
 time in Holloway Gaol. He did not lack " medical 
 comforts" during his rustication, for he had many 
 friends who admired him for his numerous good 
 qualities and great abilities, and they stuck to him to 
 the finish. 
 
12 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 I am merely mentioning these facts to, in a great 
 measure, account for the possession of keen sporting 
 proclivities, which were, so to speak, developed by the 
 very air I breathed. This ruling passion has been 
 strong with me ever since, and it was not to be 
 wondered at that in 1870, the year I arrived in 
 Melbourne, I should be found amongst the great 
 concourse of people who wended their way to the 
 " Melbourne Cup." 
 
 There is rather a peculiar personal incident with 
 reference to my first Melbourne Cup, inasmuch as on 
 the opening day of the meeting, a handicap the 
 Hotham Handicap it was called was run, and my 
 attention was directed to a horse carrying the colours 
 of George Hodgman. I was then a new chum, and 
 knew nothing whatever of the merits of the horse 
 carrying the said colours. He was called " Nimble- 
 foot," but the familiar violet jacket and orange cap 
 so often carried to victory by Vixen and other V's 
 attracted my notice, and for luck I had my modest 
 investment on him at 8 to i. To my intense delight 
 Nimblefoot won, and I then confidently expressed my 
 opinion that he would win the Cup, which assuredly 
 he did ; consequently I became for a time quite an 
 authority, and gained credit for a knowledge of form 
 which I certainly did not possess. 
 
 Another peculiar feature of Nimblefoot's Cup was 
 the fact that his owner, a Mr Craig of Ballarat, had 
 dreamt that he would win the Cup, and that his 
 jockey would wear a crape band on his arm, Craig 
 having a presentiment that he would not be alive when 
 the Cup was run. Old Slack, the great double-event 
 bettor of the day, to whom he, amongst others, 
 related his dream, offered to lay him ^1000 to eight 
 
FLEMINGTON 13 
 
 drinks that a horse called Croydon did not win the 
 Metropolitan stakes, run for at Sydney, and that his 
 dream did not come true. The wager was booked, 
 and the drinks were consumed in advance, but the 
 double came off: Croydon won the Metropolitan, and 
 Nimblefoot won the Melbourne Cup, his jockey wear- 
 ing the crape band, Craig's death having taken place 
 ere the Cup was run. To old Slack's credit be it 
 recorded, he paid the widow ^500. He was not of 
 course bound to pay a penny. 
 
 To English readers it may be necessary to explain 
 that in Australia the death of an owner does not 
 render the nomination of a horse void. 
 
 I think it was at this meeting I saw the Duke of 
 Edinburgh strolling on the lawn with Mrs Charles 
 Matthews, who with her husband came out under 
 engagement to Geo. Coppin, the proprietor of the 
 Theatre Royal, Melbourne. 
 
 Nimblefoot's was my first Cup, but I never missed 
 seeing the Cup run for twenty-five years. I have seen 
 it run in all weathers sometimes under a blazing sun, 
 the thermometer registering 100 in the shade ; and 
 occasionally in a deluge. I have seen some hot 
 favourites get home, and I have seen hot favourites 
 that did not get home. The hottest favourites to 
 catch the Judge's eye were Don Juan and Carbine, 
 and. the rankest outsiders were Pearl and Zulu. 
 
 Assyrian's year (1882) was an experience. The 
 morning opened with a raging hot wind, but before 
 the Cup was run the wind shifted to the southward, 
 and the rain came down in torrents. There was not 
 sufficient shelter for the enormous crowd, and the silks 
 and satins, which had early in the day made the lawn 
 resplendent as a rainbow, wore a woeful and bedraggled 
 
14 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 appearance as the hundreds of drenched women-folk 
 wended their way homewards. 
 
 I suppose the most sensational Cup I saw run was 
 in 1877, Chester's year. This horse, the property of 
 the Hon. James White, had on the opening day of the 
 meeting won the Derby, and he was naturally much 
 fancied for the Cup ; but if little. S^V^Tia'ka had not 
 stumbj^i ai Vne turn, owing to a horse called Waxy 
 falling in front of him, Chester would never have won, 
 and one of the greatest and most cleverly-planned 
 coups of famous old Jim Wilson would have come off. 
 It was hard lines for that good all-round sportsman, 
 Mr Herbert Power, the owner of the gallant little 
 grey, to have victory so nearly in his grasp, and to be 
 cheated out of it by a piece of right-down bad luck. 
 Chester won by only half a head from Savanaka. 
 
 I think that the horse backed for most money for a 
 Melbourne Cup was First Water. The Commission 
 was sent in during the absence of the majority of the 
 Melbourne bookmakers in Sydney ; but it was to be 
 worked simultaneously in Sydney, Melbourne, and 
 Adelaide. The horse was not fancied by the public 
 or the " Bookies," and the liberties that were taken by 
 some of the smaller fry were enough to raise doubts 
 as to whether the horse was not metaphorically and 
 practically " dead." Men who were usually content 
 with making a 200 book laid $oo against him, the 
 300 " Bookie" laid ^"looo, and so on, and as fast as 
 they would lay, so the commissioners would put it 
 down. The Commission was unlimited. 
 
 I was in Melbourne at the time, and well remember 
 the Melbourne Commissioner a thorough little gentle- 
 man, not perhaps particularly well versed in the art of 
 executing a commission complacently entering his 
 
FLEMINGTON 15 
 
 wagers, utterly regardless and quite ignorant of the 
 amused and astonished expressions on the faces of 
 some of the bystanders, as he, " childlike and bland," 
 entered bets, which, had the horse won, would probably 
 have, in the language of the Ring, turned out "cronk 
 'uns." 
 
 When the eventful Cup was run, and First Water 
 was showing a bold front at the turn for home, some 
 of my friends who had punched him so freely must 
 have quaked in their shoes. He was only beaten by 
 a little over a length. If First Water had won, there 
 would have been consternation in the pencillers' camp, 
 and from many quarters the "whisper" would have 
 gone round. 
 
 Haricot's Cup (1874) was peculiar. The horse was 
 supposed to be a non-stayer, but when the flag fell he 
 went off at score, and was leading by many lengths 
 six furlongs from home. Shouts went up, " They'll 
 never catch him " ; others said, " He'll come back to 
 them directly" but he never did come back, and 
 they never did catch him, for he passed the winning- 
 post a winner by four lengths. 
 
 The most meritorious win was in the Cup of 1890, 
 when Carbine, carrying no less a weight than 10 st. 5, 
 ran the two miles in 3 minutes 28J seconds. I don't 
 think, with the exception of the Prince's Derby, I have 
 ever seen more excitement or more genuine enthusiasm 
 displayed on a race-course than on this occasion. My 
 old friend, Donald Wallace, his owner; Walter Higin- 
 botham, his trainer ; and Bob Ramage, his jockey, 
 were the heroes of the hour ; they were cheered to the 
 echo again and again, and the old horse became 
 positively a public idol. 
 
 Carbine's performances are so well known, and have 
 
16 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 been so frequently referred to, that any detailed account 
 of them is not necessary here ; but what emphasises 
 his excellence in the very highest degree is the fact 
 that Highborn, who ran second to him in this eventful 
 Cup, carried the feather-weight of 6 st 8 ; but later in 
 his career he, with upwards of 9 st. on his back, 
 won several important handicaps, both in Australia 
 and India. 
 
 Carbine, as everybody knows, is now doing stud 
 duty in England, having been purchased for 13,000 
 by the Duke of Portland. That he will prove a 
 valuable addition to the Duke's stud is almost certain, 
 for he combines those two essentials which make a 
 race-horse: he could go fast and he could stay. 
 Whether he will transmit these qualities to his progeny 
 remains to be seen. The probabilities seem favourable, 
 as those of his get which have raced in Australia 
 seem endowed with both speed and endurance. I was 
 present when he was shipped for England, and 
 hundreds and hundreds of people flocked down to the 
 pier to have a last look at their old favourite. 
 
 During the twenty-five years which I spent in 
 Australia, I have been thrown in immediate contact 
 with all classes of the racing community from 
 their Excellencies the Governors to the "touts, 
 tipsters, and know-nothings," and that miscellaneous 
 crowd which goes to make up the outside fringe 
 of race-course society. Strangely enough, whilst 
 our Victorian Governors I refer particularly to 
 those who held office during my residence in Mel- 
 bourne, viz. Viscount Canterbury, Sir George Bowen, 
 the Marquis of Normanby, Sir Henry, now Lord 
 Loch, and the Earl of Hopetoun were great patrons 
 of and constant visitors to our race-courses, I don't 
 
FLEMINGTON 17 
 
 think any one of them ever ran a horse. New South 
 Wales, on the other hand, had staunch supporters in 
 Sir Hercules Robinson (now Lord Rosmead) and 
 Lord Carrington, whose colours were seen at the 
 principal meetings both at Melbourne and Sydney, 
 and the keenest satisfaction was evinced when their 
 representatives got first past the post. 
 
 The Governor, for the time being, of Victoria keeps 
 open house during Cup Week, entertaining the 
 Governors from the other Colonies, and any visitors 
 of distinction who may be making the grand tour at 
 the time. They drive up the course in semi-state, 
 after the Ascot style, the band playing the National 
 Anthem as they alight from their carriages, and 
 occasionally a guard of honour, composed of a detach- 
 ment of the Mounted Rifles, will accompany them, in 
 addition to the usual body of mounted troopers. 
 
 Lord Hopetoun, however, eclipsed all his predecessors 
 in the matter of style and pomp, his carriage, with 
 four magnificent horses and postillions, being quite 
 a novelty to many of the Colonial born. Following 
 the example of the Prince of Wales in entertaining 
 the members of the Jockey Club, his Lordship enter- 
 tained at dinner on Derby night the members of the 
 Committee of the Victoria Racing Club, and all the 
 prominent racing people in the Colonies who were in 
 Melbourne at the time. It was my privilege to be 
 one of the guests on these occasions, and no function 
 was more eagerly looked forward to than the Cup 
 Dinner at Government House. 
 
 Lord Hopetoun, a thorough sportsman himself, 
 appeared, I think, in his happiest mood when 
 surrounded by hunting and racing men. A more 
 genial host never presided at a banqueting table, and 
 
 B 
 
18 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 both he and the Countess were positively beloved by 
 every one who had a drop of sporting blood in their 
 veins. I don't for one moment wish to convey that 
 this attachment was confined solely to the sporting 
 community, tout au contraire, for I don't suppose any 
 previous occupants of Government House ever en- 
 deared themselves in a greater degree to the high, 
 low, rich or poor, as did Lord and Lady Hopetoun ; 
 but on the principle of the " one touch of nature " the 
 sporting element in the community, I fancy, appealed 
 more strongly to their tastes than any other. 
 
 Lord and Lady Hopetoun's arrival in and departure 
 from Melbourne will never be forgotten by those who 
 witnessed these quite state ceremonials. The warmth 
 of the welcome was only eclipsed by the genuine and 
 heartfelt regret at their departure. They certainly 
 came as strangers, but I can safely say that their 
 leave-taking was the parting of friends. It scarcely 
 comes within my province to describe state cere- 
 monials, but Lord and Lady Hopetoun's arrival and 
 departure were somewhat unique in the enthusiasm 
 with which they were greeted, and the genuine and 
 widespread regret which was associated with their 
 farewell. The whole route from Government House 
 to the railway station was lined with thousands of 
 people, all anxious to bid an affectionate adieu to 
 the most popular of Governors. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 T7LEMINGTON RACE-COURSE is, without 
 -t^ doubt, one of the show places of Melbourne, and 
 justly so. Not that its surroundings are picturesque, 
 or the drive to it attractive it has absolutely no 
 natural beauties but the appurtenances, if I may 
 use the word, in the shape of stands, refreshment 
 rooms, beautiful lawns and flower-beds, far surpass 
 anything in England. The weighing-stand, casualty- 
 rooms, lavatories, jockeys' dressing-rooms, down to 
 the minutest details, have been rendered well nigh 
 perfect, and nothing is wanting that human fore- 
 thought could devise to make it complete. 
 
 Some reference here may not be out of place to the 
 race-course itself. It has, as I have already stated, 
 no attractive surroundings such as we have in England, 
 the glorious foliage of elms, oaks, and chestnuts, being 
 almost entirely absent. It is true, English trees, prin- 
 cipally elms and oaks, are planted in the paddock and 
 approaches, and they thrive wonderfully well,becoming, 
 under the genial climate, almost evergreens, but the 
 lovely landscape and natural beauties of rural England 
 are not to be found in Australia. The gum trees which 
 abound do not lend themselves to the picturesque, and 
 the proximity of a boiling-down establishment and a 
 bone-mill do not, when the wind is in a certain quarter, 
 
 19 
 
20 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 emit a fragrance which can by any stretch of imagina- 
 tion be termed balmy. This disagreeable feature, 
 however, is not often in evidence. 
 
 The race-course has this enormous advantage, how- 
 ever, in being dead level, is about a mile and a half 
 in circumference and has a straight six furlongs. 
 The horses are never out of view of the spectators ; 
 no vehicles are allowed within the ring fence foot 
 passengers only being admitted to what is termed 
 the Flat, the admission to which is free. At the 
 back of the Grand Stand there is the Hill with 
 stands, etc. This hill, which is some acres in 
 extent, accommodates thousands of people, and the 
 view of the various- races from its summit cannot 
 be surpassed. The admission is half a crown, and 
 Mr Secretary Bagot always called it the " Pit," so 
 considerable was the revenue derived from the Hill. 
 There is an extensive Birdcage, and the refreshment 
 bars round the paddock and under the stands would 
 measure some hundreds of yards. 
 
 Whilst on this topic of refreshments it might be 
 mentioned that the whole of this department is 
 controlled by Mr Henry Skinner; he has often 
 been termed the Prince of Caterers a cognomen 
 he certainly does not discredit. Until his advent, 
 the catering for the enormous crowds on Cup Day 
 had been rather a difficult problem to solve, and was 
 one of the things that worried Bagot more perhaps 
 than anything else, but Mr Skinner is a born 
 organiser, and the system inaugurated by him works 
 with the utmost smoothness, and complaints are now 
 few and far between. 
 
 The necessity for not obstructing the view of the 
 Hillites made it requisite that the Grand Stand 
 
FLEMINGTON 21 
 
 should be so constructed as not to in any way 
 interfere with the general coup d'ceil, and hence its 
 low, long "cowshed" appearance, but the arrange- 
 ments for the comfort of the members beneath the 
 long dwarfed- looking roof cannot be surpassed. 
 
 The Governor's rooms are decorated and furnished 
 in princely style ; the painted panels on the walls 
 were executed by Mrs Rowan, a lady who has made 
 a European reputation as an artist, and are some of 
 her finest examples of the Flora of Australia. The 
 ladies' retiring rooms are also marvels of comfort 
 and convenience curling tongs, scent sprays, powder 
 puffs, hairpins, needles and thread, and the thousand 
 and one things which are nowadays necessary to 
 complete a lady's toilet, being supplied ad lib. These 
 brief references to details will, I think, convey to 
 strangers some slight idea of famous Flemington. 
 In a lesser degree they apply to nearly every race- 
 course of any pretensions throughout Australia. 
 
 A rather interesting incident occurred not many 
 years ago. One Cup Day a lady gave birth to a little 
 girl in one of the dressing-rooms. The mother and 
 child received every attention, and after the day's 
 racing was over were sent home in the ambulance 
 waggon as if these occurrences were not at all unusual 
 at Flemington. I think the child was called Patrona 
 after Patron, the winner of the Cup. 
 
 Another feature which is worth more than a passing 
 reference is the casualty-room and the provision 
 made for dealing with accidents. A horse ambulance 
 is driven round the inner ring whilst a race flat race 
 or steeple-chase is being run, so as to be handy in case 
 an accident should occur. Every course has its 
 Honorary Surgeons, and the casualty-room is in 
 
22 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 charge of a hospital dresser. These casualty-rooms 
 are fitted up like hospital wards, and the dressers' 
 duties are, I regret to say, frequently no sinecure, 
 but the prompt attention given to the injured mini- 
 mises considerably the after effects of injuries, be 
 they slight or serious. 
 
 The Australian racing public are great believers in 
 the time test. I know in England not much reliance 
 is placed on the watch, but the faith in time trials 
 in Australia is unbounded and everywhere prevails. 
 To accurately time the races at Flemington a huge 
 chronograph has been erected immediately behind 
 the judge's box, and this is connected with the various 
 starting posts by electric wires, so that by simply 
 pressing a button which is fixed to each post, the 
 clock is set in motion, and by pressing another button 
 in the judge's box as the winner passes the post, the 
 clock is stopped and the official time recorded. 
 
 The manufacture of this huge piece of mechanism 
 was not undertaken without considerable trouble. Mr 
 Gaunt the maker, who, by the way, presented it to the 
 Club, told me that the clock itself was simple enough 
 to make, but his difficulty was to get material for 
 the hands which would stand the sudden jar each 
 time a quarter second was recorded, but after many 
 failures he at last hit upon the idea that the quills of 
 the peacock's feathers would stand the strain. He tried 
 them, and found them answer admirably. Few people, 
 when watching the chronograph, ever dream of what 
 the hands are made. 
 
 Timing trial gallops on the training track is 
 positively brought to a science, and I am confident 
 that, according to the population, more people carry 
 stop watches in Australia than in any other part of 
 
FLEMINGTON 23 
 
 the world. It is quite amusing to meet with the touts 
 and timeists at early morn on the training ground at 
 Flemington whilst a gallop is in progress. No one 
 would suspect that amongst the miscellaneous great- 
 coated and muffied-up groups that are dotted about 
 the tracks you could find half-a-dozen watches, but 
 it is after a rattling good go that from out of 
 nearly every pocket comes the clock, and the queries 
 follow : " What did you make it, Jim ? One-twenty ? " 
 " No, I made it a tick over," and so on. Then, " Did 
 the prad have his shoes on ? What weight had he 
 up ? " " Oh, young So-and-so only weighs so much." 
 " Yes, but did you notice what a thunderin' big saddle 
 he had ? " "I don't think much of the go," says one ; 
 " he had the wind behind him, the inside runnin', and 
 he skimmed every bloomin' post like a swaller." 
 " Well," says another, " I think he'll jolly well walk 
 in ; I shall have my bit on." " You do as you like ; he 
 won't carry a bob of my money." And so on, till 
 another gallop is in progress, when similar conversa- 
 tions can be heard until breakfast-time. 
 
 The training tracks at Flemington are extensive, 
 and cost an immense amount of money to maintain. 
 They are the sinking fund in the Balance Sheet. The 
 maintenance account, to those unacquainted with these 
 matters, being the item about which the members at 
 the Annual Meetings want to know. The principal 
 tracks are three in number, viz. the sand gallop, the 
 cinder track, and the tan track. In ordinary weather 
 and for sound horses, the sand gallop is the one 
 principally used, and the mile, the furlong, and half 
 furlongs are duly denoted by posts as on the race- 
 course proper. The cinder track, as its name implies, 
 is made of fine cinders, and is excellent going when 
 
2 4 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 the weather is wet, and the ground holding. The tan 
 track is for horses with tender feet or those with 
 questionable understandings. The whole of these 
 tracks are kept in perfect order, and were it not for 
 those " infernal touts," the tracks at Flemington 
 would be a veritable trainer's paradise. 
 
 There are so many things in connection with 
 race-course management in Australia which compare 
 favourably with the prevailing order of things in 
 England. Many, perhaps, are mere details, but these 
 very details all go towards rendering the management 
 and the whole surroundings complete. Take, for 
 instance, a very minor detail perhaps, the Australian 
 Clerk of the Course (not the Secretary). This official, 
 turned out in proper hunting costume, scarlet coat, 
 velvet cap, boots and breeches, etc., after having seen 
 the jockeys weighed out, precedes them to the starting 
 post, and there, under the starter's orders, takes notes 
 of fines, etc., and acts as a sort of aide-de-camp to the 
 man with the flag or the man in charge of the Starting 
 Gate. Immediately the field has been despatched on 
 their journey he returns to the winning post, and 
 there learns from the judge the name of the winner 
 whom he then escorts to the weighing enclosure. 
 This may be regarded as a useless and unnecessary 
 innovation, but all these little details help to give a 
 finish and completeness to the general picture. 
 
 The Stipendiary Steward is also an official, of 
 whom English race-course habitues have possibly never 
 heard. I do not say such an appointment is neces- 
 sary in England, because men of means and of good 
 social position can always be found willing to accept 
 office as stewards, and who, by their early training 
 and experience, are well qualified for the positions. 
 
FLEMINGTON 25 
 
 Not so, however, in Australia. It must not for one 
 moment be supposed that there are not plenty of men 
 capable of filling the positions, but they have not the 
 leisure to devote to it, and, moreover, in a small 
 community, business connections and a thousand and 
 one things prevent many a man from accepting the 
 office of steward, with its accompanying responsi- 
 bilities. Hence the creation of a Stipendiary, or paid 
 steward. The duties of the official in question are to 
 attend all race meetings under Victoria Racing Club 
 Rules, assist the local stewards, and report to the 
 authorities any cases of inconsistent running or 
 doubtful practices which may come under his 
 ken. 
 
 This creation of the office of a Stipendiary Steward 
 was considered by those qualified to judge a step in 
 the right direction, but I strongly advocated, and my 
 views met with a considerable amount of support 
 from leading racing men, that the Victoria Racing Club 
 did not go quite far enough. The plan suggested 
 was that there should be not one but three paid 
 stewards, under whose control the various race 
 meetings should be. Doubtless in England the 
 same necessity does not exist ; nevertheless, for 
 reasons I have already adduced, if racing is to be 
 kept free from scandals and the constantly recurring 
 charges of" stiff" running, the extension of this system 
 of control is highly desirable. I do not suppose for 
 one moment that "stiff" running is more prevalent in 
 Australia than it is in England, but somehow or 
 another it is not, shall I say, so artistically practised. 
 In Australia it is occasionally patent to the most 
 ordinary observer, but still the stewards are slow to 
 take action unless stirred to it by some noisy demon- 
 
26 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 stration on the part of those who have backed the 
 supposed " stiff J un." 
 
 Then, to my mind, the fatal mistake is so frequently 
 made in calling evidence. When malpractices, such 
 as a gentle squeeze on the rails, or a deliberate and 
 wilful foul or cross, or the exhibition of unmistakable 
 pulling are inquired into, mirabile dictu, the farce 
 of calling evidence is resorted to, whereas, had the 
 stewards been watching the race, no evidence but 
 their own eyesight would have been necessary. But 
 once evidence is called, how is it manufactured ? 
 Faked cash betting tickets are produced, and those 
 in the know are pressed to come forward to screen 
 the offenders, and volunteer statements that they saw 
 nothing, and upon such material, judgments are 
 pronounced ! With professional and paid stewards 
 who understood and attended to their duties, no 
 opportunities would be afforded for this manufactur- 
 ing of evidence, and the penalty for wrong-doing 
 would be prompt and severe. Have your ornamental 
 steward by all means. Let him preside at the luncheon 
 table, receive vice-royalty, and attend to all these 
 little social details, but let the management of racing, 
 and all that appertaineth thereunto, devolve upon 
 men who thoroughly understand the ins and outs 
 of the game. 
 
 The necessity for some change in this direction is 
 still existent, as I see by the Australasian of so late 
 a date as loth July 1897, tne following paragraph : 
 "Some very strong comments have been passed 
 on the running of a certain animal in the Winter 
 Handicap. Few people save the Victoria Racing 
 Club Stewards failed to notice the performance." 
 Remarks of this character appearing in the leading 
 
FLEMINGTON 27 
 
 sporting journal, and written by a man whose faults, 
 if any, are in the direction of smoothing over diffi- 
 culties, simply support my contention that, with all 
 our boasted supremacy in race-course management, 
 there is still one very important factor needed before 
 we can afford to rest content. 
 
 I am quite prepared for English critics to join with 
 Anthony Trollope, who said : " We could wallop the 
 whole creation at blowing," but, notwithstanding 
 many errors of omission and commission, race- 
 course management in Australia is not unworthy of 
 being imitated. 
 
 Then, look at the cards of the races. I don't 
 suppose it will be contended that Australia has not 
 set an example which, it is satisfactory to see, is 
 being followed in England by the recently formed 
 racing clubs, such as Kempton, Sandown, Lingfield, 
 and a few others. But dear old Epsom can't part 
 with its Dorling's Correc' Card, and Royal Ascot 
 sticks to a similar sheet, which is nothing more or 
 less than a monstrosity. The laissez-faire system 
 is carried out with a vengeance in this particular 
 detail. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 ONE of the features of nearly all Australian race- 
 courses is the weighing-stand, which is fully open 
 to the public view, the business of weighing-out and 
 weighing-in being regarded as part and parcel of the 
 day's show. So different from the English system, 
 where the jockey and his trainer disappear mysteriously 
 into a small room, and are for a time invisible to all 
 but a few interested individuals. I feel convinced, 
 if the system of permitting the public to view this 
 weighing-in and weighing-out was adopted, it would 
 be appreciated by all English race-goers, especially 
 those who go for the pleasures of racing, and take an 
 interest in all the various details connected therewith. 
 There is another innovation which might be adopted 
 with advantage an innovation suggested by my old 
 friend, N. R. D. Bond viz. the numbered saddle- 
 cloth : a light saddle-cloth with the number of the 
 horse, worked in coloured braid, corresponding with the 
 number on the card. Every one knows how difficult 
 it is at times to determine the names of the horses 
 as they canter by. The reference to the card is 
 difficult, because the variety of the colours of hoops, 
 stripes, cuffs, etc., is positively confusing, whereas, by 
 the use of the numbered saddle-cloth, the names of the 
 horses are easily found. This system or something 
 
FLEMINGTON 29 
 
 approaching it, is, I find, being adopted on some of 
 the newly established courses. 
 
 There is another Australian invention which has 
 recently attracted some notice in England. I refer 
 to the Starting Gate ; but opinions as to its utility 
 and practicability appear to be somewhat mixed, at 
 least as far as English critics are concerned. I do 
 not exactly know whose patent it is that has recently 
 been tried, but I can speak with some authority as 
 to the unqualified success of the Starting Gate in 
 Australia, inasmuch as I was Secretary and Manager 
 of the Sandown Park Race-course (Australia), upon 
 which the machine was first publicly used. It had 
 been worked, it is true, at two or three unregistered 
 pony race meetings, but the registered courses under 
 the Victoria Racing Club regime would for a long 
 time have nothing to do with it ; nearly all racing 
 men in Melbourne myself included having a strong 
 prejudice against the machine, which in our then 
 opinion could never supersede the man with the flag. 
 
 However, I was induced by a friend to pay a visit 
 to a pony meeting and see the Gate in operation, 
 with the result that I became a convert and a strong 
 advocate in its favour. My colleague, Mr H. Skinner, 
 was equally impressed, and we determined to erect 
 one of the Gates at Sandown Park. I might, in fair- 
 ness to the inventor of this particular machine, Mr 
 J. B. Scott, state that it was his patent which was 
 thus first publicly exhibited. I say "publicly ex- 
 hibited " advisedly, the pony race meetings being 
 unregistered ; the regular and the better class of race- 
 goers did not patronise them. The Victoria Racing 
 Club, whose powers are somewhat similar to those 
 of the English Jockey Club, disqualified all horses 
 
30 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 running at them. No licensed jockey was allowed 
 to ride, and various other pains and penalties, too 
 numerous to mention, were inflicted upon those 
 identified with them. Thus were the pony meetings 
 tabooed by the authorities, and to the majority of 
 racing men the Starting Gate was as a thing unknown. 
 
 A revulsion of feeling, however, came over the racing 
 community after the trial of the Gate at Sandown 
 Park. Loud cheers went up from the spectators as 
 some nine or ten horses, which had never before seen 
 the machine, jumped off the mark like a cavalry 
 charge, and the man with the flag from that day 
 was doomed. One club after another adopted the 
 Gate in fact, owners and trainers were very chary 
 about entering at a meeting where it was not in use 
 and I may say that it is now universally adopted 
 throughout 'Australia. Many improvements in the 
 original Gate were suggested and utilised, and I 
 unhesitatingly say that if the racing authorities in 
 England would give it a fair trial, it would become 
 extremely popular and its success assured. 
 
 Its advantages over the man with the flag are 
 incalculable. There are no false starts ; there are no 
 vexatious delays. A fractious horse is not beaten 
 before the flag falls owing to his repeatedly breaking 
 away but really it is unnecessary to detail the 
 advantages ; they are too obvious. The main ob- 
 jections to its introduction were that it would frighten 
 the horses; there would be dreadful accidents, etc. 
 These objections were, however, soon silenced, even 
 amongst a racing community where horses frequently 
 only half broken in are sent out with the colours up, 
 yet no serious accident that I am aware of has 
 happened. 
 
FLEMINGTON 31 
 
 What would the result be in England, where so 
 much care is taken in having a horse thoroughly 
 broken in before he is allowed to face the starter? 
 Why, all difficulties and all objections would, I feel 
 convinced, vanish, and nothing but satisfaction would 
 prevail. My experiences of racing and race-courses 
 in Australia extend over a period of a quarter of a 
 century, so I trust that I may be credited with knowing 
 something of the subject upon which I am writing. 
 
 Since my return to England I have not had many 
 opportunities of attending race meetings, but the few 
 occasions permitted me, simply strengthen my argu- 
 ment. One day, at Epsom I think it was, the number 
 of false starts were so frequent that the last race 
 was started more than an hour behind time. With 
 the Starting Gate such a thing would be next to 
 impossible. 
 
 I cannot conclude this reference to the Starting Gate 
 without relating a somewhat amusing episode at the 
 trial of the machine at Sandown Park, Victoria. His 
 Excellency the Governor, Lord Hopetoun, and all 
 the leading racing authorities were invited, and the 
 keenest interest was evinced. During the afternoon 
 Lord Hopetoun expressed a wish to closely examine 
 the machine and see it in operation, and I had the 
 honour of accompanying him to the six-furlong 
 post where it was erected. 
 
 Mr Scott, the inventor, was in charge, and came 
 towards us as we approached, and I introduced him 
 to his Excellency the Governor, who shook him 
 warmly by the hand, and congratulated him upon 
 the success of his invention. Mr Scott was all smiles, 
 but made occasional and furtive glances at me as if 
 something was amiss, and ere we wished him " Good- 
 
32 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 day," quietly beckoned me on one side, and said, " I 
 think you're a-havin' of me ; that ain't the Guv'nor ! " 
 I assured him it was, and then rejoined his Excellency, 
 and walked back to the stand, telling, as we went, the 
 doubts expressed by Mr Scott as to his identity, at 
 which he was highly amused. I am under the im- 
 pression that good old Scott expected the Governor 
 to wear some sort of uniform or a cocked hat when he 
 inspected starting machines. 
 
 A good deal might be written of the celebrities I 
 have met at Flemington, as at Cup time visitors flock 
 from all parts of Australia, and English visitors of 
 distinction have a free entree in fact, they are made 
 the guests of the Victoria Racing Club officers in 
 the army or navy, litterateurs, war correspondents, et 
 hoc genus omne ; in fact, if a man is only introduced 
 as a " friend from England," he is sure of a hearty 
 welcome. 
 
 It has been my privilege to have been introduced 
 to most of the celebrities visiting Flemington, but 
 one little episode is pleasantly impressed upon my 
 memory, owing to the eminent position and popularity 
 subsequently attained by the celebrity in question. 
 It was on the occasion of Lord Rosebery's visit to 
 Flemington. A steeple-chase was about to be run, 
 and I suggested to him that the top of the Grand 
 Stand was the best place from which to view it. We 
 accordingly climbed to the topmost seats, and he 
 expressed himself as being delighted at having such 
 a good view. During our chat I mentioned to him 
 that I knew the Durdans at Epsom, and had seen 
 Beeswing's grave. He remarked that it was somewhat 
 of a coincidence that on his visit to Flemington the 
 Epsom of Australia he should have been shown 
 
FLEMINGTON 33 
 
 round by a man whose schooldays were spent so 
 near his English home. 
 
 The chief merit of making Flemington what it is 
 to-day belongs to Robert Cooper Bagot, who was 
 for many years Secretary to the V.R.C., and the title 
 of "The Indefatigable" was never more deservedly 
 bestowed upon any man. I frequently, while the 
 Grand Stand was being built, made early pilgrimages 
 to Flemington, and had breakfast under a tarpaulin 
 with " Old Bags," as he was familiarly called, and 
 watched the building from its very foundation. 
 
 Bagot was, by profession, an architect and surveyor, 
 and the whole of the improvements were designed 
 and carried out by him. The Grand Stand was 
 irreverently termed the "cow-shed." Viewed at a 
 distance, it appears to be a long, low building with no 
 architectural pretensions whatever ; but on closer 
 inspection, especially when packed by a gaily-dressed 
 crowd, it is far from being the ugly structure which 
 a first impression might convey. One would imagine 
 that "Old Bags "was building some kind of a fortifica- 
 tion, so massive was the masonry, and so enormous 
 were the girders ; but he did not build for an age, he 
 built for all time, and many and many a generation 
 will pass away, but the Grand Stand at Flemington 
 will remain. 
 
 Bagot, strange to say, was not a racing man. His 
 racing critics called him a showman. I really think 
 that he did not know the difference between a 
 W.F.A. race and a handicap. All he wanted to see 
 at Flemington was a crowd, and he knew how to 
 manage one, and how to make provision for their 
 comfort and convenience. He was never at rest ; he 
 had always some further plans for the extension of 
 
 C 
 
34 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 the premises, and his whole heart and soul were 
 bound up in Flemington. 
 
 He had, however, the enormous advantage of having 
 associated with him men who did understand racing. 
 I refer more especially to the late Captain Standish 
 and Mr A. K. Fin lay, who had for their coadjutors 
 Messrs C. B. Fisher, Herbert, and Robert Power, 
 A. W. Robertson, George Watson, W. Leonard, and 
 others good men and true, who all worked with a 
 will to make Flemington what it is, and to raise the 
 tone of the sport from mere leather flapping meetings 
 to meetings with which a man might feel proud to 
 have his name associated. 
 
 The Melbourne Cup, under this management, 
 became the great racing event of the year, and the 
 value of the added money rose from 300 in 1870 to 
 10,000 in 1890, making it at that time, I think I am 
 right in saying, the richest handicap in the world. 
 The entrance money and subscription did not then 
 go to the funds of the club ; it was divided between 
 the first, second, and third, the absolute stake paid 
 to the winner in 1890 Carbine's Cup being 
 10,230. 
 
 One element which largely contributed to its almost 
 world-wide popularity was the fact that Melbourne 
 Cup Sweeps were established, and permitted by the 
 authorities, the first promoter of these Sweeps being 
 J. J. Miller. It became quite the fashion in these 
 days to have a ticket in Miller's Sweeps ; and from 
 the Gulf of Carpentaria to Wilson's Promontory there 
 was not a selector's hut or Bush-shanty but the 
 occupants had an interest in a Melbourne Cup 
 Sweep. The one aim in life of the young fellow 
 from home, gaining Colonial experience on a sheep 
 
FLEMINGTON 35 
 
 or cattle station (he is called in the vernacular a 
 " Jackaroo "), was to get leave to visit Melbourne at 
 Cup time, and then back his fancy, and, win or 
 lose, proceed to knock down his cheque as quickly as 
 possible. 
 
 The business of the Sweep promoters became quite 
 a gigantic affair ; but in due time an anti-gambling 
 crusade was inaugurated, and the Government of 
 Victoria declared Sweeps illegal, with the result that 
 the principal operations were transferred to Sydney,* 
 and "Adams' Tattersalls' Sweeps" became quite a 
 national institution. Money for tickets was forwarded 
 from all parts if I say of the world, it is scarcely an 
 exaggeration and as an evidence of the confidence 
 reposed in George Adams, he has on many occasions 
 held as much as 250,000 of public money. Little 
 wonder, then, that the Cup became of world-wide 
 interest. 
 
 In what is termed the " good old days," no sooner 
 was the race decided, than books were opened on the 
 next Melbourne Cup. Double-event betting has 
 always been a favourite mode of speculation with 
 Australians, and the V.R.C. Derby and Cup was the 
 principal medium. Double-books on the Derby and 
 
 * Tattersall, or, in other words, George Adams, and his Sweeps were 
 also suppressed by the "unco guid" legislators of New South Wales, 
 and he packed off to Queensland, where the same relentless fate pursued 
 him. But little Tasmania welcomed him with open arms, and he was 
 entrusted with the conduct of the lottery which the Tasmanian Parlia- 
 ment legalised for the distribution of the various properties which formed 
 so large a portion of the assets of the Bank of Van Dieman's Land, and 
 he has since become permanently located in the tight little island, and 
 is permitted, on consideration of his depositing the sum of ,10,000 
 with the Government, as a guarantee of good faith, to conduct his 
 Sweeps unmolested. 
 
36 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 Cup were started as soon as the entries were out, 
 frequently before, and betting was brisk all through 
 tfye winter. 
 
 The added money to the various events went up 
 by leaps and bounds, until, as I have already stated, 
 the amount added to the Melbourne Cup reached the 
 colossal proportions of Ten Thousand Pounds. It 
 does not seem much in these days, perhaps, to 
 Englishmen, but when one takes into consideration 
 the population of the Australian Colonies, it must be 
 admitted that the racing-boom attained, for so small 
 a community, somewhat phenomenal proportions. 
 Sad to relate, with the collapse of the land-boom, 
 the failure of the banks, and the general depression 
 which subsequently followed, the turn of the tide 
 affected most seriously the fortunes of the V.R.C., 
 and a system of retrenchment was of necessity in- 
 augurated, and the modest sum of 3000 forms the 
 added money to the Melbourne Cup of 1897. 
 
 That the depression is but temporary, no one who 
 has any idea of the recuperative powers of the Colonies 
 will question. We went the pace a bit too strong, 
 and we have now to " gang warily " for a year or two, 
 and trust to the good time a-coming. Under the 
 existing management I am convinced that the good 
 time will come, because the experiences of the past 
 will not be thrown away. 
 
 Under the able chairmanship of such an ardent 
 supporter of the turf as Mr Septimus Miller, the 
 fortunes of the club should soon revive, and 
 marvellous Melbourne and famous Flemington 
 should once again deserve the encomiums so lavishly 
 bestowed upon them. Mr Miller is a member of 
 the Miller family, whose colours are popular wherever 
 
FLEMINGTON 37 
 
 they go, and they go everywhere ; you find their 
 representatives competing for a 10,000 stake, and 
 you find them contesting with as much zest aijd 
 keenness for a 20 handicap. They race for sport, 
 and the public back the colours with the full con- 
 viction of having a genuine run for their money. 
 More's the pity that the turf in Australia has not 
 many supporters of similar stamp. 
 
 The Victoria Racing Club was fortunate in 
 securing, on the death of R. C. Bagot, a man of such 
 all-round excellence as H. Byron Moore. He, like 
 his predecessor, came in for a good deal of adverse 
 criticism, as he was in no sense a racing man ; but 
 he was in every sense a gentleman, and by his 
 uniform courtesy and unfailing attention to all with 
 whom he was thrown in contact, soon silenced the 
 murmurs of discontent, and is now, I verily believe, 
 as popular and as well liked as his predecessor. May 
 he live long to enjoy his popularity he deserves it ! 
 I feel convinced that many of the English visitors 
 who have been to Flemington will endorse my opinion 
 of Byron Moore. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE Scratching Board, of which on the principal 
 courses there are some two or three, is, I suppose, 
 a thing almost unknown on English race-courses, but 
 that it is a useful contrivance cannot be gainsaid. It 
 is simply the programme for the day exhibited 
 in prominent positions, displaying, instead of the 
 horses' names, the numbers of those coloured on the 
 card. Immediately a horse is officially scratched his 
 number is taken down, or is made to disappear, and 
 approximate estimates can be made of the strength 
 of the various fields prior to the weighing-out and the 
 hoisting of the numbers, which would be impossible 
 under the English system. 
 
 Betting on Australian race-courses commences 
 immediately the bookmakers arrive on the scene ; 
 they do not wait until the horses are weighed out 
 and the numbers displayed. They, and the public 
 too, have a pretty shrewd notion of how many 
 runners there will be, the Scratching Board having 
 given them a fairly good indication. Where double- 
 event betting is not so freely indulged in, the 
 necessity for this means of giving information may 
 not be so essential ; but, as I have already mentioned, 
 double-event betting is extremely popular throughout 
 Australia, and the punters, immediately they arrive 
 
FLEMINGTON 39 
 
 on a race-course, gather round the Scratching Board, 
 compare notes, mark their cards, and then try and 
 pick a double. "This and the next" is the prevailing 
 cry of the penciller,or " The Two Handicaps," or " The 
 Hurdle and Steeple I'll bet on," come from the sten- 
 torian lungs of many a score of double-event "Bookies," 
 who, as a rule, flourish exceedingly. Your shrewd 
 old-time punter is content to try and find one winner, 
 but the odds against picking a double-event appear 
 tempting, and the unwary fall into the trap, but they, 
 nevertheless, come up smiling time after time, always 
 hopeful, some day or another, of downing the 
 " Bookie." 
 
 It may be interesting to English readers to know 
 that there is scarcely a programme issued for a day's 
 racing in the Colonies I refer more particularly to 
 Victoria unless there is included amongst the various 
 items a Hurdle Race and Steeple-chase, and this 
 system, be it understood, prevails all the year round. 
 
 There are no Tattersall's Rings in Australia, as we 
 understand the Ring in England, that is to say, there 
 is no enclosure especially reserved for betting, where 
 an extra charge for admission is made, but the tryst- 
 ing place is round about the Scratching Board, and it 
 is here that backers and layers try conclusions. 
 
 The bookmakers, at least a great many of them, have 
 their " pitch," and once a man has taken up a position 
 he holds it for all time by a sort of unwritten law, which 
 is universally respected. There are others, the double- 
 eventers more particularly, who adopt the role of the 
 roving commissioner, and dodge round here, there, and 
 everywhere, attracting the attention of their clients by 
 the noisiness of their invitation to " back a double." 
 The position assigned for the transaction of betting is 
 
40 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 on the majority of the courses most unsuitable, and 
 should the starting-bell fail to ring, or should it be 
 unheeded, betting occasionally takes place after the 
 horses have passed the post, as it is impossible from 
 the positions of the Ringmen to see one yard of the 
 race, unless they leave their places and go on to the 
 lawn in front of the Stands, where, usually, betting is 
 prohibited. 
 
 This must sound strange to English ears, and is 
 an innovation which I certainly cannot support, yet 
 at the same time it is not altogether so absurd as 
 it may appear, considering the general surroundings 
 and arrangements which are usually found on the 
 principal courses. 
 
 In England the bookmakers and betting are 
 concentrated at certain points and within certain 
 enclosures. If people do not care to rub shoulders 
 with the " knights of the pencil," they are not obliged 
 to do so, but when the "Bookie" is free to roam 
 wherever he pleases, some restriction is, perhaps, 
 desirable. But from a purely racing point of view 
 the men who " lay " and the men who " take " should 
 be in a position to see the race from flag-fall to 
 winning post. Little wonder then that, as a rule, 
 betting ceases when the race begins, for no one can 
 see the course from the so-called Ring, and if the 
 " Books " seek a position from whence they can get a 
 view, they probably are not allowed to bet. They 
 manage this part of the business better in England. 
 
 The Scratching Boards are of various designs ; some 
 are of the most primitive character, whilst others are 
 quite ornamental, and their mechanism scientific. The 
 most primitive constructions are simply huge black 
 boards, upon which painted tin numbers are hung in 
 
FLEMINGTON 41 
 
 perpendicular lines, the different events being divided 
 into first, second, or third race, as the case may be, 
 according to the programme of the day. 
 
 On the principal courses they are much more 
 elaborately constructed, that at Flemington being the 
 most perfect and the most expensive also, this latter 
 feature preventing its more universal adoption. It 
 is worked by electricity and is patented by Messrs 
 Gaunt and Haydon, the inventors. Its chief merit 
 consists in the fact that no matter how many 
 Scratching Boards there may be they are all con- 
 nected by electric wire the number of the horse 
 scratched disappears from all the Boards simul- 
 taneously, so that the whole crowd, no matter where 
 located, are informed of the fact. Prior to the 
 scratching, a bell rings to call attention to the 
 fact that, in the parlance of the course, "Another 
 one's gone ! " 
 
 This Scratching Board business is, of course, 
 but little known in England. It has its advantages 
 nevertheless. 
 
 Another thing which must strike an English visitor 
 to Australia is the moderate charges for admission 
 which everywhere prevails. At Flemington, for in- 
 stance, the cost of the journey by rail from Melbourne 
 and admission to the Grand Stand is but thirteen 
 shillings; beyond this there is one additional charge, 
 viz. of half-a-crown for the saddling-paddock. The 
 admission to the Grand Stand means that the 
 visitor is free to roam at will over the lawns and 
 terraces, mingle with the bookmakers, back his 
 fancy, and then select a good seat to watch the 
 racing. He can obtain first - class refreshments 
 without being nearly crushed to death in his efforts 
 
42 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 to obtain them, and a visit to Flemington on a 
 race day can be indulged in by people who may 
 have frugal minds, without taxing their pockets 
 unduly. 
 
 The members' subscription is but five guineas per 
 annum, and for this sum a member has the privilege 
 of free admission to all meetings and extra tickets for 
 two ladies. He can drive his own carriage into the en- 
 closure, stalls are provided for his horses, tables under 
 an awning for his luncheon, and every little want is 
 attended to. Should he wish to travel by rail, the 
 presentation of his ticket at the station enables him 
 to go there and back free. Considering that there 
 are some fourteen or fifteen days' racing per annum, 
 a member, it must be admitted, gets good value for 
 his money. The secret of the success of the system 
 appears to me to be that race-course managers in 
 Australia cater for the "masses" and not for the 
 "classes." The propriety of the extension of this 
 system is, I think, gradually dawning upon our 
 English confreres. 
 
 With many of the legislative acts of the Committee 
 of the V.R.C. I totally disagree. I don't wish for 
 one moment to set up my individual opinion against 
 the combined wisdom of the Committee, but I claim 
 that, considering the position I have occupied for so 
 many years, during which I have been in such close 
 contact with the sporting community, my opinions 
 are not altogether unworthy of consideration. 
 
 With the principle of licensing bookmakers, the 
 Committee and I are somewhat in accord, but with 
 their method of carrying out the system I find myself 
 utterly at variance with them. The licensing system 
 was, I presume, inaugurated for the purpose of estab- 
 
FLEMINGTON 43 
 
 lishing a control over the Ringmen, and to restrict the 
 number of bookmakers who should be licensed to 
 ply their vocation in the various enclosures. The 
 policy adopted of late years by the V.R.C. seems 
 to me to partake very largely of the principle that 
 there is safety in numbers, or of the doctrine of the 
 survival of the fittest, in such a haphazard manner 
 have the licenses been granted. I may be wrong, 
 but I will, from my point of view, put a parallel 
 case. 
 
 The licensing laws with regard to public-houses are 
 applied with the manifold object : ist, of seeing that 
 the premises are suitable ; 2nd, that the applicant is 
 a fit and proper person to hold a license ; and 3rd, 
 that the house is requisite for, and will not prove a 
 nuisance to the neighbourhood. Now, I will ask with 
 all deference, have similar ideas been uppermost in 
 the minds of the Committee when applications from 
 bookmakers for licenses have come before them ? 
 Has the question of demand and supply been con- 
 sidered ? Has it ever occurred to the Committee that 
 licensing bookmakers wholesale may be very detri- 
 mental to the true interests of sport? Is it fair to 
 place them all on an equality? for the holder of a 
 license, no matter how small his capital and how 
 limited his experience, is placed upon a par with 
 men who have worked their way to the front, and 
 are what are termed " tried " men. 
 
 The illogical conclusions arrived at, by the thick 
 and thin supporters of the licensing system, were 
 that the competition created amongst the book- 
 makers would enable the public to get better 
 prices. These arguments are fallacious and unten- 
 able, especially when applied to so small a racing 
 
44 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 community. The genuine layer of the odds, if he 
 is honest and knows his business, does his best 
 to bet round in other words, to bet to figures. 
 How can he possibly do this when the floating 
 capital of the betting public is of such a limited 
 amount, and so many striving to get it? I don't 
 advocate a monopoly, or the throwing the whole of 
 the business into the hands of a few, but " fair trade " 
 in this particular business is more likely to produce 
 satisfactory results than "free trade." How would 
 this system succeed if it were applied to public- 
 houses? There may be a distinction but not much 
 of a difference in this parallel, and the answer is not 
 far to seek. 
 
 Before I left Australia, the general feeling was, 
 that providing a man has respectable references and 
 can pay the fee demanded, his application has not 
 been refused. The question as to the desirability of 
 increasing the number of Ringmenwas not apparently 
 considered at all. Consequently, we occasionally see 
 more layers than backers in the paddock, at some 
 of the smaller meetings, and no matter how indus- 
 trious a man may be, he can, as I have already 
 stated, rarely bet round. 
 
 There is not to my mind the slightest reason 
 why the avocation of a bookmaker should be less 
 reputable than that of a stockbroker; they are 
 both the medium through which the speculating 
 public speculate, but I unhesitatingly aver that 
 the indiscriminate licensing of bookmakers by the 
 V.R.C. Committee has brought about a condition 
 of affairs that is not likely to advance the prosperity 
 of the Turf in Australia. 
 
 These ideas were not formed yesterday, but are the 
 
FLEMINGTON 45 
 
 outcome of years of observation, and I did my best 
 to impress them on the Committee, but without 
 avail. 
 
 The same arguments hold good with regard to 
 granting applications for holding meetings sent in by 
 the various racing clubs. Although I was personally 
 interested in one of the suburban courses, I did my 
 best to check the evils of too much racing, by strongly 
 urging that fewer fixtures should be granted to each 
 and all of us, but the powers that be were too strong, 
 and I was overruled. Perhaps the Committee thought 
 that I had an axe of my own to grind ; if they did 
 think so, they were absolutely wrong, for, strange as 
 it may appear for me to say so, I was honestly 
 striving to bring about the greatest good for the 
 greatest number. As matters at present stand, there 
 are too many bookmakers and too much racing for 
 such a limited community. 
 
 That the totalisator will be adopted in the near 
 future is almost certain, and no matter how we 
 may argue from a theoretical point of view in its 
 favour, it has yet practically to be demonstrated 
 that its introduction will be a good thing for 
 racing. However, these are matters where local 
 influences have such an important bearing, that what 
 may be a good thing for racing in Tasmania, New 
 Zealand, or South Australia, our smaller Colonies, 
 it is highly questionable whether it would prove of 
 equal benefit either in New South Wales or Victoria. 
 
 My reminiscences of Flemington would be incom- 
 plete without some reference to the steeple-chase 
 course, which is, perhaps, the stiffest in the world, the 
 obstacles being either stout timber fences, ranging from 
 4 feet 3 inches to close upon 5 feet in height, or massive 
 
46 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 stone walls or log fences of equally formidable propor- 
 tions. 
 
 The Grand National Course is 3 miles and 342 yards, 
 yet, notwithstanding its formidable characteristics, so 
 perfect are the Australian " leppers," that they en- 
 compass the distance, as a rule, under seven minutes. 
 The fastest time I saw recorded was when Redleap, 
 carrying the crushing impost of 1 3 st. 3 Ibs., got over the 
 distance in 6 minutes 45 J seconds, a performance which 
 is likely to stand as a record for many years to come. 
 
 In conclusion, a retrospect of my experiences and 
 associations with Flemington are of the most pleasant 
 character. I have received at all times the most 
 courteous treatment from the Chairman of Committee 
 down to the humblest gate-keeper. I have been 
 granted privileges innumerable, which I have valued 
 beyond measure, and I take the present as a fitting 
 opportunity to publicly express my grateful thanks to 
 the men who, through good report or evil report, in 
 prosperity or adversity, have ever extended towards 
 me the hand of friendship, and I trust that my 
 comments on Flemington and its management will 
 be accepted in that sportsman-like spirit which thrives 
 apace under the genial skies of the sunny South. 
 

 I 
 SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 MOONEE VALLEY AND CAULFIELD 
 
 IN the early seventies there were few race-courses 
 other than Flemington in the neighbourhood of 
 Melbourne, and the racing public were content with 
 the meetings of the V.R.C. and occasional visits to 
 up-country townships, such as Ballarat, Geelong, 
 Warrnambool, Hamilton, Bendigo, and Kyneton, but 
 as Melbourne expanded and the population increased, 
 so did the love of sport, racing in particular, and 
 race-courses, well laid out and properly appointed, 
 sprung up in every direction. 
 
 At the time above referred to, early in the 
 seventies, there were, besides Flemington, but two 
 courses, viz. Croxton and Kensington Parks, which 
 made any attempt to cater for the racing public 
 of Melbourne, but they, in these days, would be 
 regarded as very "small potatoes." The manage- 
 ment was held in anything but high esteem, and 
 occasionally some exciting scenes might be witnessed, 
 when some flagrant case of pulling or roping took 
 place. These courses, however, soon died a natural 
 death, but the proprietor of the last-named place, 
 
 D * 9 
 
S o SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 Kensington Park, old Sam Cox, moved a bit further 
 on, and laid out a course at Moonee Valley, where 
 everything was conducted strictly en regle> and 
 fortune soon smiled upon him, and he made heaps 
 of money. 
 
 The place, as its name implies, is situated in a 
 valley, and the course, of a soup-plate pattern, is just 
 about a mile round. Being within two miles of the 
 Melbourne General Post-Office, it is easy of access, 
 and the meetings at Moonee Valley are highly 
 popular, excellent accommodation being provided 
 for the public, and the best stables send horses 
 to compete for the fairly liberal prizes offered for 
 competition. 
 
 The Moonee Valley Cup is the pihe de resistance 
 of the year, and is frequently productive of heavy 
 betting, great public interest being always centred 
 in it. The meeting is held just after the Caulfield 
 Cup and prior to the Melbourne Cup, a time of year 
 when the Sydney and Adelaide contingents are all 
 located at headquarters, and the gathering of re- 
 presentative racing men in the stewards' enclosure 
 on Cup Day partakes of quite an intercolonial 
 character. I am referring thus early to Moonee 
 Valley because it is simply Kensington Park under 
 improved management, a new name, and a change 
 of location, not that it is the principal suburban 
 course by any means, for amongst suburban race- 
 courses Caulfield stands facile princeps. 
 
 No one would recognise in the Caulfield of to-day 
 the Caulfield I knew in 1873, when Don Juan won 
 the Caulfield Cup. I am not quite sure whether it 
 was called the Caulfield Cup or the Caulfield Handi- 
 cap, but I remember perfectly well the race referred 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 51 
 
 to, because the same Don Juan afterwards won the 
 Melbourne Cup for Joe Thompson. 
 
 Caulfield is now dubbed the " classic " heath ; 
 there was nothing classic about it in these days. 
 A track had been cut on the heath, it is true, 
 and it was marked out by whitewashed poles, 
 and the run-in was protected on either side by 
 a few panels of post and rail fencing. Cabs and 
 vehicles of all sorts were ranged in line about the 
 winning-post, and these formed the only " Stands " 
 available. 
 
 I was invited to view the race from a drag, driven 
 and owned by a Government official from the Lands 
 Department, who, afterwards, I regret to say, " outran 
 the constable/' and subsequently did " time " for em- 
 bezzling some thousands of Government money. He 
 always represented that he had abundant private 
 means, and the discovery of his frauds came as a 
 great shock to a large circle of friends. 
 
 Caulfield of to-day is a most perfect race-course, 
 and equipped down to the minutest detail, in every 
 way equal to Flemington. It has the great advantage 
 of a light, sandy soil, upon which couch grass flourishes 
 amazingly, so that no matter what the weather, the 
 going is always good. 
 
 The club under whose management the course has 
 expanded from the crude track I have referred to 
 into the magnificent course that it now is is called 
 the Victoria Amateur Turf Club, and was founded by 
 a few of the young bloods of those days to whom 
 money was of little consideration, and to whom sport 
 was everything. The original idea was to encourage 
 amateur riding, and they selected Caulfield Heath, 
 a Government reserve, as a fitting place whereon 
 
52 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 to establish their headquarters. Applications were 
 lodged at the Lands Office, and the necessary for- 
 malities being complied with, the lease was granted. 
 The subscription to the club at its inception was 
 fixed at, I think, fifty guineas per annum, and the 
 boys of those days made things " hum." 
 
 More fearless or dashing riders than the Powers, the 
 Fenders, the Wilsons, the Chirnsides, the Inglis's, the 
 Smiths, and many of that ilk, could not be found 
 anywhere. A good, jovial, genial Irishman, E. C. 
 Moore, was their first secretary, but he, like a number 
 of good men who have gone before him, could not 
 face adversity, and when fortune frowned on him, he 
 sent in his resignation by putting a bullet through his 
 brain. Tom Fenner succeeded him, but whilst he was 
 a thorough judge of racing, he was not a good 
 administrator, and Bagot was called in to assist 
 in putting matters right, and Tenner resigned. It 
 was during this interregnum that poor old Bagot died, 
 and N. R. D. Bond, who was then sporting editor of 
 the Leader, was appointed to the position. 
 
 Under this regime Caulfield emerged from all its 
 troubles, and the Caulfield Cup is now as much talked 
 about, and has obtained a prominence little inferior to 
 that of the Melbourne Cup. It is run about three 
 weeks prior to the big race, and the distance being 
 half a mile shorter, a pretty good idea of the form of 
 the various stables can be gleaned, and backers 
 generally get a good line as to what to plunge upon 
 in the Melbourne Cup. The winner at Caulfield is 
 heavily penalised, and I don't think since its establish- 
 ment any horse ever won the two Cups, Caulfield 
 and Melbourne. 
 
 There was one animal which ought to have won 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 53 
 
 both, and that was Grace Darling. But owing to her 
 rider being over-confident, or making his run a bit too 
 late, she just missed pulling off the double, being 
 beaten by Sheet Anchor. Her owner and trainer, 
 Josh Duffett, who was, by the way, a duly qualified 
 veterinary surgeon, and the son of one of Melbourne's 
 most respected solicitors, never seemed to get over 
 the disappointment, and, poor fellow, was one day 
 found in an outhouse with his brains blown out. 
 
 Poor old Secretary Bond fell into bad health, and 
 died a few years ago. He was a courteous, genial 
 sportsman of the old school, and his death was greatly 
 regretted. Bluff Harrie Smith succeeded Bond, and 
 skilfully piloted the club along its prosperous career 
 until the old Scythe-man gathered him in. Although 
 rough and rude of speech, he was in reality a 
 kind-hearted fellow. It is somewhat strange that 
 death should have been so busy in the ranks of 
 the Caulfield Secretaries. It is to be hoped, however, 
 that there will now be a long interregnum, and that 
 the present occupant of the office, Tom Moule, 
 will live to establish a " record reign." 
 
 Caulfield has been the scene of great gaiety, but 
 terrible accidents have on more than one occasion 
 marred its otherwise brilliant career. During the 
 visit to Melbourne of the two young Princes, the late 
 Duke of Clarence and the present Duke of York, the 
 Caulfield Club had the distinguished honour of 
 entertaining them, and there was an enormous crowd 
 present, anxious to get a look at our future king. 
 Vice-royalty is generally represented at the various 
 meetings, and Society is always largely en evidence. 
 
 The surroundings at Caulfield are much pleasanter 
 and much more picturesque than at Flemington. The 
 
54 
 
 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 drive from town takes you through the wealthy 
 suburbs of South Yarra and Toorak, and stately 
 mansions and beautifully kept gardens are dotted 
 pretty plentifully along the whole route, and round 
 about the course itself. The enclosures and Stands 
 are not of the magnitude of Flemington, but they 
 are, if anything, much prettier and more artistic in 
 their construction. The nature of the soil also is of 
 such a character that trees, shrubs, and flowers thrive 
 splendidly, the lawns being like velvet-pile carpet, 
 and Caulfield on a nice cool day in spring is simply 
 charming. 
 
 When a description of one of the leading race- 
 courses in Australia is penned, the remarks apply with 
 equal force to nearly all the others. The same routine 
 is adopted, the ^ame provision made for the comfort 
 and convenience of the public, and the same attention 
 to the smallest detail is everywhere observable. 
 
 I have referred to my first visit to Caulfield in 1873, 
 when the heath was in a state of nature, and every- 
 thing connected with the Annual Race Meeting was 
 primitive in the extreme. This condition of affairs con- 
 tinued to exist for some few years, but in 1881 the first 
 Caulfield Cup, under the management of the V.A.T.C., 
 was run, and its prestige and importance dates from 
 that particular year. I have never missed seeing 
 the Cup from its inauguration to that won by Paris 
 in 1894. There have been some sensational Cups 
 run in these years, the sensations being brought about 
 by various causes. 
 
 The first rather startling episode was in iSSi, 
 Master Avenel's year, when ninety-nine out of every 
 hundred men were convinced that the wrong number 
 was hoisted, but the judge was positive, and there 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 55 
 
 was, of course, no appeal. Old Tom Ivory, the 
 owner of Master Avenel, was as much surprised as 
 most people, but the followers of the stable of 
 Tommy Jones were not so amiably disposed, for 
 they asseverated in rather forcible language that 
 their horse Woodlands unmistakably got home. 
 There was a bit of a rumpus, and the amateur judge 
 did not officiate again. 
 
 Another Cup episode which partook of the tragical 
 order was in 1885, when a horse named Too Too 
 fell at the turn into the straight, and brought fifteen 
 others to grief. 
 
 The scene that followed can more readily be 
 imagined than described. For a time a perfect panic 
 prevailed, as riderless horses, some almost mad with 
 fear, and others maimed and limping, passed the 
 Stand. Women shrieked and fainted, as one after 
 another the injured jockeys were carried, some in- 
 sensible, and some with broken limbs, to the casualty- 
 room, and the extent of the calamity could not be 
 gauged for some time. However, plenty of medical 
 assistance was at hand, but when the roll was called, 
 one poor lad, Donald Nicholson, failed to answer the 
 summons. He was killed outright. He was one of 
 our best light-weights, was a respectable and a much 
 respected jockey, and his death cast a gloom over 
 the subsequent proceedings, which, unfortunately, did 
 not interest him any more. 
 
 I don't suppose such a disaster on a race-course 
 has ever before or since been witnessed. The jockeys 
 and horses were hurled hither and thither in appalling 
 confusion, and it was many months before the injured 
 boys were able to ride again, and certainly many 
 of the horses never raced afterwards. One of the 
 
56 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 lads named Trahan had a marvellous escape. He 
 was riding a horse called Claptrap, and was one 
 of the first to come to grief; he, however, managed 
 to emerge from the fray uninjured, and was able to 
 ride and win the last race of the day on a horse 
 named Merrimu, belonging to the same owner, Mr 
 John Whittingham. It was as much as they 
 could do to get Claptrap to his box, the poor brute 
 was so terribly knocked about. This horse was 
 backed for a big stake, and looked like coming home 
 a winner, when the accident occurred. In the opinion, 
 however, of a great number of people, the result of 
 the race would have been the same, Grace Darling's 
 subsequent running in the Melbourne Cup greatly 
 supporting this view. 
 
 There was some talk at the time about the 
 turn into the straight being dangerous, etc., but, 
 personally, I don't think it had anything to do with 
 the accident, for with big fields, and with so many 
 jockeys adopting the questionable tactics of hugging 
 the rails, I have often wondered that accidents are 
 not more rife ; the slightest stumble, or a bump may 
 bring a field to grief at any moment. 
 
 It might not be out of place to mention here 
 that the average number of starters for the Caulfield 
 and Melbourne Cups is between thirty and forty. In 
 this particular race forty-one horses faced the starter, 
 so when it is considered that these races are run 
 on oval or pear-shaped courses, the risk of accidents 
 such as I have attempted to describe is quite 
 manifest. 
 
 In 1886 the Cup was won by a horse I refer to 
 Ben Bolt whose chances of success were considered 
 very remote by a big section of the Ring and the public 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 57 
 
 too, but his trainer, Kelly, and a few friends of the 
 stable were quietly confident, and by his victory netted 
 a good stake. He was voted as big as a bullock, and 
 if he won he was to be eaten, hoofs and all, by some 
 of the "Bookies," who were never tired of laying 
 against him. It was, however, an expensive pre- 
 judice, and many of them rued the day that they 
 took liberties with Ben Bolt. 
 
 A horse, now in England, called Paris III., dis- 
 tinguished himself by winning the Cup twice, in '92 
 and '94, carrying on the last occasion the very 
 respectable impost of 9 st. 4 Ibs. He subsequently 
 ran fifth in the Melbourne Cup of the same year, 
 carrying 9 st. 12 Ibs., and the going was particularly 
 heavy. This, it must be admitted, was a great 
 performance. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 CAULFIELD continued 
 
 ONE of the greatest cause celebre in connection 
 with a Caulfield Cup was so recent as 1893, 
 and will always be known as " Tim Swiveller's Cup," 
 although his owner, the late Hon. George Davis, did 
 not get it, and I, personally, think he had no right to 
 get it. There are many of my Australian friends 
 will join issue with me on this point, but I expressed 
 this opinion immediately the horses passed the post, 
 and I have never had reason to change it. 
 
 To briefly describe the imbroglio : As the field 
 rounded the turn for home, and when within a 
 hundred yards from the winning-post it seemed as 
 if the finish would be fought out by two horses, 
 Oxide and Sanfoin, when all of a sudden Tim 
 Swiveller came with a tremendous rush on the out- 
 side and swerved right on to Oxide, who in turn 
 cannoned against Sanfoin. Had this collision not 
 occurred, I am firmly convinced Oxide would have 
 won. As it was, Tim Swiveller passed the post first, 
 Sanfoin second, and Oxide third. So patent and 
 palpable was the cross, that I turned round to a friend 
 alongside me, and said : " By Jove, there will certainly 
 be a protest ! " and sure enough, when the horses 
 returned to the weighing enclosure, a protest was duly 
 lodged by the owner of Sanfoin, which, after a lengthy 
 
 53 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 59 
 
 enquiry, was dismissed. However, according to the 
 Rules of Racing, the aggrieved parties had the right of 
 appeal to the Committee of the V.R.C., and of this 
 n'ght they speedily availed themselves, with the result 
 that the ruling of the Caulfield stewards was upset, 
 and the race awarded to Sanfoin, who ran second. 
 
 This question of over-riding the ruling of the 
 stewards on a matter of fact was very adversely 
 commented upon at the time, the argument being 
 that the intention of the rule regulating appeals 
 was, that moot points as to the interpretation of 
 racing law should be remitted to a final tribunal, 
 but that questions of fact should not be so rele- 
 gated, but that the decisions of stewards in all such 
 matters should be final. 
 
 To thoroughly understand the awkward predica- 
 ment and the subsequent friction which arose, it 
 must be borne in mind that the stewards of Caul- 
 field are gentlemen of high position men of 
 experience, many of whom have both owned and 
 ridden race-horses, and they naturally were much 
 incensed at the rather serious snub which the Com- 
 mittee of the V.R.C. thus administered. I don't 
 think they have quite got over it to this day. My 
 opinion is that they were wrong to start with ; 
 their own eyesight, if they were watching the race 
 carefully, should have been sufficient for them to 
 have dealt with the case on its merits, but, as usual, 
 evidence was called. My views about evidence have 
 been expressed elsewhere. 
 
 Since writing the above, I notice in the Australian 
 papers that another casus belli has arisen between 
 the two clubs, and I fear the breach is likely to be 
 further widened, which is a pity. It appears that a 
 
60 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 jockey named Hayes was disqualified or suspended 
 for some cause or another, and that the V.R.C. had 
 drafted a regulation, making it compulsory for a 
 disqualified or suspended jockey to re-apply for his 
 license at the expiration of his term of disqualification. 
 This rule, it appears, although drafted, had not been 
 actually adopted by the club, and when Hayes 
 presented himself at the scales at Caulfield to be 
 weighed out, the stewards present, although fully 
 aware of the proposed new rule, did not consider 
 they legally had the power to refuse Hayes permis- 
 sion to ride, his term of suspension having expired. 
 This led to some rather injudicious criticisms in a 
 portion of the press, insinuating that the Caulfield 
 stewards had deliberately and intentionally cast a 
 slight upon the paramount authority, viz. the Com- 
 mittee of the V.R.C. The tone of the criticisms 
 was of a somewhat obnoxious style, which the 
 stewards resented, and the offending papers had 
 to back down. Whilst it is highly desirable to 
 cultivate and foster a spirit of friendly rivalry, it is 
 equally essential that the fomenting of discord 
 should be discouraged, and one always feels a 
 certain amount of regret when a high-class journal 
 has to sing peccavi. 
 
 With all its brilliant gatherings, with all its 
 hospitality, with all its pleasurable excitements, 
 Caulfield is associated with a melancholy interest 
 which I cannot altogether discard, inasmuch as it 
 was at Caulfield my little friend, Tommy Corrigan, 
 met his death. He was riding a horse called Waiter 
 in a steeple-chase. The horse was infirm, but Tom 
 had promised to ride him, and he never went back 
 on his word, and the result was fatal. 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 61 
 
 A few words about Tommy Corrigan may not here 
 be out of place. He was one of the best, if not the 
 best, cross-country riders of his day ; I doubt if in 
 England there is his equal : I am confident there is 
 not his superior. He was only a little chap, but was 
 very strong ; a horse had to rap a fence pretty hard 
 before it unseated him, and I have seen him manage 
 some nasty brutes who would run down their fences 
 and jump any panel but the one they were put to. 
 Add to the fact of his being a most accomplished 
 horseman his unfailing good temper, his merry smile, 
 and an honest career, it will not be a matter for 
 surprise to read of his great popularity. His funeral 
 was a most extraordinary spectacle, the route > along 
 which the cortege passed being lined with crowds 
 of people : a stranger would have imagined that 
 the remains of some great Warrior or Statesman 
 were being conveyed to the grave. The procession 
 of carriages extended over a mile in length, and poor 
 Tom was followed to his last resting-place by all the 
 leading racing authorities, from Chairmen of Com- 
 mittees down to mere stable lads, amongst all of 
 whom he was greatly respected and admired. 
 
 Tommy Corrigan was an institution ; the first 
 query backers would make on their arrival at a race- 
 course would be, " What's Corrigan riding ? " Having 
 satisfied themselves on this point, no further enquiry 
 was necessary they straightway went and backed 
 his mount. I have frequently heard the suggestion 
 made, "Why not put Corrigan up?" "My dear fellow, 
 I should be only too glad to put him up, but I should 
 get no price about my horse ; the public will follow 
 Tom's mounts," would be the reply. 
 
 Corrigan's greatest successes were achieved when 
 
62 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 he rode for the big Irishman, as his patron, Martin 
 Loughlin, was called ; and the combination of Martin 
 Loughlin, owner, Tommy Wilson, the trainer, and 
 Corrigan, rider, was well-nigh invincible, and many 
 were the good things this Ballarat trio brought off. 
 But during the later years of his life Corrigan 
 settled at Caulfield, having previously got married, 
 and started training on his own account. 
 
 I had an interest in a steeple-chaser called Peter 
 Osbeck, a horse imported from New Zealand, where 
 he had won a few good races. Peter Osbeck was very 
 much out of condition when I placed him with Tom, 
 who suggested a long spell, so as to build him up a bit. 
 I put myself unreservedly in Tom's hands, and 
 Peter under his care improved beyond our expecta- 
 tions. He was duly entered for the Grand National 
 Steeple-chase, and being trained upon a public course, 
 the usual thing occurred his gallops and condition 
 were noted, and the public sneaked their money on 
 Corrigan's mount. We had one or two trials in 
 which the old grey displayed wonderful form, and 
 when the weights came out, Corrigan was confident he 
 would win, not only the Flemington, but the Caulfield 
 Grand National too. " He's a second Lone Hand, 
 sir, and I never in all my experiences knew a horse 
 ' come on ' as he has done, but I think we'll give him 
 one more go over the big fences before the day. You 
 ask Mr Willie Power if he will let old Flashlight have 
 a trial with him." I broached the subject to Mr Power, 
 who readily consented, as he said, " If Peter is better 
 than the old horse, he must have a great chance." 
 
 In due course the trial took place at Elsternwick Park. 
 What a pace they did go, and how they did jump ! 
 Mr Power remarked to me, " I say, old man, this isn't 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 63 
 
 steeple-chasing ; this is Melbourne Cup form." " Yes/' 
 I replied, " but my luck is just now so bad I fully 
 expect Peter to fall and break his neck." The words 
 had scarcely passed my lips when we noticed Tom 
 take a pull at his horse, and I remarked, " By Jove ! 
 something's up ! " and we ran over to find out the 
 cause. By this time Corrigan had dismounted, but 
 before we reached him Peter reared up and fell back 
 dead. Corrigan was bespattered with blood, and a 
 more down-hearted, miserable group never stood by a 
 poor dead beast than that which we presented . on 
 this, to me, memorable occasion. It seems the horse, 
 being very fresh, overjumped himself, broke a blood- 
 vessel, and choked. It was a bitter disappointment 
 to us all, but poor Tom felt it more keenly than any 
 of us, as he reckoned upon making a little fortune 
 with Peter. 
 
 I became very much attached to Corrigan, and I 
 felt, when I accompanied Dr, now Sir Thomas, Fitz- 
 gerald to the casualty-room on the occasion of his 
 fatal accident at Caulfield, an overwhelming sense 
 of sorrow when, from the doctor's diagnosis, I was 
 convinced Tom had had his last ride. Exit Corrigan. 
 
 A subscription was at once started for Tom's 
 widow and children ; a benefit race-meeting organ- 
 ised, and an art union arranged. Money came 
 flowing in from all quarters, enabling the Committee 
 entrusted with the management of the fund to invest 
 a considerable sum for the benefit of Mrs Corrigan 
 and her two little children. 
 
 The foregoing pages form my reminiscences of 
 Caulfield, truly a mixture of grave and gay. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 ELSTERNWICK PARK 
 
 I THINK it was early in the eighties that a few 
 trotting enthusiasts met together and founded 
 the Victoria Trotting Club, and they, after casting 
 about for a site for some time, at last fixed upon the 
 Elsternwick Swamp, a piece of waste land belonging 
 to the Crown, which they leased from the Govern- 
 ment for a period of ten years. The lease was 
 granted upon the condition that the swamp should 
 be reclaimed ; that the public should have free access 
 to the enclosure at all times, save and excepting so 
 many days in the year when trotting or racing 
 meetings were being held ; footpaths should be 
 made across it and maintained in good order, 
 and the place should be beautified by tree-planting, 
 etc. The rent was to be of almost a peppercorn 
 character, and what was so paid should go to the 
 Borough of Brighton, in which district the land was 
 situated. Providing that these conditions were faith- 
 fully fulfilled, there would be no difficulty in securing 
 a renewal of the lease ; so said the then Minister of 
 Lands. 
 
 These conditions were accepted and carried out by 
 the club with the utmost good faith. Fully ten thou- 
 
 64 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 6$ 
 
 sand pounds were spent in reclaiming the swamp and 
 forming it into a park, which in due time became an 
 ornament to the neighbourhood and a most attractive 
 pleasure-ground; but because two or three "goody- 
 goodies," backed up by a Member of Parliament, of 
 " high tone," objected to the traffic on race - days 
 temporarily interfering with their comfort and con- 
 venience they resented these " racing people " coming 
 " betwixt the wind and their nobility " they, in most 
 intemperate language, opposed the renewal of the 
 lease, and, shameful to relate, were successful in 
 so doing, and the Park has now been dismantled 
 and is fast returning to its original condition a 
 swamp. 
 
 Never was a grosser breach of faith perpetrated by 
 any Minister of the Crown. Petitions to the Minister 
 of Lands, largely signed by the immediate residents 
 in the locality in favour of the lease being renewed, 
 were presented and supported by members of both 
 Houses of Parliament, but all their arguments were 
 ignored, and the mysterious influence of the one 
 member in opposition prevailed. Not content with 
 having gained their point, the aggressors further 
 harassed the club by raising objections to the caterer 
 being granted the customary license to sell wines 
 and spirits ; here again they were successful. Their 
 opposition was universally condemned, but by strain- 
 ing every legal point and insisting on the letter, not 
 the spirit, of the law being carried out, they triumphed, 
 with the result that the club had to shift its quarters, 
 and leave but " a wreck behind." 
 
 The intentions of the early promoters, as the name 
 of the club implies, was to foster the sport of trotting, 
 and the course a perfect oval exactly a mile round 
 
 E 
 
66 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 was laid out in most approved American fashion ; the 
 turns were graded, and a more perfect track was never 
 constructed. This track was kept in order by a most 
 ponderous and expensive track-making machine im- 
 ported from the United States, and no stone was 
 left unturned to bring the course and its surround- 
 ings up to date, and everything bid fair for a 
 successful career, but whilst a very large percentage 
 of Australians are fond of a good buggy horse 
 which can "hurry up a bit" when wanted, trotting as 
 a sport did not take on. The club's funds were 
 exhausted, and the directors became each personally 
 liable for an over-draft at the Bank for some ^"3000, 
 the original capital of ,5000 not being sufficient for 
 converting this swamp into a decent racing track and 
 the building of Stands and other accessories. 
 
 It was at this particular juncture in the career of 
 the club that I was appointed secretary, and my 
 instructions were to get the club out of debt by hook 
 or by crook. The undertaking at the time did not 
 look over-promising, but, backed up by the directors 
 in no half-hearted manner, the almost hopeless task 
 was accomplished. Not the acclimatising of the sport 
 of trotting, be it understood, but the paying off the 
 debt, and, above all, returning to the shareholders 
 their capital in full. 
 
 All this was not done without some considerable 
 difficulty. In pursuing the very laudable ambition of 
 endeavouring to bring the sport of trotting up to the 
 American standard, and thereby improving the buggy 
 horse or roadster, the directors were getting further 
 and further into debt. The meetings were poorly 
 patronised, and the sport languished. The occasional 
 introduction of a horse-race did not much improve 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 67 
 
 matters, as the course, being absolutely devoid of grass, 
 was cut up dreadfully by the gallopers ; it became 
 almost a quagmire in wet weather, and in mid- 
 summer the dust was blinding. 
 
 The crucial question had at last to be put. Were 
 the directors willing to sacrifice so much per annum 
 in bolstering up a sport which the public did not 
 patronise? "Certainly not," they said. "We want 
 to get out of debt, and we want our guarantees back." 
 "Well, then," I rejoined, " if the public won't take on 
 to trotting, let us introduce horse-racing, hurdle-racing, 
 and steeple-chasing." " Do as you like, Mr Secretary, 
 only get us out of debt," was the reply. 
 
 From that time forth the track-making machine 
 was discarded, couch grass was planted, and the 
 course gradually became like a carpet. Race-horse- 
 owners liberally supported the meetings, large entries 
 always being forthcoming for the various events, and 
 trotting had to take, metaphorically speaking, a back 
 seat ; one, sometimes perhaps two, events in the 
 programme being all that would be allotted to 
 trotters and pacers. This change of front went very 
 much against the grain of the trotting enthusiasts. 
 They could not possibly make " record time" on grass ; 
 it would not be worth while to keep horses in training ; 
 and a thousand and one objections had to be over- 
 come before the commercial aspect of the case would 
 be accepted. 
 
 A steeple-chase course was, however, soon laid 
 out ; mud walls, post and rail and log fences formed 
 the obstacles, eight jumps having to be negotiated in 
 "once round." The quality of the competitors, both 
 in flat races and " over the sticks," was of the highest 
 class, the principal stables always sending repre- 
 
68 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 sentatives, and from being a place but poorly patron- 
 ised, the visitors at the various meetings in a very 
 short time could be reckoned up at thousands. 
 Additional Stand accommodation had to be provided, 
 and the management, trusting to the good faith of the 
 Government in the matter of the renewal of the lease, 
 spent money most lavishly. Beautiful buffalo grass 
 lawns, ornamental shrubberies, and flower-beds were 
 planted, and, like the Rosherville of old, Elsternwick 
 became the " place to spend a happy day." Vice- 
 royalty could frequently be counted amongst its 
 patrons, and visitors of distinction were entertained 
 with the same cordial hospitality as prevailed at 
 headquarters. Valuable trophies were given, and 
 there was a go and aplomb about the meetings 
 which rendered them particularly enjoyable, and there 
 was general regret expressed when the unjust ukase 
 went forth, and the place was doomed. 
 
 As upon other race-courses, there were occasionally 
 " scenes," and the rowdy element if anything occurred 
 not to their liking in a race, or if they had backed a 
 supposed "stiff 'un," and had not got a run for their 
 money made the air resound with cries of " Rub 'im 
 out," and, strange to say, they would occasionally 
 suggest to " Run it over again." These eccentricities 
 were not by any means confined to Elsternwick, 
 but were indulged in at nearly every suburban course 
 in the early days. During later years, I think, how- 
 ever, the " outside fringe " has become more civilised, 
 and less rowdyism now takes place. 
 
 On one particular occasion, however, matters 
 assumed rather a serious aspect, one indignant out- 
 sider suggesting that the " bloomin' place ought to be 
 pulled deown." The reason for this proposed act of 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 69 
 
 Vandalism was a decision given by the judge which 
 did not please the said outsider, nor, strange to say, 
 any one else. It was one of those unaccountable things 
 for which explanation seems impossible. The judge 
 was a man of very great experience, and no one ever 
 questioned his honour or integrity in the slightest 
 degree. But, singular to relate, in this particular 
 race, where there were but four or five runners, the 
 number of a horse was hoisted which, in the opinion 
 of everybody at least, I never heard any one express 
 a contrary opinion did not even get a place. 
 
 Every one thought it was an error which would 
 be promptly rectified, and the judge was inter- 
 viewed by the stewards to give him an opportunity 
 of amending his, to their ideas, palpable mistake. 
 But he maintained that his judgment was correct, 
 and refused to alter his verdict. The anger of the 
 crowd was somewhat bitter, and it was thought 
 desirable that the judge should go home under 
 friendly escort to protect him from probable violence. 
 I mention this case as it is one of those occurrences 
 which no " fellah " can understand. 
 
 In contradistinction to this turbulent scene may be 
 mentioned the incident when Mr Ernest Benzon, the 
 Jubilee Plunger, was in Australia. He was most 
 anxious to have a ride, and offered to present a 
 Silver Cup, if I could get a race for amateur or 
 gentlemen riders inserted in the programme. This I 
 managed to do. The next thing, however, was to 
 get him a mount. After making enquiries amongst 
 my friends, I at last persuaded one to enter a horse, 
 and let Mr Benzon ride. 
 
 I shall never forget on the day of the race the 
 childish glee with which he donned the black jacket, 
 
70 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 gold seams, and cap. He was dressed some time 
 before it was necessary to weigh out, and was 
 rehearsing his ride and demonstrating to every one 
 he met how he would just "diddle" the favourite on 
 the post. 
 
 Before mounting, Mr Benzon was implicitly warned 
 that the horse was short of a gallop or two, and 
 that his only chance of winning was to ride a waiting 
 race, and not to attempt to come to the front until 
 well round the turn for home. To all these instruc- 
 tions he listened most attentively, and promised strict 
 compliance. He was heartily cheered when he took 
 his preliminary canter, and seemed thoroughly at 
 home with his mount. 
 
 I formed one of a group of three to watch the race, 
 my two companions being the owner and trainer of 
 the horse Benzon was riding. After one or two false 
 starts, in which he was always prominent, down goes 
 the flag and away goes Benzon. Before he had gone 
 a quarter of a mile it was a six-furlong race he was 
 leading by some lengths, and riding as if " Black care 
 sat behind the horseman. " The comments of my friend 
 and his trainer were not complimentary to the Plunger. 
 " Look at the fool," said the trainer ; " he's doing the 
 very opposite to what I told him. He'll ruin the horse 
 and he'll come in last," a position which assuredly he did 
 occupy. Derisive cheers this time greeted Mr Benzon, 
 and one " Bookie " shouted, " I'll take a hundred to 
 five he falls off! " " Oh, hang it ! " said another, " he 
 won't fall off; I'll lay you." But poor Benzon was 
 so done up with his ride, that on pulling up, just 
 past the Stand, he overbalanced himself, and down 
 he went. He took his mishap with the greatest 
 good humour, but I don't think I ever heard such a 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 71 
 
 shout of laughter as when the poor Plunger kissed 
 Mother Earth. 
 
 The late Sir William Clarke travelled to England 
 by the same steamer when Benzon returned home, 
 and he told me he found him a most agreeable and 
 lively fellow passenger, but a great disappointment 
 befell Benzon as he neared Plymouth Harbour. He 
 had, it appears, telegraphed for a steam-launch to 
 put off to meet the mail-steamer, so that he could 
 proceed to London with as little delay as possible, 
 but the Court of Chancery, of which he was a ward, 
 had been advised of his escapades in Australia, and 
 two officers were deputed to meet the boat and take 
 Mr Benzon ashore but not to London. 
 
 The steam-launch first to come alongside the 
 P. and O. liner contained these officers, Benzon's 
 boat following closely in its wake. Benzon was on 
 deck, all his luggage ready to be transhipped, when 
 two highly respectable-looking men boarded the 
 vessel, and requested the pleasure of Mr Benzon's 
 company to some island off the coast of Cornwall. 
 He was a bit nonplussed at this contretemps, but 
 putting out his hand, said to Sir William Clarke, 
 who was standing by, " Only beaten by a head, Sir 
 William, after all. Good-bye." 
 
 One of the trophies which formed an attractive 
 item in the programme on one occasion at Elstern- 
 wick Park was the valuable Hopbitters Cup, 
 presented by Mr Van Bergh, the agent for the 
 American Hopbitters Company. This trophy was 
 handed to the owner of the winner by Colonel 
 Morgan, the then American Consul in Melbourne, 
 who in so doing made a most humorous speech, in 
 which he dilated at length on the marvellous merits 
 
72 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 of these wonderful bitters. " It would cure," said he, 
 in conclusion, " all the ills that flesh is heir to, and so 
 powerful is it that, if properly applied, it would make 
 hair grow on a stove-pipe." 
 
 The chairman of the club, Stratford Strettle, and 
 Colonel Morgan were once interested in a wonderful 
 pony which could break three-minute time. The Colonel 
 called it " Whisky," because, he said, it went so fast. 
 This pony was put into training, and duly entered for 
 a trotting event, which all connected with him said he 
 could not possibly lose. He was backed for a con- 
 siderable sum of money, and duly came in first for 
 the race, and hearty congratulations were exchanged 
 right round ; but the driver had, wilfully or accidentally, 
 dropped his lead bag, and could not therefore draw 
 his weight, and Whisky was ruled out. It was the 
 very general impression that the Colonel and his 
 friends had been got at. 
 
 Amongst the greatest of the trotting enthusiasts, 
 if one may call a little man great, was Mr J. J. 
 Miller, who imported, at considerable expense, some 
 of the best blood from America, and he certainly 
 did everything in his power to popularise the sport ; 
 and although success did not immediately crown his 
 efforts, there can be but little doubt that the infusion 
 of the blood of such sires as Honesty and Contractor 
 (Mr Miller's importations), with well bred mares, 
 will have a marked effect in years to come on the 
 style and pace of the Australian buggy horse, and 
 Jimmy Miller's name will always be honourably 
 associated with this enterprise. 
 
 The docility of the American trotting horse is 
 remarkable, and this characteristic seems to be trans- 
 mitted to their progeny in a most pronouncecj 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 73 
 
 degree, rendering them well-mannered and perfect 
 roadsters. 
 
 I remember paying a visit to Mr Miller's stud- 
 farm with a friend who wanted a quiet horse for his 
 wife to drive. After being shown round the stud, 
 we selected , a beautiful pony, a rare mover, for which 
 he gave two hundred and fifty, pounds ; but there 
 was another animal in the stable which took my 
 friend's eye, and which he was determined to purchase 
 before leaving. It was an imported grey mare called 
 Lucretia. Mr Miller was not at all anxious to sell 
 her, but the price offered eight hundred guineas 
 tempted him, and he let her go. She was one of 
 the most beautiful animals that could be seen in a 
 day's march ; a fine, upstanding mare, full of quality, 
 and such a goer. She was then in training, and it 
 was agreed that she should fulfil her engagements 
 before being driven in my friend's buggy ; but, 
 strange to relate, although backed on more than one 
 occasion for pounds, shillings, and pence, I don't 
 think Lucretia ever won a race in Australia. That 
 visit to Mr Miller's stud made a hole in my friend's 
 pocket to the tune of some nine or ten thousand 
 pounds. 
 
7 6 
 
 th 
 fo- 
 
 V 
 
 S 
 
 0. 
 
 in, a^ CHAPTER IV 
 
 had to / 
 
 Messrs VLLIAMSTOWN, MENTONE, SANDOWN PARK, 
 
 repeatykDIALLOC, ASPENDALE, MARIBYRNONG 
 
 to i-' 
 
 t'\NE of the best appointed of the suburban courses, 
 
 J save and excepting Caulfield, is undoubtedly 
 
 psom. It is situated near the favourite seaside 
 
 *wnship of Mordialloc, and formerly belonged to a 
 
 -oung fellow named Jenkins, who made a good 
 
 Jeal of money during the land boom ; and he spent a 
 
 little fortune in laying out and equipping Epsom. 
 
 Jenkins was of that sanguine temperament which 
 never contemplates failure, and his ideas were that 
 his course would attract people in their thousands. 
 If the building of a magnificent Stand, with its 
 Governor's rooms, ladies' tea-rooms, and other 
 etceteras, would attract, he surely left nothing 
 undone in that direction. Money, apparently, was 
 of no object to him, and the thousands he spent 
 suggested the idea that he had sojourned for a time 
 in that mystic country known as "Tom Tiddler's 
 Ground." 
 
 During the progress of building operations I 
 occasionally visited the place, and remarked to 
 Jenkins that it would take a little fortune to paint 
 the wood and iron work alone, and I ventured the 
 query as to how often he expected the Stand, which 
 
 74 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 
 
 77 
 
 was large enough to accommodate some thous? 
 of people, to be filled ? His notion was that 
 consummation of his day-dreams would frequei ' 
 be accomplished. He was, however, doomed to b: J ? 
 disappointment, for no sooner was the place ope . 
 for racing than the disastrous collapse of the 1? 
 
 boom occurred, and, sad to relate, T ^ v o l r y, & 
 
 t f ' WA* <* ivellmg 
 
 His case was only one of many. 1 fe 
 
 Epsom is a most perfect race-course, be? a 
 light, sandy soil; couch and buffalo grass co 
 track and enclosures, and the going is at all 
 excellent. It is now under the management < 
 my friend, George Mayger, and in these days . ' 
 Australian depression just about holds its own. ', 
 
 Mentone Race-course is another of the product.^ 
 of the land boom. It was purchased and laid out 
 by a syndicate, and is similarly, but not so expen- 
 sively fitted out as Epsom. It is situated in the 
 same locality, and has the advantage of excellent 
 going in all weathers. 
 
 Sandown Park, another really beautiful place, was 
 laid out by a Mr Cullen, who had made a considerable 
 sum of money out of a pony race-course at Brighton, 
 but, his lease running out, he had to shift farther 
 afield, and he certainly fixed upon a most beautiful site 
 for his new venture. Here, again, money was spent 
 in a most prodigal manner. The ground was rather 
 heavily timbered, and the expense of clearing it alone 
 must have been enormous, but a beautiful course, 
 close upon a mile and a half round, was laid out, 
 Stands and all necessary conveniences erected, a 
 special railway-siding constructed, trees, shrubs, and 
 flowers were liberally planted, and Sandown is really 
 a delightful place. The scenery adjacent is more 
 
76 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 than usually good, the Dandenong range of mountains 
 forming an interesting feature in the landscape. 
 
 Misfortune, however, overtook Mr Cullen, and the 
 Victoria Trotting Clvb became the proprietors of 
 Sandown Park it was called in Mr Cullen's time 
 Oakleigh Park. But the turn of the tide had set 
 in, ar?d no .ore capital being available, the club 
 had to }' A aidate, and the course now belongs to 
 Messrs Henry Skinner and David Boyd. I may 
 repeat here that the original capital was returned 
 to the shareholders on quitting Elstejnwick, and 
 they declined to subscribe again. 
 " It must seem odd to people who were not*in 
 Australia at the time this craze for building race- 
 courses and it* can only be explained by the fact 
 that the success attained by both the Moonee Valley 
 / and Elsternwick courses fired the ambition of 
 speculators, who wished to share in the supposed 
 good things. 
 
 Other courses were also laid out at Mordialloc, 
 Aspendale, and Maribyrnong, the former being 
 managed by Mr Bradshaw, or " Braddy," as he was 
 generally called. " Braddy " was a journalist of no 
 mean ability, but had a sort of bee in his bonnet, 
 which seemed to urge upon him the maxim that life 
 was not worth living unless one kept a race-horse. 
 Well, to a man not overburdened with this world's 
 riches, the keeping a race-horse can be no joke, but 
 the story is told of "Braddy," when he lived up-country, 
 that he absolutely kept one in his kitchen, no stable 
 accommodation being available at thequarters assigned 
 him by the Government ; he was then postmaster in 
 a little up-country township. 
 
 I met "Braddy" in the seventies, when he first came 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 77 
 
 to Melbourne, and mainly through the kindly offices 
 of a mutual friend, he obtained an appointment 
 on a Melbourne newspaper. He made a fairly good 
 position, but was unfortunately smashed up in a 
 terrible railway accident near the Werribee. 
 
 The line between Werribee and Geelong is a single 
 one, and the train in which "Braddy" was travelling 
 was coming from the latter place, and had reached a 
 station, called the Little River, safely ; the station- 
 master had telegraphed Werribee to know if the line 
 was clear, and having received a reply in the affirma- 
 tive, had given the signal for the train to start. 
 Some unaccountable blunder, however, occurred. 
 The roessage should have been sent " Line not clear," 
 for, as a matter of fact, a train had only just left 
 Werribee for Little River. The two trains met, 
 fortunately not travelling at full speed, and how any 
 of the passengers escaped is a mystery. I don't 
 remember how many were killed, but " Braddy " 
 managed to get off with a terrible shaking and some 
 injury to his spine. He brought an action against 
 the Railway Department, and his woebegone and de- 
 lapidated appearance in the witness-box, and the tale 
 of his sufferings touched the hearts of the jury, with 
 the result that " Braddy " was awarded a considerable 
 sum in damages. His condition and appearance 
 before and after the verdict presented a remarkable 
 contrast. 
 
 " Braddy " was very near-sighted, but has at times 
 been pressed into the service as Starter at some of 
 the country meetings, and they do say that he has 
 used strong language at the Starting Post to the 
 mounted trooper and Clerk of the Course because 
 they would not come into line. 
 
78 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 "Braddy's" experiences by flood and field have 
 been of the most diversified character ; he was 
 nearly annihilated in the railway accident referred to ; 
 and a few years ago he had, owing to a very heavy 
 flood, to be rescued in a boat from a loft to which 
 he had to retreat to avoid being drowned, and where 
 he had spent some time without food. 
 
 The last time I saw him was in the Melbourne 
 Hospital with a broken leg, having been thrown 
 out of a dray in which was a large iron tank the 
 said tank falling on " Braddy " and pinning him 
 down. He was some hours in this predicament 
 before assistance arrived, the accident having occurred 
 on a bush track very little frequented. On the 
 occasion of my visit to the Hospital he was, however, 
 all smiles said it might have been worse, spoke 
 gratefully of the doctors' and nurses' attentions, and 
 not one word of repining at his cruel fate. 
 
 An extraordinary character is " Braddy " ; he, 
 however, nearly got into trouble with the V.R.C. 
 authorities once by resorting to a little bit of 
 dodgery to enable him to evade one of their rules. 
 It was in this wise : The Rule laid down that a 
 certain sum of money, some ;3OO, I think, must be 
 given in stakes for any one day's racing. Bradshaw's 
 race-course was a bit out of the way, and rather diffi- 
 cult of approach, and the public patronage was not 
 sufficiently bountiful to enable "Braddy" to comply 
 with the rule and yet make a profit. He therefore 
 included in his programme a Produce Stake of some 
 200 for colts and fillies, the produce of a horse of 
 his own named Sinking Fund. As no one but 
 "Braddy" used Sinking Fund for stud purposes, it 
 naturally followed that this stake would never be 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 79 
 
 competed for by any one but Mr Bradshaw, as 
 Sinking Fund did not acquire very great distinction 
 on the turf, and the whole thing would become a 
 paper transaction. I think, under friendly advice, 
 this item in due course disappeared from the 
 Mordialloc programme. 
 
 Aspendale is a bijou race-course in the same district 
 as Mentone, Epsom, and Mordialloc. It is situated 
 in the thick ti - tree scrub which here abounds, is 
 not quite a mile in circumference, and is covered with 
 a perfect carpet of buffalo grass. Compared with its 
 neighbours, it is all neatness and simplicity. The 
 proprietor, Bob Crooke, is a man of modest tastes 
 and moderate ambition. The Grand Stand and all 
 the necessary offices are compact, and fulfil all 
 needful requirements, and no pleasanter outing can 
 be wished for, especially in early spring, when the 
 ti-tree and wattles are in bloom, than a visit to 
 the Aspendale Park Races. 
 
 The name given to the Park serves to perpetuate 
 one of Mr Crooke's many successes on the turf, 
 when he was a partner of Mr John Whittingham's, 
 and managed his stud, as he, two years in succession, 
 won the principal sprint race of the year the New- 
 market Handicap, with a mare called Aspen. 
 
 Mr Crooke is a bit of a ventriloquist and mimic, 
 and many and many a time have I assisted him 
 in some impromptu entertainment, with most amusing 
 results. 
 
 On one occasion a party of racing folk were 
 travelling by rail from a place called Bacchus 
 Marsh, when all of a sudden the attention of every 
 one in the carriage was directed to a violent quarrel 
 (an imaginary one of course) in the next compart- 
 
8o SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 ment. Language of the most turbulent character 
 was being used ; oaths and imprecations were ex- 
 changed with alarming vehemence. I looked out 
 of the window and shouted to the supposed brawlers, 
 begging them to desist, and threatening to punch 
 all their heads when the train reached town. My 
 pugilistic and defiant abuse created considerable 
 amusement, as I am absolutely ignorant of the way 
 " to put up my hands," and physically incapable of 
 attacking anything stronger than a mosquito, and 
 I was warned I should get into trouble at our 
 journey's end. Having reached our destination, 
 every one went to look into the adjoining compart- 
 ment with the view of seeing what our rowdy 
 fellow-passengers were like ; to the astonishment 
 of them all the compartment was empty. Crooke's 
 ventriloquial powers had cheated them. 
 
 On another occasion a party of us had just finished 
 dinner at a well-known restaurant when it was 
 suggested that Crooke should give us an imitation 
 of a dog-fight, a leading feature in his little enter- 
 tainments, and which he did remarkably well, but 
 on this occasion it had an extraordinary effect. The 
 landlord and landlady kept a few dogs in their 
 backyard, and no sooner did they hear the din of 
 battle from afar than the whole pack rushed headlong 
 into the dining-room, followed by Madame and 
 Monsieur and two or three French cooks and sundry 
 waitresses, all armed with broomsticks, and all equally 
 determined to quell the disturbance. We were up- 
 braided for bringing nasty fighting dogs to a respect- 
 able restaurant, and creating such disorder in the 
 otherwise well-regulated establishment the Maison 
 Doree. It was some time before Madame could be 
 
SUBURBAN RACE-COURSES 81 
 
 convinced that the demure-looking Mr Crooke was 
 solely responsible for the riot. 
 
 Williamstown, the little fishing village near Mel- 
 bourne it used to be called, but now a moderate-sized 
 borough, can boast of an excellent race-course, which 
 has emerged from its primitive stage into all the 
 customary grandeur which prevails at nearly every 
 suburban course. It is one of the oldest established 
 race-courses round about Melbourne, and is a favourite 
 resort of the racing public. It is quite on the coast, 
 and many visitors, apart from the racing attractions, 
 patronise it for the purpose of getting a "whiff of 
 the briny." The full force of a " southerly buster " is 
 occasionally felt here, and I have seen, when a sudden 
 change of wind took place, the refreshment booths 
 and temporary Stands levelled to the ground. 
 
 A peculiar accident happened here in a race one 
 day, long before the expensive improvements were 
 effected, and the course railed in. As the field 
 approached the home turn, a bit of a scrimmage 
 occurred, and several jockeys were unseated, but no 
 one was, I think, seriously hurt. The loose horses 
 free from control galloped into a large swamp or 
 lagoon, where they nearly got bogged, and some had 
 to be rescued by men in boats. 
 
 Williamstown race-course reflects the highest credit 
 upon the management of the Messrs Sutton,/^ etfils, 
 who have been at the helm of affairs for so many years. 
 
 The Maribyrnong course about three miles from 
 Melbourne is situated on what may be termed 
 classic ground. It was here that the Messrs Fisher 
 established their famous stud-farm, where Fisherman, 
 Marchioness, and other celebrities, imported from 
 England, were located. 
 
 F 
 
82 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 The race-course was established during the boom 
 period by "Cox, of Moonee Valley," but it is not 
 very convenient of access, and, although an excellent 
 race-course, it really was not wanted. 
 
 From the foregoing it may be gathered that, con- 
 sidering the population of Melbourne and its suburbs, 
 there are too many race-courses, and there is too 
 much racing, and the various courses can never be 
 made prosperous or paying concerns until the number 
 of fixtures are reduced. 
 
 It is to be hoped, for the benefit of all concerned, 
 that the Victoria Racing Club authorities will take 
 this matter seriously in hand, and not encourage a 
 system which can only injure the true interests of 
 the sport over which they have assumed the absolute 
 control. Let the members of the Committee put 
 down with a strong hand all attempts at log-rolling, 
 and let them not be scared by the ghosts of vested 
 interests, but let their legislation be bold and fear- 
 less, always aiming at securing "the greatest good 
 for the greatest number." If such a policy is adopted, 
 there need be no fear respecting the future success of 
 racing in Victoria. 
 
UP-COUNTRY RACING 
 
UP-COUNTRY RACING 
 
 EVERY little bush township in Australia has its 
 race-course, if one can dignify with that name 
 the various tracks cut through scrub and bush, upon 
 which the residents of the district gather once a year 
 and hold high festival. Most of the horses com- 
 peting for their Cups (value about 10) have never 
 known the taste of corn, and the prizes usually are 
 saddles and bridles. Of course there is any amount 
 of fun, the affairs being generally regarded as huge 
 picnics. I have attended a few of these so-called 
 race-meetings, and have thoroughly enjoyed the 
 experience. 
 
 One pleasantly situated meeting, but conducted 
 in quite a civilised manner, was that held annually 
 at Cranbourne, a little township at the foot of the 
 Dandenong ranges, some twenty-five miles odd from 
 Melbourne. A friend of mine, Stratford Strettle, had 
 a charming property in the vicinity, and on the 
 occasion of the Cranbourne Race Meeting, enter- 
 tained all and sundry in most princely fashion. 
 Cranbourne, then, was not on the railway line, and 
 most of the journey had to be accomplished by 
 coach or buggy, and a very pleasant drive from 
 Melbourne it was. 
 
 85 
 
86 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 Arrived at the course, the scene to an Englishman 
 was somewhat of a novelty. The country visitors, 
 male and female, nearly all came on horseback, the 
 men at least a goodly number of them in their 
 red shirts, and breeches, and boots, regular bush 
 fashion, and the ladies, of course, in most approved 
 riding-habits. Then there was such a collection of 
 conveyances, from the squatter's smart buggy and 
 pair, with a black groom in attendance, to the tilted 
 cart of the selector or cockatoo farmer ; such a mixed 
 lot of vehicles, some of them absolutely impossible 
 to describe ; they might very possibly have come out 
 of the Ark, so antiquated were they in shape and 
 design. But everybody came to enjoy themselves, 
 and the greatest good humour and hilarity prevailed, 
 and the hospitality extended to a stranger was 
 unbounded. 
 
 One of the specialities of the Cranbourne Meeting 
 was a Bare-backed Hurdle Race, an event which 
 evoked no end of interest, and which generally was 
 won by one of the Watson boys, who were great 
 favourites in the neighbourhood. The Watson boys 
 were sons of George Watson, the Master of the 
 Melbourne Hounds, and, as he is ofttimes designated, 
 the Prince of Starters. 
 
 On the occasion of my first visit to Cranbourne 
 I made several suggestions whereby certain improve- 
 ments might be inexpensively effected, and the 
 stewards gladly availed themselves of my advice, 
 building a neat little Stand and weighing-room, round- 
 ing off awkward turns on the course, and a general 
 tidying up all round. 
 
 Whilst these improvements were in progress I made 
 more than one journey to Cranbourne, and had many 
 
UP-COUNTRY RACING 87 
 
 a yarn with some of the old identities who had lived 
 in the neighbourhood for more than half a century. 
 It was most interesting to listen to their recitals of 
 "When there was nothing but a bush track from 
 Melbourne, sir, long before roads were made or 
 bridges built," and when the Dandenong Creek was 
 in flood and overflowed its banks, how traffic for a 
 time was absolutely impossible. How the bullock 
 teams would be camped on the other bank of the 
 Creek waiting for the waters to subside. How the 
 " bullockies," i.e. bullock drivers, killed time by yarn- 
 ing round the camp fire and consuming rum in 
 enormous quantities. 
 
 One old fellow named Poole related an amusing 
 incident in connection with the detention of the 
 " bullockies," by reason of a flood. He said : " There 
 was only one pub in the neighbourhood, and those 
 who could afford to patronise it had to wade some 
 distance, and when they did reach the bar, found the 
 water running through it some inches deep. But a 
 gang of us, determining to make a night of it, sat 
 about on forms, and kept our feet out of the water 
 as best we could, and we started drinking rum out of 
 tin pannikins. We had several rounds, and one poor 
 little fellow he was a bit of a hunchback, with a 
 squeaky voice, got very drowsy, and when called 
 upon by a big hulking fellow to drink again, refused, 
 for the simple reason, as he alleged, he was 'full.' 
 ' Be a man, Billy/ said the big fellow, ' and take your 
 turn.' * I can't/ replied the little fellow ; ' I'm full.' 
 1 Be a man, Billy, I say, and don't refuse, or I'll drown 
 you, you little devil.' In his despair, the little imp 
 plaintively replied, ' I can't drink any more, but if I 
 must take it, pour it in my ear.' " 
 
88 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 Old Poole also told me how such places as " Brandy 
 Creek," and "Whisky Gully," derived their names. 
 He said that on long stretches of their journeys, where 
 there were no grog shanties, the teamsters had hiding- 
 places, such as hollow logs or holes in the banks of a 
 creek, where a small supply of grog could always be 
 found, it being a matter of honour for any " bullocky " 
 to replace on his return journey what he had taken 
 on *his outward one; -and this rule, he remarked, was 
 most religiously adhered to. 
 
 Kilmore was another little township, which had its 
 Annual Race Meeting on St Patrick's Day. (I might 
 here explain that in England we should call these 
 townships villages. They consist of a few straggling 
 houses, a bush pub, a general store, and a church.) 
 Most of the residents of the district were of Irish 
 extraction, and their fondness for " lepping " was, as 
 is usual, most pronounced, and the steeple-chase was 
 always the great attraction. 
 
 On one occasion, a group of the sons of Ould 
 Ireland had planted themselves in as favourable a 
 position as was to be got, in order to obtain a good 
 view of the steeple-chase, and to further enable them 
 to know the positions of the horses when they for a 
 time disappeared in a dip, they had hoisted one of 
 their number upon the shoulders of the tallest man. 
 They had all backed, it appears, a horse called 
 Shamrock, and the man thus hoisted had to describe 
 the race with its varying incidents. "Where is 
 Shamrock now, Mike ? " said one. " Oh, he's ladin' 
 foine oh, begorra, now he's down ! " " Yez don't say 
 so?" "No, bejabers, he's all right, he's up again. 
 Hooroo ! and he's ladin', the beauty ! " After a pause : 
 " Where is he now, Mike ? " " Bedad, he's ladin' still." 
 
UP-COUNTRY RACING 89 
 
 " Begorra," said one, hitting his mate on the back, " if 
 he maintains it, he'll win ! " 
 
 At one meeting, a couple of bookmakers, both of 
 the Jewish persuasion, but one of a very pronounced 
 type, took up a horse to win the steeple-chase, and 
 thinking to curry favour with the Irish patrons, 
 called their horse Shamrock, and they put up "all 
 green" as their colours. The name on the card, 
 " Shamrock, all green," naturally attracted * the 
 attention of the Mikes and the Pats, who crowded 
 round whilst Shamrock's toilet was being completed. 
 But when the owners arrived on the scene, the fat was 
 in the fire, for one of the bystanders, who had taken 
 in the situation, remarked in sneering tones, "Jew's 
 horse," and the crowd dispersed, and Shamrock was, 
 like the last rose of summer, left blooming alone. 
 
 Nearly all these up-country meetings were con- 
 sidered incomplete unless the proceedings were wound 
 up with a Race Ball ; the high jinks carried on at 
 these festivities were remarkable for their thorough 
 abandon at night and prevailing headaches next day. 
 
 I once overheard rather an amusing soliloquy 
 in one of the weighing enclosures at an up-country 
 meeting. A horse, belonging to a South African 
 diamond merchant, a contemporary of the famous 
 Barney Barnato, opened a very strong favourite for 
 a race, but from some unaccountable reason, the odds 
 became longer and longer, until his backers began to 
 realise that the horse must have had a bad night, 
 or something unforeseen had occurred. From being 
 an even money favourite, to recede to 20 to I 
 offered, did not augur well for their prospects, but 
 notwithstanding these ominous forebodings, the horse 
 ultimately won his race, somewhat easily, too. His 
 
9 o SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 victory was loudly cheered by the Ring, and by those 
 fortunate backers who were unable to shift their 
 money. Owners as a rule smile blandly when they 
 are hailed as winners, but the cheers of the crowd and 
 the congratulations of his friends had a contrary 
 effect in this instance, as Mein Herr, 
 
 "Sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought," 
 
 sought solitude. He wished to commune alone, but he 
 thought aloud, and this is what I overheard him say 
 to himself: "Veil, veil, horses are rum critturs; a big 
 bucket of vater before the race, and four thunderin 1 
 big shoes on him, and yet the beast vins. S'help me, 
 I can't believe it ! " " Pipe his chevy-chase," said one 
 of the crowd. He simply told them all to take a 
 " Meissa Meshuma," which in other language is equi- 
 valent, I believe, to " Go to the deuce." 
 
 The race-courses of the principal country towns, 
 such as Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Kyneton, and 
 many others were properly managed, and every 
 possible provision made for the due conduct of the 
 racing and the convenience of the public, and they 
 differed only in degree from their Metropolitan 
 neighbours. Ballarat was, however, famous for its 
 beef and bracing air ; Bendigo for its beautiful 
 avenues of English trees and red dust ; Kyneton for 
 its pretty surroundings and the fernery in which 
 lunch was served ; and Geelong for its steady-going, 
 don't-hurry-me sort of feeling, which pervades not 
 only the race-course, but the town also. 
 
RANDWICK 
 
RANDWICK 
 
 WHAT the Flemington Race-course is to Mel- 
 bourne and the Colony of Victoria, so is 
 RancLwick to Sydney and New South Wales. But 
 here again, Flemington suffers by comparison when 
 the site and locality are considered. I have elsewhere 
 described my first jmpressions of Sydney and its 
 picturesque environs, so it is unnecessary for me to 
 further dwell upon the enormous advantages possessed 
 by the parent Colony. In this particular Randwick is, 
 without doubt, one of the most beautiful race-courses 
 in the whole of the Australian Colonies. Nature 
 contributed with no unstinting hand her share, and 
 the management, led by my friend, Tom Clibborn, 
 did the rest. 
 
 Strange to say, Clibborn and I were fellow 
 passengers from England in 1869, and our friendship, 
 commenced on board ship, has continued, I am glad 
 to say, uninterrupted for many years. We, by some 
 queer fate, both drifted into the same groove in life, 
 but his capable and far-seeing management whilst 
 Secretary of the Ballarat Club, secured for him the 
 position of Secretary to the Australian Jockey Club, 
 and he migrated to Sydney, whilst I made Melbourne 
 my home. 
 
 93 
 
96 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 tt Randwick in these early days was in what may be 
 termed the chrysalis stage. The Grand (?) Stands- 
 were built of square timber and saplings, and the 
 floors were carpeted with tan bark. The club was 
 in debt, and everything wore a languishing and 
 unprosperous appearance. 
 
 Flemington, on the contrary, under Bagot, was 
 forging ahead, and the Sydney folks, always slightly 
 jealous of the rapid strides which Melbourne was 
 making, had to set about getting their house in order 
 to dispel the reproaches which were constantly levelled 
 against them, the comparisons between Flemington 
 and Randwick not being at all palatable. They 
 thereupon consulted Bagot, and he strongly urged 
 the Committee to adopt a go-ahead and a vigorous 
 policy, and recommended Clibborn as the man who 
 could steer them clear of their difficulties, and render 
 Randwick Race-course a credit to their Colony. 
 
 That Bagot's predictions have been amply verified 
 goes without saying, as Randwick is, as I have 
 previously stated, one of the most perfect race- 
 courses in the Colonies, little, if at all, inferior to 
 Flemington in its appointments and general com- 
 pleteness. Tom Clibborn, who, by the way, is, 
 a relation of the Bagots, and comes from a very 
 old Quaker family, was staunchly and loyally sup- 
 ported by his Committee, notwithstanding the fact 
 that the appointment of a Melbourne man to the 
 Secretaryship was viewed in many quarters with 
 considerable disfavour, but broad-minded and far- 
 seeing men like Messrs H. C. Dangar, Walter Hall, 
 Edward Lee, Stephen Campbell Brown, Henry 
 Austin, Judge Cheek, and Sir E. Deas Thomson 
 soon appreciated the ability of the man they had 
 
RANDWICK 
 
 47 
 
 selected, and Randwick quickly emerged from th 
 depression and gloom which for a time enveloped it, 
 until it has now become one of the many attractions 
 of beautiful Sydney. 
 
 This marvellous transformation was not accom- 
 plished without the expenditure of large sums of 
 money, and to enable the Committee to borrow the 
 necessary capital, a special Act of Parliament had to 
 be passed for the purpose. Large and commodious 
 Stands were built, no less a sum being expended in 
 various improvements during the last twenty years 
 than ; 1 05,000. One Stand alone I am told the 
 largest in the world is 150 yards long, and capable 
 of holding 8000 people. 
 
 Whilst everything was being done to attract public 
 patronage, horse-owners were by no means neglected. 
 The system of making the nomination and entry 
 fee for the various events the minimum charge 
 .of i only, for all except the classic races, was in- 
 augurated, and caught on immensely. No deductions 
 were made from the sums subscribed by owners of 
 horses, the entrance money and subscriptions going 
 to the stakes, and not to the Race Fund. Such a 
 liberal policy met with its reward. The club received 
 the support and patronage of the racing public in 
 such a splendid manner, that the amount paid over 
 in stakes since 1873 totals the magnificent sum of 
 340,000. These facts and figures combined go to 
 show what a forward policy will do, and they speak 
 trumpet-tongued for the skill and energy of Mr 
 Secretary Clibborn. 
 
 The fact of the then Governor, Sir Hercules Robin- 
 son, owning and running horses, doubtless gave the 
 sport an immense fillip, but to libel the pioneers of 
 
96 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 tine turf in Australia, as was recently done in an ' 
 obituary notice of Lord Rosmead in a London news- 
 paper, is not altogether fair to many men who might 
 not have the same prestige as His Excellency the 
 Governor, but who were at least quite as keen in 
 maintaining their honour and reputation as sportsmen. 
 Were Lord Rosmead now alive, I am convinced that 
 such unwarrantable reflections as is contained in the 
 following extract would be condemned by him as 
 unmerited and untrue. There is so much, neverthe- 
 less, in the notice referred to in praise of Sir Hercules, 
 which every Australian sportsman will cordially 
 endorse, that I quote the reference to his career' as 
 a Racing Governor in full : 
 
 " Sir Hercules was a true lover of horses, and when 
 from 1872 to 1879 he was Governor of New South 
 Wales, he found that horse-racing which has since 
 become the pride and chief enjoyment of Australians 
 of both sexes all over the Island Continent was in 
 a parlous condition in the Colony immediately under 
 his sway. The supporters of the turf at that time ' 
 were men of small fortune and still smaller character, 
 who could not afford to keep race-horses without 
 making, or endeavouring to make them pay. It 
 became abundantly evident to Sir Hercules that 
 unless patrons of the turf of a higher and purer 
 class could be tempted to own and run race-horses, 
 the noble sport in question would soon degenerate 
 into open, undisguised brigandism, and would end 
 in being swept away by the indignant public opinion 
 of a vast majority of the inhabitants of Sydney, 
 Melbourne, Adelaide, and Brisbane, to say nothing of 
 New Zealand and its numerous cities, and of the 
 other islands which make up the Australasian group. 
 
RANDWICK 97 
 
 " Under these circumstances, Sir Hercules, being an 
 excellent judge of horseflesh, and, like most Irishmen, 
 ardently attached to all kinds of sport, came to a 
 conclusion which has since proved fertile of blessings 
 to the growing cities and populations of Australia. 
 He made up his mind that he would himself buy and 
 breed some race-horses, and that, for the first time 
 since, much earlier in the "century, Lord Charles 
 Somerset was Governor of Cape Colony, the colours . 
 of a Colonial Governor should be seen on, the race- 
 courses at Randwick, near Sydney, and at Flemington, 
 near Melbourne. The beneficial consequences which 
 have arisen from this wise policy it would be difficult 
 to exaggerate. The Governor's 'white and red 
 spots' the same colours that the late and present 
 !^ords. -Zetland have long made familiar in this 
 country, and which became universally popular when 
 JVoltigeur won the Derby and St Leger in 1850 
 .were often carried to victory, and the triumphs thus 
 achieved were enthusiastically greeted by the teeming 
 crowds assembled at Randwick and elsewhere. Sir 
 Hercules became and so remained until he finally 
 bade farewell to Sydney the most idolised Governor 
 that Sydney had ever known. His sporting example 
 was followed by other men of wealth and high 
 character, with the result that race-horses are now no 
 longer owned and manipulated by the dregs of the 
 Australian population, but are in the hands of some 
 of the wealthiest and most high-minded families that 
 dwell under the Southern Cross. As a reward for his 
 - valuable services to the turf, the English Jockey Club 
 made Sir Hercules an honorary member, and it was 
 generally understood that all his opinions about the 
 disadvantage of continually recurring sprint races, 
 
 G 
 
98 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 and as to the fatal effects thereby produced upon the 
 breed of English race-horses, were the same as those 
 held by Lord Coventry and ''Mr James Lowther, and 
 repeated still more emphatically by Mr John Porter 
 in his latest work." London' Daily Telegraph, $oth 
 October 1897. 
 
 The statement that "race-horses are no longer 
 owned and manipulated by the dregs of the 
 Australian population " is coming it a bit too strong, 
 and is altogether of too sweeping a character. If the 
 writer would only look back to the records of racing, 
 he will find there, long before Sir Hercules' arrival on 
 the scene, the names of some of the most honoured 
 families in Australia. 
 
 You can't very well class the following as belonging 
 to " the dregs of the Australian population " viz. the 
 Fishers, Powers, Hentys, A. K. Finlay, Coldham, 
 Phillips, W. J. Clarke, Patterson, Tozer, Crook, 
 Goyder, Cowell, Robertson, Wagner, Petty, Dr Baths, 
 George Watson, Wakley, Haines, Bowler, and many 
 more of similar class, representing horse-owners in 
 Victoria; and in New South Wales the names of Messrs 
 E. K. Cox, John Eales, De Mestre, John and Edward 
 Lee, Kent, Rouse, Andrew Town, W. A. Long, W. 
 R. Hall, C. M. Lloyd, Winch, and Tait occur to me 
 as representing horse-racing in that particular Colony. 
 It therefore goes without saying that the random 
 statement I have referred to is libellous to a degree. 
 
 New South Wales has had for years the proud 
 distinction of producing some of our best race- 
 horses. The breeding establishments of the late 
 Andrew Town, Hon. James White, Hon. John 
 Eales, and James Mitchell having for years had the 
 field to themselves, the only establishment of any 
 
RANDWICK 99 
 
 note in Victoria rivalling them to any extent being 
 that of Mr W. R. Wilson, -of St Albans, near Geelong. 
 
 Tom Clibborn not only is the presiding genius at 
 Randwick, but he is the-"Tattersall " of New South 
 Wales, and the yearling sales conducted by him are 
 one of the features of the racing year, attracting as 
 they do a goodly crowd of visitors from all the 
 neighbouring Colonies. 
 
 As in England, it seems as if the day for pheno- 
 menal prices had gone by, but a well-bred, shapely 
 yearling generally fetches a fair price. I have 
 attended yearling sales in England at Middle Park 
 in Mr Blenkiron's time, and have listened to Mr 
 Edmund Tattersall when coaxing thousands out of 
 the young bloods, who from the tops of their coaches 
 would do battle royal for the possession of some 
 aristocratic youngster, and I have heard my friend 
 Clibborn in Australia expatiate in a most eloquent 
 manner on the pedigree and make and shape of the 
 various lots submitted. 
 
 The principal sale of the year was that held at 
 Hobartville, New South Wales, the stud farm of the 
 late Andrew Town. The rostrum was placed under the 
 shade of a magnificent English elm, and the youngsters 
 were walked up and down one of the most beautiful 
 avenues of English trees to be found in all Australia. 
 Andrew Town was a typical Englishman, and he so 
 arranged his home and all that surrounded it, with the 
 view of rendering it English-like in every possible 
 particular. The paddocks were laid down with rye- 
 grass and clover; elms and oaks were dotted here 
 and there, and under their pleasant shade would be 
 grouped the mares and their foals, studies worthy of a 
 Herring. A visit to Hobartville in congenial company 
 
too SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 in the early spring was an experience which will 
 always be associated with pleasant memories. 
 
 At one of the annual sales, a friend of mine was 
 bent upon securing a youngster, which had rilled his 
 eye when making his customary inspection prior to 
 the sale commencing, but he was desirous that his 
 wish to purchase the colt in question should be kept 
 secret, and he arranged with the auctioneer that he 
 was to advance twenty-five guineas upon any one else's 
 bid, so long as he stood in a certain place, and " kept 
 his thumb in his waistcoat." The particular yearling 
 was in due time brought into the Ring, and to my 
 friend's surprise, was started at one thousand guineas. 
 The auctioneer, as arranged, called, "One thousand and 
 twenty-five guineas I'm offered." " One thousand five 
 hundred guineas ! " said my friend, to the astonish- 
 ment of the auctioneer. Other bids followed, but they 
 were all topped by the pre-arranged twenty-five 
 guineas, until an offer of one thousand seven hundred 
 and fifty guineas was reached, when my friend, in his 
 eager excitement, forgetting all about the arrange- 
 ment of "his thumb in his waistcoat," and his 
 bids of twenty-five guineas, made one offer of two 
 thousand guineas, at which price the colt was secured. 
 After the sale he discovered, much to his chagrin, that 
 he had paid two hundred and twenty-five guineas 
 more for the youngster than he need have done, had 
 he but remembered " his thumb in his waistcoat." 
 
 Oddly enough, whilst New South Wales produces 
 some of the best flat racers to be found in all the 
 Colonies, the best steeple-chase horses are nearly all 
 bred in Victoria or Tasmania, and steeple-chasing, from 
 some cause which is somewhat difficult to divine, has 
 never been such a popular branch of sport in Sydney 
 as it is in Melbourne. It is only quite recently that a 
 
RANDWICK IOT 
 
 Grand National has been established, but the enthusi- 
 asm displayed over jumping events is lukewarm in the 
 extreme, and nearly all the " hurdles and steeples " 
 are won by horses from the other Colonies. 
 
 This is much to be wondered at, as Clibborn, like 
 most of his countrymen, dearly loves to see a bit of 
 " lepping," and years ago, when he belonged to the 
 Ballarat Brigade, owned a jumper called Tell Tale, 
 which Tommy Corrigan, when a lad, used to groom. 
 Tom was then such a brat of a boy, that it was neces- 
 sary for him to stand upon a gin-case to enable him 
 properly to perform his duties. The fact, neverthe- 
 less, remains that, notwithstanding Clibborn's influence 
 and predilections, steeple-chasing is only supported in 
 a half-hearted manner by the New South Welshmen. 
 
 A rather novel, but at the same time a most sports- 
 manlike incident arose in connection with a steeple- 
 chase run at Randwick. Two young squatters owned 
 respectively the winner and the second in the race, 
 but the owner of the beaten horse disapproved of the 
 way in which his horse was ridden, and considered 
 that, had his instructions been carried out, the positions 
 would have been reversed. To settle the point at 
 issue a match was made this time, owners up. In this 
 race they galloped side by side, neither one or the 
 other of them being able to gain any decided advan- 
 tage ; they flew their fences together until the last but 
 one from home. Here one of the horses rapped pretty 
 hard, and the rider lost his seat. His opponent, instead 
 of taking advantage of the mishap, pulled up, went down 
 the straight, found his friend to be uninjured, waited 
 until he remounted, and then said, "Come on, we'll 
 have a fair flutter home." A trifle quixotic, it is true, 
 but the hearty cheers which greeted him when he 
 
102 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 passed the post, a winner by a length, must have been 
 very pleasant music for him to hear. 
 
 Some of Carbine's best performances took place at 
 Randwick, but he once suffered defeat here also. This 
 was brought about by the fact that his jockey, Mick 
 O'Brien, was too ill and weak. He was suffering from 
 a bad attack of asthma, and was unable to do his 
 mount justice, and Abercorn, the property of the Hon. 
 James White, gained the verdict. I suppose Abercorn 
 was one of the handsomest horses that ever looked 
 through a bridle. He was a bright chestnut, with 
 white stockings, and his coat used to glint in the 
 sunshine like burnished copper. To my mind, he was 
 the most beautiful race-horse I have ever seen. His 
 performances, too, were in every way commensurate 
 with his looks, for he was the best horse of his day in 
 New South Wales. 
 
 I have so far in my scribbling made very few, if 
 any, reference to our Australian jockeys, but the 
 mention of Abercorn brings to my mind the man 
 who rode him so frequently to victory Tom Hales. 
 Now, I am not a great admirer of Australian jockeys 
 as a rule ; there is frequently too much of the butcher 
 boy about them, but Tom Hales was in his day fit to 
 take his place alongside the English Archers, Loates, 
 Woods, Webbs, and Watts of to-day. He had perfect 
 hands, a good seat, and was a great judge of pace. 
 How, many a time and oft, has he timed his run so 
 as to turn what would seem hopeless defeat into a 
 brilliant victory. The manner in which he fairly out- 
 rode Derritt in the Melbourne Derby of 1888, when 
 Carbine's victory was loudly proclaimed, but Hales, 
 amidst tremendous excitement, brought up Ensign 
 with a terrific rush, like a bolt from the blue, 
 completely flabbergasted Derritt, and won, by sheer 
 
RANDWICK 103 
 
 jockeyship, on the post by a head. The best three- 
 year-old did not win the Derby that year. 
 
 It was at Randwick that Carbine scored, to my 
 mind, his most brilliant victory. It was in a weight- 
 for-age race of, I think, a mile and a half, that a horse, 
 named Lochiel, one of our most brilliant sprinters, 
 went off at score, and placed such a gap between 
 himself and the rest of the field, that pursuit seemed 
 hopeless, Carbine pottering along a considerable 
 distance in the rear. When about half a mile from 
 home, O'Brien, on Carbine, seemed to realise that it was 
 time to be moving : he then set down like a workman, 
 drove the old horse along, and passing his field one 
 by one, managed inch by inch to overhaul Lochiel, and 
 win. I have heard men of the greatest experience 
 say that this was the most brilliant, as well as the 
 most extraordinary performance they ever witnessed. 
 
 Pages could be written concerning the numerous 
 successes of the Hon. James White's stable, under the 
 " two Toms," Payton and Hales, but they are largely 
 enough written in the records of the Australian Turf 
 to need little but passing mention here. The stable 
 for some few years was well-nigh invincible, and never 
 were colours carried first past the post more popular 
 than the blue and white jacket of the Hon. James 
 White. 
 
 To dilate upon the brilliant gatherings at Randwick 
 is unnecessary. The fact that they have almost a 
 world-wide interest cannot be questioned, and the 
 parent Colony may well be proud of the position the 
 sport of racing has attained under the management 
 of the Committee of the Australian Jockey Club. 
 
 During one of my visits to Sydney, I had the 
 
io 4 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 honour of being introduced to the Hon. W. Bede 
 Dalley, an orator and a statesman of the first rank, 
 and whose action, when Premier, in despatching the 
 Australian Contingent to the Soudan, will ever be 
 remembered as a bold stroke of policy, proclaiming 
 as it did to the world that the attachment of the 
 Colonies to the Mother Country existed not only in 
 name, but that it was a living sentiment, which, should 
 occasion arise, would rouse Old England's sons across 
 the seas, and show her enemies that they were ever 
 ready to stand, shoulder to shoulder, with the Boys of 
 the Old Brigade, in defence of the Empire. A more 
 charming personage than Mr Dalley it would be 
 impossible to meet. He was affability itself, and I 
 treasure up in my memory the hour I spent with him, 
 discussing various topics, over an excellent bottle of 
 claret, in his bijou residence, overlooking Sydney 
 Harbour. 
 
 Another remarkable man was old Sir John 
 Robertson. It was he who described Victoria as 
 only a " cabbage garden," and really, compared with 
 the vast area of the other Colonies, the term was 
 not, after all, so very much misapplied ; but Sir John 
 was soundly abused by some few irate Victorians 
 for making this, to them, disparaging allusion. A 
 good many quaint sayings are attributed to Sir John 
 Robertson, and after spending a few hours in his 
 company, it could readily be conceived that the 
 quaintest sayings imaginable would not be altogether 
 too improbable for this eccentric, but clever old 
 gentleman to utter. 
 
 The old Reform Club, of which he was President, 
 was his happy hunting-ground, and he was surrounded 
 by some of the very best men in Sydney, and a 
 
RANDWICK 105 
 
 visitor was always assured of the heartiest of wel- 
 comes. Charles Goodchap, the Commissioner for Rail- 
 ways, was another leading spirit, who would arrange 
 excursions, luncheon parties, and dinners, leaving no 
 stone unturned to render one's holiday enjoyable. 
 
 I recently met a much travelled American. He 
 had just returned from making a tour round the 
 world, and when discussing the countries he had 
 visited, and the people he had met, he said : " There's 
 no possible doubt that for pure and unstinted hospi- 
 tality, Australians are easily first. I regretted leaving 
 Australia more than any other place I went to, for 
 I felt I was leaving friends behind." In casting my 
 mind back over what I have written, I find that the 
 word " hospitality," accompanied with some laudatory 
 adjective, is frequently used, and I gladly quote the 
 American gentleman's opinion, because it so thoroughly 
 coincides with my own. This is, however, by the way, 
 and I simply introduce the reference, because I do not 
 wish it to appear that I in any way unduly belaud a 
 most marked and much-to-be-admired characteristic 
 of our friends, " down under." 
 
 Judge Forbes, with whom I became on very friendly 
 terms, was a marvellous specimen of the young-old 
 gentleman one occasionally meets. He was a good 
 all-round man. Although very slight, he was very 
 agile, and could take his part with credit in a rough- 
 and-tumble, and was, for his years, seventy or upwards, 
 the best billiard player I have ever come across. No 
 matter how many young fellows might be playing 
 "Pool" at the club, the invitation, "Take a ball, Judge?" 
 was never refused, and I have seen him make some 
 remarkably good shots. His experiences on the 
 bench extended over a period of more than thirty 
 
106 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 years, and it was a genuine treat after dinner to get 
 the dear old gentleman to recount his adventures. 
 
 One of his summings up is unique in its way. At 
 one of the Assize Courts, held in an up-country town- 
 ship, a man was placed in the dock on the charge of 
 theft, and when interrogated by the Judge's Associate, 
 " Prisoner at the Bar, how do you plead ? " re- 
 plied with a regular hang-dog look, as he touched 
 his forelock, " Guilty, your Honour." No sooner had 
 this plea been uttered than one of those dilapidated 
 ne'er-do-well briefless old barristers, who haunt police 
 courts, courts of assize, or any place where there is a 
 chance of picking up a stray guinea, jumped up, and 
 said : " I beg your Honour's pardon ; he intinded to 
 say ' Not guilty.' " Old Judge Forbes looked over 
 his pince-nez^ and said : " Oh ! then let the case pro- 
 ceed." Evidence of a most damaging character was 
 called, but the eloquence of the Irish advocate 
 was absolutely irresistible. He depicted in most 
 eloquent and graphic terms the ruin of a bright 
 "career, the blasting of a happy home, the suffering 
 wife and helpless children (the blank astonishment 
 on the " mug " of the prisoner as he heard all these 
 pathetic pleas on his behalf was a study), with the 
 result that the hearts of the jury were melted ; and 
 animated by nought but sympathy for the poor, mis- 
 guided wretch who stood before them, they, without 
 hesitation without even leaving the box returned 
 a verdict of " Not guilty." Judge Forbes's face is now 
 a study as he settles himself in his chair, and with 
 eyebrows raised, and a look of puzzled astonishment, 
 thus addresses the culprit. He said : " Prisoner at 
 the Bar, you admit you are a thief; the jury say 
 you are a liar you can go." 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Victorian Club was established in 1880. Its 
 functions were precisely similar to those of the 
 English Tattersalls, as far as the settlement of betting 
 disputes and other like matters were concerned, but 
 it combined with these a social status, to which I will 
 refer later on. There had for years been a " Tatter- 
 salls " in Melbourne ; in fact there was a " Tattersalls " 
 existent in the year referred to, but it did not last 
 long after the establishment of the Victorian Club. 
 The circumstances which brought the new club 
 into existence, and which were responsible for the 
 downfall of Tattersalls, arose through the Committee 
 of Tattersalls and the leading bookmakers getting 
 to loggerheads, with the result that the principal 
 metallicians resigned their membership, and then set 
 to work to found a new club, which was called the 
 Victorian. The " Bookies " must have had consider- 
 able justification for making the move they did, as 
 the new club received the countenance and support 
 of the principal racing authorities, and rapidly gained 
 a prominence and prestige which was not accorded 
 the old Tattersalls. 
 
 Amongst the earliest Committee-men of the new 
 institution might be found the names of Captain 
 
 109 
 
no SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 Standish, the Chairman of the Victoria Racing Club, 
 Messrs A. K. Finlay, Robt. Power, Herbert Power, 
 Donald Wallace, A. W. Robertson, J. L. Purves, 
 W. Leonard, John Whittingham, Hon. Wm. Pearson, 
 and men of that class, and all, by the way, at one 
 time or another, members of the Committee of the 
 Victoria Racing Club men who could with justice 
 be designated pillars of the Turf. Under such 
 auspices it was not surprising that the club prospered 
 exceedingly. The Committee's decisions, when it 
 was a question of thousands and thousands of pounds 
 being at stake, were cheerfully complied with, and 
 no man, whatever his grievance, ever questioned the 
 justice of the awards. 
 
 In a young community, such as Melbourne, where 
 the major portion of those with "sportin' blood" in 
 their veins have had but little experience, disputes 
 and misunderstandings are doubtless of more frequent 
 occurrence than in England, but, at the present time, 
 the judiciary powers of the Committee, and their 
 interpretation of racing or betting laws, are rarely 
 called into requisition. 
 
 The members' roll increased year by year, and the 
 club soon had a considerable cash balance to its 
 credit. So prosperous, indeed, was it, that when some 
 few years later the opportunity came for shifting into 
 more commodious premises, the Committee at once 
 embraced the idea, and rooms were specially designed 
 and built for the accommodation of the members. 
 
 The club was most luxuriously furnished, and 
 became the rendezvous, not only of the leading 
 sportsmen of the Colonies, but business and pro- 
 fessional people, who did not come within the 
 category of sporting characters, joined, as there was 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB in 
 
 always something amusing and interesting going 
 on at the Rooms. 
 
 The better-class bookmaker and the majority 
 of the pencillers who virtually founded the club 
 belonged, I can safely say, to that class is generally 
 a well-informed man, and often a most amusing 
 raconteur, and to spend a few hours of the evening 
 at the Club Rooms became quite the vogue. Doctors, 
 lawyers, barristers, and leading merchants were 
 frequently to be found discussing not always 
 racing or sporting topics, but topics such as politics, 
 parliamentary, hospital elections, etc., would form 
 the subject matter of many and many a debate. 
 The " Bookies' " votes were reckoned of considerable 
 moment, whether the candidate was seeking a seat 
 in Parliament, the City Council, or a place at the 
 Hospital Board. Not only were their votes sought 
 for by the various candidates, but- their interest 
 also, which perhaps meant more than their individual 
 votes, for when once the bookmakers took sides, they 
 proffered their help in no half-hearted manner. If they 
 had not carriages of their own, they hired them, and 
 brought up voters to the poll by the score, and 
 I must say they generally got their man in. 
 
 The opening of the new club-house was honoured 
 by a visit from Sir Henry, now Lord Loch, the 
 then Governor of Victoria, and Lord Carrington, the 
 Governor of New South Wales, and its prestige 
 reached a very high standard. The late Governor, 
 Lord Hopetoun, made frequent visits, especially when 
 the Annual Billiard Tournaments were in progress. 
 
 Some exciting scenes were occasionally enacted 
 at these billiard tournaments, and some ludicrous 
 incidents occurred. The betting outright on the 
 
ii2 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 different handicaps, as also on individual games, was 
 sometimes rather heavy, and it was no slight ordeal for 
 a man, unaccustomed to appear in public, and whose 
 skill as a cueist was not above mediocrity, to face 
 the music and " cock a deaf 'un " to the running fire 
 of critics, whose remarks were not of too choice or 
 flattering a character. " Order on the stroke ! " was 
 a fatal announcement to a nervous man. Ordinarily, 
 a fair all-round player, when not the cynosure of 
 all eyes, he absolutely collapsed when " in the pit." I 
 have seen men who would, under ordinary circum- 
 stances, exhibit any amount of nerve, become so 
 fogged that they did not seem capable of dis- 
 tinguishing the red ball from the white. 
 
 When once the date of the Billiard Tournament 
 was announced, the principal competitors went, so 
 to speak, into training, and " trial gallops," and 
 private lessons became the order of the day, but 
 the nervousness to which I have referred simply 
 unmanned many of them, and they went down before 
 players much inferior to themselves in skill, but 
 whose nervous susceptibilities were less acute. 
 
 Many of the players were most punctilious with 
 regard to their get-up ; others, on the contrary, were 
 peculiar and eccentric. I shall never forget one man 
 coming into the room when his game was called, 
 enveloped in a loud - coloured dressing-gown, like 
 Joseph's coat, of many colours. His appearance 
 was greeted with an outburst of laughter, and the 
 scene was ludicrous in the extreme ; it was certainly 
 calculated to disconcert his opponent, had he been 
 other than an old warrior at the game. It was 
 some little time before order was restored, and the 
 objectionable garment relegated to the cloak-room. 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB 113 
 
 Another player came, not by any means an 
 unusual thing, in spotless evening dress. He had, 
 I think, been a sailor man, as he certainly started 
 chewing "a quid," and fortifying himself ever and 
 anon with nips of rum. Of course he carried, as is 
 customary with players of consequence, his own 
 chalk, but his difficulty as the game progressed was 
 to find a pocket to put it into, and quite oblivious of 
 the fact, he, in his vain endeavours to find the said 
 pocket, kept chalking his clothes all over, until 
 towards the finish of the game he might have been 
 taken for a miller. He had, in fact, hocussed himself, 
 for in tossing off a glass of rum, he swallowed with 
 it his quid of tobacco. 
 
 The fun and genuine enjoyment got out of these 
 Annual Tournaments would fill far more space than 
 can well be afforded, and could only possibly interest 
 those immediately taking part in them. Who, for 
 
 instance, could ever forget little Kelly M , or the 
 
 tragic earnestness with which he entered the lists, 
 and his indignation if, whilst in the act of making 
 a stroke, an onlooker happened to cough or make 
 a remark sufficiently loud for him to hear. I have 
 often heard him say to the biggest man in the club, 
 " I'll fight you, sir," and he looked as if he meant it, 
 but he soon cooled down, and the utmost good-humour 
 as a rule prevailed. 
 
 No little credit for the success of these tourna- 
 ments is due to Joe Byrne, the handicapper, and the 
 Secretary's factotum. The members have implicit 
 faith in his judgment and thorough honesty, and 
 although mistakes might occasionally creep in, his 
 efforts to bring the players together were in the 
 highest degree successful, and it was not at all 
 
 H 
 
ii 4 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 an unusual thing for a game of 250 up to be called 
 249, all. 
 
 Joe Byrne is deservedly a great favourite. He has 
 been connected with the club in various capacities 
 some seventeen or eighteen years, and no matter 
 what the position occupied, he has served it faith- 
 fully and well. Byrne was at one time champion 
 billiard-player of Australia, but he never could, in 
 public, approach his private form, his hypersensitive 
 nature preventing him doing himself justice. He was 
 not afraid of being beaten, but he fretted about his 
 backers losing their money. A more attractive 
 player never handled a cue, and it was always a 
 treat to watch Joe playing with such men as Sam 
 Grimwood (amateur champion), Phil Glenister, Harry 
 Haines, or little Johnnie Colman giving them always 
 half the game. 
 
 I am under the impression that the originator 
 of these tournaments was Barney Thompson, who, 
 years ago, presented a handsome silver cup for 
 competition ; and this was won, I think, by Sam 
 Grimwood. In those days, however, the contestants 
 were principally bookmakers, but by degrees the lay 
 element began to take greater interest in these annual 
 tournaments, until the number competing would 
 sometimes exceed one hundred. Leading barristers, 
 lawyers, doctors, young squatters from the adjacent 
 Colonies, would enter the lists, until the Victorian 
 Club Billiard Tournament became quite an inter- 
 colonial affair, and the talk of the town. " Standing 
 room only," would be the announcement when any 
 of the crack players met to try conclusions. Valuable 
 prizes were presented, and the keenest interest was 
 evoked. 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB 115 
 
 For many years it was the custom to have a 
 banquet, at which the presentation of the prizes 
 would form quite a leading feature. This dinner was 
 an event, and I really think it was an excellent thing 
 in its way, as it brought the members together, and 
 helped to maintain the social aspect of the club. The 
 whole function resolved itself into quite a variety 
 entertainment. The theatrical profession lent their 
 aid, and variety artistes were ever ready to do a turn. 
 Add to the professional element the amateur musician 
 and vocalist, of whom there were not a few, and it can 
 well be imagined that we all had a good time. But 
 woe betide the amateur who was not quite up to 
 concert form ; ominous murmurs of disapproval 
 would reach his ears, and "thumbs up" would be 
 the decree. 
 
 In lieu of these dinners smoking concerts are now 
 given in the large room, and they, too, are in every 
 way great successes, and help to maintain that 
 entente cordiale which it is so desirable to foster in 
 institutions of this class. 
 
 Of practical jokers we had a fair percentage, but 
 whilst the temper of the member experimented upon 
 might occasionally be sorely tried, I don't think I 
 was ever cognisant of practical joking being carried 
 to any cruel or vicious extent. If a man had any 
 little weakness or failing, it did not remain undis- 
 covered long, and woe betide him if he cut up rough, 
 and resented the chaff. If, however, he good- 
 humouredly submitted to the jokes played off at 
 his expense, he was not interfered with to any extent, 
 but the manner in which some of the men were 
 "kidded" is almost beyond credence. The billiard- 
 room was the favourite resort of the members of the 
 
ii6 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 "kidding brigade," who, if they could only get a 
 couple of moderate players who fancied themselves 
 a wee bit to take a cue, would commence betting on 
 the result of the game. A modest fiver would be 
 perhaps invested on A, when B's friends would 
 gather round, until tenners, " double fins," and even 
 ponies would be laid and taken all round the room. 
 On such occasions intense nervousness would 
 completely nonplus some of the players, and " I 
 wish you fellows would not bet on my game," would 
 be the plaintive remark of one of the victims to the 
 "spoof." The application of a little soap to the tip 
 of his cue did not improve the nervous man's stroke, 
 and all his backers would proffer another with, 
 " Try this one, Mr So-and-so," but the result would 
 be all the same. Remarks would be made loud 
 enough for the poor bewildered man to hear, such 
 as, "Are we getting a run for our money?" " Is he 
 a trier?'*' and such like comments, that stung the 
 poor fellow to the quick, and he, under the circum- 
 stances, could not make the most simple strokes, 
 and would be badly beaten. Perhaps two or three 
 hundred pounds would change hands, all the wagers 
 being what is termed " schlenter." 
 
 There are doubtless bookmakers and bookmakers, 
 but speaking from an experience of some fifteen odd 
 years, during which period I was daily thrown in contact 
 with them, I think the bookmaking members of the 
 Victorian Club would compare favourably with their 
 confreres in any part of the world. We had some 
 objectionable characters, it is true, but the bulk of 
 their number were kind-hearted and generous fellows. 
 No one ever appealed to them in vain in the cause of 
 charity. They were good husbands and good fathers. 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB 117 
 
 No matter what their antecedents and bringing up 
 might have been, their children's education was their 
 first care, and the best schools and colleges were not 
 too good for them. 
 
 We had some comical characters amongst them, 
 and a good many what is termed " bush lawyers." This 
 latter class would argue for hours over any conceiv- 
 able subject, if they could only get an audience patient 
 enough to listen to them. The greatest I was going 
 to say offender in this respect was Teddy Sampson, 
 but that term would not be justifiable in his case, 
 because he was undoubtedly a well-read, educated 
 man, and as a rule knew what he was talking about. 
 Teddy Sampson was a cousin of " Pendragon," 
 the founder of the London Referee, and was 
 naturally proud of his kinsman, and I must say I was 
 delighted when, on his visit to Australia, Teddy 
 introduced him to me. Poor Teddy battled hard 
 against the ill-luck which befell him in his latter days. 
 He was, I think, more than ordinarily successful on 
 the turf, owning in his time some good horses, and 
 winning some good races ; but during the closing years 
 of his lifetime nothing would go right with him, and 
 rather than be unable to face the music on settling 
 day, he preferred to risk another settlement so blew 
 out his brains. Every one was sorry for poor Teddy 
 Sampson, and many of his colleagues would have 
 held out a helping hand with something in it but 
 he was too proud and too sensitive to ask assistance. 
 
 I suppose Joe Thompson is now as well known 
 amongst sporting circles in England as he was 
 throughout Australia, so when I say he was a 
 prominent character, not only on the race-course, but 
 also at the club, the statement will be received 
 
n8 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 without question. He was known by the title of 
 the "King of the Ring," and the title was not 
 misplaced, for he is no doubt a far-seeing and 
 very clever man ; and had the Fates so ruled it, 
 and Joe had been destined for another career, he 
 would certainly have made his mark. He is irre- 
 pressible, and, I was going to say, immortal those 
 who know him well, say you could not kill him, even 
 with a meat axe for I don't believe there is another 
 man living who can present such a healthy and youth- 
 ful appearance after so many years of" battling," and 
 its attendant excitement. His ready wit and quaint 
 sayings have been a source of infinite amusement to 
 me for years. 
 
 Irrespective of these qualities, however, Joe 
 Thompson was remarkable for his wonderful judg- 
 ment of character. Many a time I have seen a man 
 enter the club in a sort of nonchalant way, pick up 
 a daily paper, commence to whistle, his thoughts 
 apparently dwelling upon the prospects of the harvest 
 or the price of silver, or any subject save horse-racing. 
 Joe would remark to me: " I wonder what he wants to 
 back ? I must find out. I'll ask him to come up to the 
 crow bar and have a ( tiddly.' " Before that man left 
 the club, Joe had probably laid him a ,20,000 
 wager, or had got the strength of some particular 
 stable. 
 
 I well remember the Derby of 1881. A colt called 
 Somerset, the property of Mr Edward Lee, of Sydney, 
 but an inmate of old Jim Wilson's stable at St Albans, 
 had been a strong favourite all through the winter, and 
 his arrival at headquarters was looked forward to with 
 considerable interest, as the stable, when they planked 
 down the dollars, made few mistakes. When, however, 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB 119 
 
 the team reached the training-ground at Flemington, 
 Thompson and some of his immediate friends were 
 there, just to have a look, " don't you know," with the 
 result that the inspection was unfavourable. The 
 horse had gone off, and the stable connections were 
 anxious to get out of their money, but Joe had no 
 love for old Jim Wilson in these days, and when 
 the business of the evening began, he was deter- 
 mined that neither he, nor any of those connected 
 with him, should hedge a shilling. He was as good 
 as his word, and peppered Somerset to such an 
 extent, that they had no help for it they had " to 
 carry the baby." 
 
 Ben Bolt's Caulfield Cup was, however, quite another 
 " pair of shoes." If he won the Cup, Joe was going to 
 eat him, hoofs and all, so he peppered him accordingly. 
 Ben Bolt, did, however, win, but Joe dined en Prince^ 
 as was his wont, at home, and the menu contained no 
 reference to " Pieds de Cheval a la Ben Bolt" Joe 
 Thompson, besides being dubbed "King of the 
 Ring," ought certainly to have had the additional 
 title of the " Godfather of the Ring," inasmuch as 
 few escaped some soubriquet or other bestowed upon 
 them by him. Some of the men took their nomen- 
 clature kindly, whilst others rather resented the 
 liberty, but the names thus bestowed stuck to the 
 men ever after. 
 
 I was present one day at a lunch party, when Joe 
 was invited, but he never ate lunch ; his breakfast 
 usually lasted him until dinner time, but he joined 
 the party later. Amongst the company was the late 
 Sir William Clarke, and most of the leading racing 
 men in Melbourne. The conversation on Joe's 
 arrival turned naturally to turf affairs, and "honest" 
 
120 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 and " stiff" running came in for its share of comment, 
 when Sir William, the most amiable of men, remarked 
 that "he was always only too pleased to win, no 
 matter how small the stake," and " I never bet, Mr 
 Thompson." Joe replied in his blandest and most 
 fetching style : " Ah but, Sir William, you know we 
 all look upon you, sir, as the Lord Falmouth of the 
 Sunny South." A heartier burst of laughter was never 
 heard within four walls than that which greeted Joe's 
 quick-witted reply. 
 
 However, I must remember I am not writing the Life 
 and Adventures of Joe Thompson. Such a book would, 
 I fancy, furnish some rather interesting reading, but 
 he was such a conspicuous figure in all sporting 
 circles, that he fills up a very large space in my 
 " Reminiscences." 
 
 One more little incident that is much impressed upon 
 my memory, as I happened to be one of the principals 
 engaged. During one of the Billiard Tournaments I 
 was drawn against a leading double-event man, towards 
 whom Joe Thompson did not entertain a particularly 
 friendly feeling, and whose prowess in the pit, as he 
 termed it, he somewhat doubted. The eventful even- 
 ing arrived, and the betting opened. My opponent 
 was a strong favourite, ?'s to 4 and 2 J s to I being 
 freely laid on him. He was backed by one of the 
 most respected Ringmen, who was himself a first-class 
 player, and who had been coaching and giving him 
 trial gallops for some weeks previously. Excitement 
 ran high, and thousands of pounds were wagered 
 on the game. Previous to the game commencing, I 
 was cautioned in a most friendly way not to lose my 
 own money, as my opponent would be sure to " down 
 me/' After an unusually tough game, I won, Joe 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB 121 
 
 Thompson's estimate of the fortitude of my antagonist 
 proving correct. At the conclusion of the game I 
 received congratulations all round, my backers being 
 jubilant, but Joe, who had won a good stake, capped 
 everything by slapping me on the back, remarking, 
 " By Gad, Boss, you played like a bloomin' arch- 
 angel ! " 
 
 Joe Thompson's bosom friend was, and is still, I 
 suppose, Alfred Joseph, a man of quite a different 
 stamp, a big bettor, but he has a much milder manner, 
 uses his persuasive eloquence when dealing with a 
 client, and during business hours rarely uses a big, big 
 D. Mr Joseph was, prior to his taking up his 
 residence in Melbourne, a councillor and leading 
 citizen of Bendigo, the great mining centre; he 
 is now looked upon as the leader of the Victorian 
 Ring, but his opportunities for displaying his powers 
 of generalship are not many, as the good old days, 
 when money was plentiful and betting was big, seem 
 gone probably for ever. 
 
 It is not my intention to go through the list of 
 members of the club seriatim, but I must not omit 
 referring to another prominent man, the " Count." 
 He is not only prominent, but he is popular. There 
 is a story told about him, the truth of which I 
 don't think he denies, to the effect that he and a 
 friend went out driving one day, but before going 
 far on their journey, the horse suddenly developed 
 lameness. "Count's" friend, who was handling the 
 ribbons, said, " Get out, Nat, I think he's picked up 
 a stone." "Count" jumped out, and went to look in 
 the horse's mouth, and said, "he couldn't see one." 
 " Count " has always openly averred he knew nothing, 
 and did not want to know anything about horses. 
 
i*4 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 and>ig up his pencil, he would say, " This is good 
 
 an<gh for me." 
 
 a<;f course many of the Ringmen have risen from 
 
 ,fy obscure and humble beginnings, and have attained 
 , to fairly good positions in life without the aid of 
 ; a College Education ; but the fact that the non- 
 Development of some of Nature's attributes gives 
 
 atoional keenness to the others is never more 
 Jic'ibly exemplified than in the case of illiterate men 
 who have a fancy for figures. They arrive, so to speak, 
 at perfectly correct conclusions, without knowing the 
 why or the wherefore, but they say, what does it 
 matter, if it " comes out all right in the wash." 
 
 The names of two men, both moderately successful, 
 recur to me, whose mastery of "English as she is spoke " 
 was not their strong point. Strangely enough, they 
 were both short and stout, one of them having parti- 
 cularly short legs ; it was quite amusing to see him 
 sitting on an ordinary chair, his feet dangling some 
 few inches from the ground. He was not a bad sort 
 of fellow at all, but was a bit superstitious, and 
 occasionally, on the eve of a big race, used to consult 
 a fortune-teller, in whose predictions he had great 
 confidence, as he used to relate that on his first inter- 
 view, she had remarked that she could tell " I was a 
 * widder.' " He on one occasion visited the theatre, and 
 when asked what part of the house he went to, said : 
 " Oh, I had a couple of seats in the oyster stalls." 
 
 When the news of the successful dtbut of a young 
 Australian actress reached Melbourne, great satis- 
 faction was expressed at her favourable reception in 
 London, and the matter was being commented upon 
 by a posse of the members, when Geordie remarked 
 that, " These 'ere Australians are comin' to the front, 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB I25 
 
 and no mistake. What with rovvin', cricketin', ^ ^ o 
 fightin', they're first on the rank (he had been a ^he 
 man), and now we has this ere young lady takin><y 
 front seat. Well," he says, " my gal '11 make 'em si,' 
 up one of these days too." " Indeed," remarked one 
 of the group, " what can she do, Geordie ? " " Why. 
 lor bless yer, she's goin' to make her mark dancj?'." 
 " You don't say so ! " said one. " Well," he says, " ^ er 
 ought to see her dance the * Hornpike,' they can \ 
 play the bloomin' peeanner fast enough for her, and 
 as for the 'Mineray' well, you ought to see 'er, and 
 then you'll believe me, when I says Australia's comin 1 
 to the front ! " He then smole such a smile of satis- 
 faction, that we one and all expressed the hope that 
 the future of his " gal " might be as successful as he 
 predicted. 
 
 One very sultry night, when every one was palpitat- 
 ing and perspiring, owing to the unusually, even for 
 Sydney, oppressive heat, some one emptied half a 
 tumbler full of water into the side pocket, which 
 contained his handkerchief. A little later he was 
 accosted by a fellow member, with the remark that 
 these were melting moments. " Yes," he replied, as he 
 pulled out his wet handkerchief; " it's runnin' out o' me 
 in bucketfuls." He was very jealous of Joe Thompson's 
 position, and occasionally " took the floor." He made 
 things lively for the time, offering to lay thousands 
 " agin' anythink." I always feared that during one of 
 these heroic fits he would break a blood-vessel, as his 
 face became scarlet, and the veins on his forehead 
 stood out like knotted whipcord. He was a martyr 
 to the gout, poor fellow, and the last time I saw him 
 he was unable to walk. 
 
 My other little friend, was as merry as a cricket, 
 
124 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 and would laugh and smile the -livelong day, 
 an<d would quite unconsciously join in the laugh 
 against himself, utterly oblivious of the fact that his 
 many faux pas were the cause of much of the merri- 
 ment. His malapropisms are, I think, too good not 
 to be recorded. 
 
 *\ One day at the railway ticket-office he was quite at 
 a \ J ss to remember the word, "return tickets," and after 
 repeatedly asking the booking-clerk for a " couple on 
 'em," " A couple of what," said the clerk. " You know," 
 he said ; " I want a couple of what-you-call-'em ; " then 
 suddenly thinking he had got the right word, he said, 
 " Give me a couple of comebacks." On another 
 occasion he was recommended to get some " Fuller's 
 Earth " for some purpose or another, but once again 
 his memory failed him, and he astonished the 
 chemist's assistant, by asking for a box of " Asphalt." 
 At a race-meeting in Sydney, a commission was sent 
 into the Ring to back a horse called Respiration. When 
 approached by the commissioner, and asked, " What 
 price Respiration, Joe ? " he replied, " You may well 
 ask what price ! It's simply rollin' off me," as he 
 mopped his manly brow. I met him early in the club 
 one morning, and thinking he looked remarkably well, 
 asked him how it was that he always managed to 
 preserve such a rude state of health. He replied that 
 he was sorry to say that he was not in good health. 
 " In fact," he said, " I'm not at all well, and have just 
 come from the doctor's, and he's given me a certificate." 
 " A certificate ! " I remarked ; " you mean a prescrip- 
 tion." " Well, I don't know what you call it ; there it 
 is." I looked over the prescription, and said : " I am 
 sorry to say you must be in a bad way, for the 
 doctor has prescribed so many drops of this, and so 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB 125 
 
 many drachm's of the other," and I was proceeding to 
 enumerate the various items which made up the 
 prescription, when he interrupted me by saying, 
 " Now, you can't read that." " Oh yes, he can," said 
 two or three, " don't you know, Joe, the Boss was 
 brought up to be a doctor ? " " Oh, indeed ! " said the 
 little fellow ; "then you've got your diplomacy." 
 
 One man, he was of the Jewish persuasion, rather 
 prided himself upon his artistic tastes, and his house 
 certainly was furnished in excellent style, his grounds 
 being also beautifully laid out and well kept ; but 
 on one occasion he could not resist a bargain at 
 a sale by auction. It was a large plaster cast of a 
 Madonna which he bought, and which he thought 
 was a statue of Venus. He placed this objet (fart in 
 a rather prominent position in his garden ; but his 
 neighbours did not appreciate this addition, and one 
 morning he awoke and found his Venus coated with 
 tar. The statue has since been relegated to an outhouse, 
 and the reference to his Venus is rather a sore subject. 
 
 Soon after the Messagerie Line of Steamers com- 
 menced running to Australia, a party of bookmakers 
 took passages by the outward bound vessel to South 
 Australia, the excellence and variety of the cuisine on 
 board being the great attraction, and, moreover, being 
 highly appreciated. One of the men travelling by this 
 route his first experience was a regular outsider, 
 and a coarse and vulgar fellow into the bargain ; he 
 was really only half civilised, but had been attracted by 
 the liberality of the fare, and he determined to have 
 value for his money. The various dishes at dinner 
 were handed round in the usual orthodox fashion, and 
 he never let one pass him. So copiously did he assist 
 himself that, crowding on all sail, he could not keep 
 
126 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 pace with the service, and had not finished his fillet de 
 bceufvf\\zr\ the ice pudding came upon the scene, and 
 was handed round. He was under the impression 
 that the dish contained mashed potatoes, and calling 
 the waiter, said he would have some of " that there." 
 The waiter, with all politeness, suggested getting him 
 a fresh plate, but he said the plate he had would do 
 well enough. It was filled already to overflowing, 
 and, to the waiter's intense astonishment, he proceeded 
 to assist himself to what he supposed was the pomme 
 de terre. When he discovered his mistake, and found 
 it was ice pudding, and not mashed potatoes, his face 
 was a study, as he blurted out in coarse language his 
 detestation of foreign cookery. 
 
 It reminded me very much of Robson as Pawkins, 
 in the farce of " Retained for the Defence." Pawkins 
 had never tasted an ice, and the look of agony on his 
 face after the first spoonful, as he danced round the 
 stage, his hand on his cheek, shouting, " Oh my 
 'Oiler! Oh my 'Oiler! Guv'ner, guv'ner, don't you 
 think they'd be better biled ? " was inimitable, and 
 the whole situation intensely amusing. 
 
 The " Power " family have always been prominent 
 where sport was to be obtained. It mattered not 
 whether it was racing or coursing, boxing or shooting, 
 one member or another of the family would always 
 be found amongst its votaries. The name of the 
 " Powers " has for years always been popularly and 
 honourably associated with sport in all its branches, 
 and it is indeed a veritable household word in all 
 sporting circles. This is prefatory to the following 
 little incident. Two members of the club were dis- 
 cussing some subject or another, when one of them 
 made use of the term "arbitrary power." A man 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB 127 
 
 standing by he was a well-known trainer said : 
 " Excuse me, sir. I knows Mr Robert and Mr 'Erbert 
 and Mr Willie, but I never he*rd of 'Mr Arbitrary 
 Power.' Is he another brother ? " 
 
 The recital of the dilemmas some of the small 
 outside "Bookies" get into, and their marvellous 
 ingenuity in escaping therefrom, would form interest- 
 ing and amusing reading, but a couple of incidents 
 will, doubtless, here suffice. Half a dozen outsiders 
 met together after the races near the railway station, 
 to hear how they, severally, had got on. Each had, 
 however, the same sad tale to tell, they were " stone 
 motherless broke," and how to get back from Ballarat 
 to Melbourne, except on " shank's pony," was rather a 
 difficult problem to solve. It appears that one of the 
 "Stony-Brokers" had a half-a-crown, but what was that 
 amongst so many ? " Lend me the half-crown," said 
 one Chevalier d 'Industrie, " and you shall all ride back 
 to Melbourne like toffs first class." This fellow's 
 ready resources had many a time and oft stood him 
 in good stead, and he was handed the half-crown, 
 with the utmost confidence that, by some mysterious 
 means, he would fix things up satisfactorily. A train 
 was ready at the platform waiting for the signal to 
 start, when our noble explorer approached a railway 
 porter, and asked him if he wanted to earn half-a- 
 dollar. " Rather," said he. " Well, then, lend us yer 
 cap for five minutes, and I'll give it yer." To this, 
 naturally, the porter agreed, so exchanging hats, he 
 marched on to the platform, boldly went to a first- 
 class compartment with, "All tickets here, please." 
 The occupants, seeing the official cap, unsuspiciously 
 handed up their tickets, the porter got his cap returned, 
 and the broken " Bookies " did not walk home. 
 
128 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 On another occasion a similar calamity befell a 
 party not quite so down on their uppers, but still 
 the amount of " ready " had run very short, and the 
 necessity of making a rise became essential. They 
 bethought themselves of all manner of schemes, until 
 at last the happy thought struck one of them to 
 promote a Lottery and Grand Prize Distribution. 
 They therefore despatched one of their number by 
 coach to Melbourne, where bills were printed 
 announcing that on such a day a Grand Prize Dis- 
 tribution, consisting of gold watches, diamond rings, 
 diamond studs, diamond horse -shoe pins, and a 
 number of ladies' charms, would take place at the 
 well-known hostelrie, " The Miners' Rest," Dead Dog 
 Gully, and that tickets entitling the purchaser to a 
 chance in this unique distribution could be had for 
 half-a-crown. 
 
 The bills were posted on trees and fences all over the 
 neighbourhood, and the man from Melbourne in due 
 time returned with a box of "ladies' charms," i.e. 
 trinkets on cardboard purchased for a few shillings a 
 gross. Some of these, with the watches and chains, 
 rings and pins the last-named belonging to the hard- 
 up "Bookies" were deposited with the landlord of the 
 Rest, and were always available for inspection. The 
 district was canvassed for miles round, and the half- 
 dollars came rolling in, and great excitement prevailed 
 in the little township when the eventful day for the 
 distribution came round. The largest room in the 
 pub was altogether too small for the crowd, and 
 many of the selectors and their wives and daughters 
 had to be content with seeing what could be seen 
 through the windows, as they all pressed round with 
 their tickets in their hands. 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB 129 
 
 Everything being in readiness, the spokesman of 
 the party addressed a few words to those assembled, 
 and suggested that a lad, blindfolded, should draw 
 the numbers. This suggestion 'met with general 
 approval, and set the seal of the utmost fairness upon 
 the whole thing. 
 
 Now, out comes the first number, which is duly 
 handed to the presiding genius, who announces in 
 a very loud but grandiloquent tone of voice: "Number 
 2403, a lady's charm." A murmur of approbation goes 
 round, and the young girl who is the fortunate winner 
 is congratulated and envied. Several blanks now 
 follow, but at last comes the announcement that "9495 
 has drawn a massive gold chain." A gentleman 
 dressed in bush costume steps forward, hands up his 
 ticket, and receives the prize amidst cheers from the 
 envious bystanders, as they feel convinced that they 
 still have a chance for some of the diamond jewellery. 
 Ladies' charms, remarkable to relate, however, crop 
 up rather frequently, and it is always a stranger who 
 receives the coveted prizes the diamond rings, etc. 
 The distribution, which took some time to complete, 
 was at last over, and when neighbours and friends 
 came to compare notes, they thought it singular that 
 all the good things had gone to the mysterious 
 strangers, and all the consolation left them was the 
 contemplation of "Ladies' Charms." The promoters 
 of this lottery did not again put in an appearance at 
 Dead Dog Gully. 
 
 Strange to relate, many men I am not now 
 referring to bookmakers particularly who could 
 positively neither read nor write, made large fortunes, 
 some of them in mining, and others in pastoral 
 pursuits; but no matter in whatever walk of life 
 
 I 
 
I 3 o SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 they succeeded, they were generally fond of a bit of 
 sport, and were to be met with on a race-course. 
 
 One man in particular, I remember, who kept a 
 fairly large stud of jumpers, but had had by no means 
 a college education, made his pile as a miner, but, 
 unlike a lot of ignorant men who make their fortunes, 
 there was no trace of vulgarity about him whatever. 
 He used to dress in excellent taste, and recognised 
 the wisdom of the aphorism that " silence is golden." 
 He was not a morose or a taciturn man by any means, 
 but rarely spoke unless spoken to. I greeted him at 
 a race-meeting once with, " Hulloa, old man, what are 
 you doing here? You have no horses running?" 
 " No, me bhoy," he replied ; " I'm just here as a 
 * spectacle.' " After a visit to Europe, he was relating 
 to some friends his experiences, and telling them how 
 he enjoyed his long stay in Paris, when one of 
 them remarked, " I suppose you talk French like a 
 native." " Yes, me bhoy," he said ; " I became quite a 
 ' parasite.' " 
 
 Another man, a squatter, could not read, and he 
 was very anxious to hide this serious defect. All 
 his correspondence was done through his agents, 
 but when a telegram of any particular importance 
 arrived, he was very fond of taking it with him to the 
 club, and with his pince-nez duly adjusted, would 
 pretend to be reading it, and would then say to his 
 nearest neighbour, " See, we've had splendid rains at 
 Pigface Downs." The telegram was more frequently 
 than not held upside down. Another old fellow 
 would not let a friend write a telegram for him 
 because his wife wouldn't recognise the writing. 
 
 In one of the up-country towns, a meeting was called 
 to raise subscriptions for the purpose of improving and 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB 131 
 
 beautifying a lake, just on the outskirts of the town, 
 and it was suggested that some eight or ten gondolas 
 should be purchased, when one of the leading men of 
 the district objected, on the grounds that to buy so 
 many would run into a lot of money. It would be far 
 better to simply buy two, "a male and female, and 
 let Nature do the rest." 
 
 When I first became connected with the club, I fear 
 I must have been regarded as a bit of a Juggins by 
 many of the bookmaking fraternity, their ways and 
 sayings at times completely mystifying me, but 
 gradually I mastered in a moderate degree some of 
 their back slang and rhyming slang, which mode of 
 speech was in those days much in vogue with the 
 old-time " Bookie." One would occasionally overhear 
 conversations in the following style : 
 
 [SCENE ENTRANCE TO THE CLUB.] 
 
 ( Two Past Masters of the art of rhyming 
 slang meet.) 
 
 " Halloa, Bill, who's the pot and pan going up the 
 apples and pears ? " 
 
 " Oh, that's the heap of coke I met down the frog 
 and toad. Ever seen his Scotch blister ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Lovely fal-de-ral." 
 
 "Well, let's go up to the crowbar and have a 
 tiddley. Now I come to pass my bag of sand round 
 my out-and-in, I think I want a mariner's grave. 
 Half a mo while I pop over the field o' wheat and 
 buy a happy half-hour to put in my I'm afloat." 
 
 " How do I Captain Cook now ? Like my round 
 the houses ? Nice pair of daisy roots, ain't they ? 
 
I 3 2 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 Bought them at the Can't Stop round the Johnny 
 Horner. Paid twenty -seven touch-me-on-the-nob 
 for 'em." 
 
 "Who's the heap of coke with the tall beef and 
 fat ? Looks as if he hadn't been first of October for 
 a bubble and squeak. Don't suppose he's had his 
 lump of lead on the weeping willow all night. They 
 tell me that he's lost his raspberry tart to a twist and 
 twirl on all the rage." 
 
 " What do you say to some soap and twine ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Then we'll have a drop o' gay and frisky and some 
 son and daughter." 
 
 "Rather have some in-and-out, it's better for the 
 Teddy Royce." 
 
 "Then we'll get a close and muggy and go for a 
 dead and alive through the after dark." 
 
 " Pipe the profit and loss coming in his white cady. 
 One would think by the quarter mile on his chivy- 
 chase that he'd just backed a saint and sinner for a 
 monkey." 
 
 The above conversation to the uninitiated is, doubt- 
 less, absolutely incomprehensible, but in plain English 
 it reads as follows : 
 
 " Hulloa, Bill, who's the man going up the stairs ? " 
 
 " Oh, that's the bloke I met down the road. Ever 
 seen his sister?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Lovely gal ! " 
 
 "Well, let's go up to the bar and have a drink. 
 Now I come to pass my hand round my chin, I think 
 I want a shave. Half a moment while I pop over 
 the street and buy a flower to put in my coat." 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUfi i 3 3 
 
 " How do I look now ? Like my trousers ? Nice 
 pair of boots, ain't they? bought them at the shop 
 round the corner ; paid twenty-seven bob for them." 
 
 " Whose the bloke with the tall hat ? Looks as if he 
 hadn't been sober for a week. Don't suppose he has 
 had his head on the pillow all night. They tell me 
 he has lost his heart to a girl on the stage." 
 
 " What do you say to a glass of wine ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Then we'll have a drop of whisky and water." 
 
 " Rather have some stout, it's better for the voice." 
 
 " Then we'll get a buggy and go for a drive through 
 the Park." 
 
 " Look, here comes the boss in his white hat. One 
 would think by the smile on his face that he'd just 
 backed a winner for five hundred pounds." 
 
 One of the most popular members of the Ring was, 
 I think, the late Jack Thompson. He came home 
 with Trickett when he was defeated by Hanlan on 
 the Thames, and from all I hear, was very much liked 
 and respected in England. He had a giant's strength, 
 but I really think he had a woman's disposition, so 
 kindly and gentle was he. Many and many a time 
 has some poor fellow in distress been unostentatiously 
 assisted by " big Jack." He never let his left hand 
 know what his right was doing, and I never heard of 
 him using his strength except in the defence of the 
 weak. He was once induced to fight a man, his 
 inferior in strength and stamina, much against his will, 
 and to his lifelong regret, and he has often told me 
 how it went against the grain to hit his opponent, 
 who, by the way, had provoked the quarrel, but who 
 was physically incapable of withstanding Jack's 
 
134 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 superior strength. " I felt," he said, " I was so much 
 stronger than he was; but what was I to do? If I 
 didn't punch him, he would certainly have punched 
 me." Jack Thompson died of typhoid fever,' com- 
 paratively a young man, and rrtore genuine or heart- 
 felt sorrow was never exhibited than at his funeral. 
 A magnificent monument, marks poor Jack's last 
 resting-place in the cemetery at Waverley,' near 
 Sydney. 
 
 Another- good old soul and all round sportsman 
 was Bill_Branch. He owned some "rare good horses 
 in his time, such as. Royal IVI.aic>, Richmond, and 
 Progress. The 'last-named had the ill- luck to be 
 foaled in the same year as the unbeaten Grand 
 Flaneur, for irf all the- classic races in which they 
 met, Progress had to take second place. The all 
 white jacket and cap of Branch were popular colours, 
 and the public followed them because- they got a run 
 for their money. 
 
 Branch was very proud of being a Cockney and a 
 livery man of the city of London, and his cheery face 
 would brighten up when it was jocularly asserted that 
 he would certainly have been Lord Mayor had he 
 remained in England. 
 
 One old gentleman was very much attached to 
 Branch, and it was most amusing to watch the two 
 of them when they sat down in the club to yarn. 
 The jovial English - looking gentleman, as he was 
 called, who occupied a good social position in 
 Melbourne, would suggest in the most dignified 
 way that Mr Branch would do him the pleasure 
 of taking a glass of wine, to which Branch readily 
 consented. After a glass or two, it would be, " Let's 
 have another, Branch." Later, the invitation would 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB 135 
 
 be addressed to "William," then "Bill," and finally, 
 after a good few glasses, it would be, " dear old 
 Bill"; and as they were leaving the club one night 
 affectionately linked ar.m-in-arm "together, Branch 
 was overheard t;o exclaim, "I would like to call 
 you Charley/but I don't" like' to." 
 
 Poor old Branch, from, being a portly, robust man, 
 gradually begarf 'to show failing health, and he died 
 a few years ago. On his tombstone are the simple 
 words/full of meaning, however, "Staunch and true." 
 They aptly describe his character. 
 As I have "previously remarked,, betting in the 
 early days \yas brisk all through -the winter, and 
 books were opened on all the principal up-country 
 events. There were fewer meetings then, and natur- 
 ally greater interest was taken thus the Ballarat, 
 Bendigo, and Geelohg meetings, amongst some few 
 others, had their Cups and Handicaps, and their 
 Hurdles and Steeples, and the various candidates 
 were backed with any amount of spirit immediately 
 the weights were published ; but antepost betting is 
 almost a thing of the past, only one or two of the 
 principal Handicaps, such as the Melbourne and 
 Caul field Cups, receiving, in a mild degree, any 
 attention. 
 
 A variety of causes has brought about this con- 
 dition of affairs, principal amongst them being the 
 popularity attained by Adams' Sweeps, and the 
 immense amount of money which comes into the 
 market on the eve of any big event, many owners, 
 before making any attempt to back their horses 
 with the bookmakers, preferring to wait until the 
 Sweep money comes in. 
 
 It may be as well to explain that any one fortunate 
 
136 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 enough to draw a horse which has any pretensions 
 for Cup honours, in a ten or twenty thousand pound 
 Sweep, can well afford to hedge and lay the owner a 
 point or two over the market odds, and thus be sure 
 of making a decent stake, whether the horse wins 
 or loses. 
 
 When as much perhaps as a hundred thousand 
 pounds of Sweep money is put into the market, it 
 certainly places the bookmaker in an unfavourable 
 position. But, on the other hand, these Sweeps help 
 to swell the field, inasmuch as horses with no possible 
 chance are started because their owners are laid so 
 much to nothing by the Sweep ticket-holder. This 
 system is likely to exercise a permanent influence 
 on racing, as Adams is now firmly established in 
 Tasmania, and his business can now be carried on 
 without let or hindrance. 
 
 Cash betting on race-courses approaching anything 
 like an extensive scale was unknown until the last 
 eight or ten years, the pioneer in this particular 
 branch of betting being Robert Sutton, who for a time 
 did an enormous business ; but nowadays the man 
 with the bag is in the ascendant, and many of the 
 veterans have had to adopt the cash system, as the 
 younger men were by degrees gradually elbowing 
 them out. How they will all manage to subsist 
 when the totalizator is introduced it is difficult to 
 say. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE scene in the Victorian Club the night before 
 the Melbourne Cup is a busy one. Repre- 
 sentatives of all branches of sport from all the Colonies 
 muster in great force. Men whose homes are in the bush 
 meet annually at Cup time, and then return to their 
 solitary vigils o'er flocks and herds in the far interior, 
 where the face of a white man is but seldom seen. 
 Old friendships are renewed, old memories are revived 
 at the club the night before the Cup, and amidst the 
 uproar and din of " Monkeys on the Field " many 
 friendly greetings are exchanged betwixt men who 
 meet, perhaps, but once a year. It is just the same 
 at Tattersalls' in Sydney before the principal race- 
 meeting of the Australian Jockey Club. At these 
 times all Melbourne flocks to Sydney, as all New 
 South Wales I might say all Australia seems to 
 migrate to Victoria to see the race for the Melbourne 
 Cup. Pressmen from the various Colonies, represent- 
 ing the principal daily and weekly papers, join the 
 glad throng, and one could readily imagine that some 
 great Congress had been summoned together to discuss 
 matters solely appertaining unto " ye old British sports 
 and pastimes," so various and representative are the 
 gatherings referred to. 
 Tattersalls' clubs, formed on similar lines to the 
 
 187 
 
138 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 Victorian Club, exist in all the Colonies, one of the 
 oldest and most important being that established in 
 Sydney. Tattersalls at Sydney had opportunities of 
 raising revenue, other than by members' subscriptions, 
 which like clubs did not possess, inasmuch as the 
 governing powers promoted race-meetings at Rand- 
 wick, and had the good-fortune to obtain permission 
 to hold these said meetings on public holidays, and 
 were thus assured of a good gate. By these additional 
 means, therefore, funds accumulated somewhat rapidly 
 
 For many years the members were content with, 
 the accommodation afforded by a long, narrow room 
 adjoining Adams' Tattersalls' Hotel, but the estab- 
 lishment of the Melbourne Victorian Club in such 
 comfortable quarters as the Bourke Street premises 
 caused comparison to be made not altogether com- 
 plimentary to the management of the Sydney Club. 
 Spurred on by that spirit of rivalry which is always 
 in evidence between the two Colonies, the members of 
 Sydney Tattersalls' went one better ; this they were 
 well able to do, as they had plenty of money available, 
 and they have now built a Tattersalls' Club which has 
 no equal in the world. The principal room, with its 
 domed roof, is of splendid proportions, most 
 luxuriously furnished, and there is daily laid out 
 a free lunch, which is largely and liberally patronised 
 by all classes of the members. Card-rooms, billiard- 
 rooms, bath-rooms, and all necessary conveniences are 
 fitted up with the same disregard to cost, and the 
 club flourishes as it deserves to do. 
 
 Sydney was long regarded as a bookmakers' 
 Paradise ; the public gambled upon anything. Foot- 
 racing was a favourite medium, and lads who could 
 " scoot a bit " were taken in hand by the patrons of 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB 139 
 
 pedestrianism, and it was common talk that So-and- 
 so had a boy in his " stable " who could break record 
 time, etc. Betting on the Botany Handicaps would 
 commence as soon as the entries were published, and 
 the sayings and doings of the peds were for a time the 
 talk of the town. Meetings were frequently held at 
 night-time, the running track and its approaches being 
 brilliantly lit up with the electric light, and the sport 
 was patronised by all classes of the community, the 
 people flocking in thousands to the charmingly-situated 
 Botany Gardens ; but in time scandals began to creep 
 in "stiff" running, non-tryers, flagrant cases of reversal 
 of form (" rehearsal " of form, one of my friends used 
 to call it), with their accompanying disputes, soon 
 brought the whole thing into disrepute, and the 
 inevitable result followed ; pedestrianism, not only in 
 Sydney, but in the Colonies generally, now being a 
 comparatively extinct sport. 
 
 Pony-racing, however, came strongly into favour, 
 and, for a time, found an outlet for the gambling 
 propensities of the Sydneyitcs. Pony Meetings were 
 held weekly ; sometimes there might be even two or 
 three meetings fixed during that period, and the 
 fields for the different events would assume very 
 large proportions, as many as from thirty to forty 
 ponies weighing out for, perhaps, a $o prize. 
 
 Melbourne was quickly inoculated with the pony 
 fever, and the dodges and trickery practised to get a 
 14-hand pony into a 13.2 class were extremely 
 amusing. Hoofs would be pared down as thin as 
 paper; and the pony would be taught positively to 
 stoop when under measurement ; but this class of 
 sport soon degenerated, and pony-racing is now but 
 poorly patronised. It must be admitted, however, 
 
MO SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 that it brought to light some extraordinary ponies 
 marvellous weight carriers, and some as fast as the 
 wind ; in fact, many retired from the illegitimate, and 
 won good handicaps when pitted against thorough- 
 breds. 
 
 Heavy sums were wagered on the various events, 
 and betting for a time ran riot in Sydney. Numer- 
 ous betting shops were opened, where it was just 
 as easy to invest a hundred pounds as it was a 
 shilling, and the noble army of punters gained recruits 
 daily; the office boy had his "bit" on, and so did 
 Mary Jane, the servant. The matter became so 
 serious that the authorities stepped in, the shops were 
 closed, and betting was declared illegal ; this law 
 remained in force until the " Dunn " case was finally 
 disposed of by the English Law Courts, when it was 
 revoked, and betting is again in full swing, but shop 
 or list-betting is still disallowed. But to return to 
 Sydney Tattersalls' : it will readily be conceived that, 
 in a city where so considerable a proportion of the 
 community have the gambling instinct so largely 
 developed, an institution such as Tattersalls' should 
 be highly prosperous and possess a very heavy mem- 
 bers' roll. 
 
 The most prominent and most popular amongst the 
 Knights of the Pencil is Humphrey Oxenham, who, I 
 suppose, makes the biggest book of any man in 
 Australia, and holds the proud position of being the 
 leader of the Australian Ring. During the time when 
 the principal race-meetings are being held at Rand- 
 wick, his palatial residence, overlooking the course, is 
 the rendezvous for all the leading sportsmen of the 
 Colonies, and he, assisted by his good wife, dispenses 
 hospitality in no niggard fashion. Oxenham is one 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB 14! 
 
 of the most charitable of men ; his good deeds are 
 done without any ostentation, and many a " worn and 
 weary brother " has been assisted in battling against 
 adversity by good-natured " Oxy," as he is generally 
 called by his intimate friends. The Deery Brothers 
 are also big bettors, and are all highly respected. 
 Jack is the pride of the family, and is noted for his 
 great "staying" powers. No day's too long, and no 
 night's too long for this old warrior, and the man who 
 can stay the last furlong with Jack Derry can boast 
 of a rare constitution. Phil Glenister, an old and 
 respected Melbourne identity, is the commissioner, 
 but when diplomacy or finesse in the very highest 
 sense is required in working a commission, commend 
 me to old-fashioned, quaint Sam Bradbury. It 
 requires a very keen and penetrating glance to get 
 between the joints of his armour, Sam's " phiz " being 
 a perfect and impenetrable study. There are some 
 capital fellows in Sydney Tattersalls', and an 
 occasional smoking concert gives many of them 
 opportunities of displaying their vocal and histrionic 
 abilities. 
 
 That the club is a huge success is in a great 
 measure due to the committee of management, the 
 members of which have at all times evinced the 
 keenest interest in maintaining its good name and 
 prestige upon all occasions. These remarks apply 
 with equal force to the committee of the Victorian 
 Club, and, in fact, to the committees of all the clubs. 
 It is a good thing for sport in the Colonies that men of 
 position are always to be found ready and willing to 
 devote their time and attention to regulate the all- 
 important business of wagering and its attendant 
 disputations. 
 
I 4 2 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 There is one very old friend of mine who is 
 deservedly popular both in Melbourne and Sydney, 
 and who at Cup times can always be found either in 
 the club or on the verandah at Petty's Hotel, descant- 
 ing upon the merits or demerits of his own as well as 
 his neighbour's horses. He is under the impression 
 that handicappers were sent into the world simply to 
 plague and annoy horse-owners, and that, by some 
 inscrutable decree of Providence, he has been selected 
 as an especial victim for all their malevolent designs. 
 Some men, were they to adopt a similar role, and hurl 
 all manner of imprecations against the heads of these 
 worthy officials whose task, be it said, is at all times 
 a most thankless one would be taken seriously to 
 task ; but when we recognise that this outpouring of 
 wrath comes from the lips of dear old Sam Cook, the 
 sting of the anathema is wanting, as no one would 
 accuse my old friend of harbouring an unkind thought 
 against any living soul. "The Squire of Pytchley," 
 as Sam is frequently called, was originally one of the 
 "Sons of the Brine," but like "The Admiral" in 
 England, developed a marvellous taste for horseflesh, 
 and he now devotes his whole energies in super- 
 intending the breeding and training of thoroughbreds. 
 A very large amount of success has attended his 
 efforts, many of the principal classical races being 
 annexed by the " Maroon and Silver," but principal 
 handicaps, hardly ever ; yet the sideboard at Pytchley 
 Lodge at a full-dress dinner is somewhat crowded 
 with trophies captured in races of all descriptions, at 
 one time or another, by the gallant Sam. Like a 
 good many sailor men, our Sam can pitch a yarn, 
 and the mute astonishment on the face of a newly- 
 found friend is a study when the gallant skipper 
 
THE VICTORIAN CLUB 143 
 
 holds forth, and recounts, with graphic gesture and 
 fire in his eye, of doughty deeds, hairbreadth 'scapes 
 by flood and field, all of which probably existed in 
 his imagination only. A more imaginative or harm- 
 less tale-pitcher never let his fancy gain such a 
 complete mastery over him as did this good old 
 hero. 
 
 A visit to the Pytchley stables was always a most 
 agreeable experience. Everything about them was 
 kept in the most perfect order, and discipline of the 
 strictest character was always maintained amongst 
 the numerous employes. The orders, well, orders 
 scarcely convey what I wish to say words of 
 command more aptly describe the tone in which 
 the simplest instructions were given. One had only to 
 close his eyes, and the smell of tar, the rattling of 
 rigging, the flapping of sails, and all the concomitants 
 of "Tacks and Sheets" would come like a vision, as one 
 heard in stentorian tones some such order as " Remove 
 this quarter sheet," and the responsive, "Aye, aye, 
 sir." 
 
 Happy hours have I spent with my old friend. 
 May good fortune be his lot is the wish of the 
 unworthy scribe who has had the temerity to refer 
 even thus briefly to those characteristics which so 
 well become this Ancient Mariner. 
 
 Even little Perth, the capital of the Golden West, 
 has its Tattersalls, and thither have migrated many 
 of the sporting community of Victoria, who combine 
 bookmaking with a variety of other businesses, and 
 they, one and all, seem to prosper. Amongst the most 
 prominent are Sam Grimwood, who runs the Horse 
 Bazaar ; Jack Giles, who bosses the principal hotel ; 
 Harry Haines, who has engaged the most expert 
 
144 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 tonsorial artistes to attend to the wants of West 
 Australians, and who has for his sign : " Now, 
 what do you think ? I'll shave you for nothing, and 
 give you some drink;" and George Nobbs, who 
 supplies the nobblers of the finest brands only. 
 The latest recruit, Harry Moses, exercises a general 
 supervision, and daily expects to be requisitioned by 
 the Government to furnish it with a brand new code 
 of laws. In fact, I'm told that, in strolling down the 
 principal street in Perth, one could quite imagine 
 oneself in Melbourne, so many expatriated Mel- 
 bournites are to be met with. Victorian merchants, 
 squatters, stock and station agents, stockbrokers, 
 and, in fact, "brokers" representing all classes, 
 have shaken Victorian dust from off their feet, and 
 thrown in their lot with the youngest sister of the 
 family, Miss Westralia. And wise are they in their 
 generation; they are simply exhibiting that same 
 enterprise, the same indomitable pluck, which dis- 
 tinguished their forefathers, and which is so largely 
 in the ascendant when a genuine Australian gets 
 cornered. 
 
 I don't want to write a political essay, but, if 
 I dared venture into the domain of tariffs, I 
 don't think it would be difficult to demonstrate the 
 causes which have led to the disasters which have 
 befallen marvellous Melbourne, whose losses, however, 
 have so largely contributed to the gains of her 
 neighbours the latest Colony to benefit thereby being 
 Western Australia. 
 
AUSTRALIAN HORSES 
 
 
 I 2 
 
AUSTRALIAN HORSES 
 
 /COMMENTS now and again appear in the English 
 ^^ Press regarding the quality of our Australian 
 horses, and from the tone of many of the said con- 
 tributions, it is evident in some quarters that anything 
 but a high opinion is formed concerning them. The 
 drift of the arguments brought forward tend in the 
 direction of disparagement, and a warning note is 
 sounded about being led away by a " boom," and that 
 there is "interested advertisement at the bottom." 
 To say the least of it, the comments are not of that 
 generous nature one might expect to hear from 
 English sportsmen. 
 
 The deteriorating effects of the lengthy and trying 
 voyage from Australia to England are overlooked, 
 and the equally well-known fact that the best 
 horses have not been sent home in their prime is 
 altogether ignored. The latest arrivals, Merman, 
 Maluma, Acmena, and Newhaven are certainly ex- 
 ceptions to the rule, but the effects of the six 
 weeks' voyage are not easily eradicated, and it must 
 of necessity take horses a long time before they 
 thoroughly regain their true form, but I feel sanguine 
 that before very long the above-named quartette 
 will justify all the high encomiums bestowed upon 
 them. 
 
 147 
 
i 4 8 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 With horses for stud purposes, of course, matters 
 shape differently, and I think the purchase of Carbine 
 will undoubtedly prove to be England's gain and 
 Australia's loss. It is the performances of horses 
 of this class which have attracted the attention of 
 English racing men, who are now evincing a desire 
 to recover from Australia strains of blood which have 
 proved to be more than ordinarily successful, and 
 which are, so to speak, running out in England. It 
 was never pretended that Ringmaster, Lady Betty, 
 and others, were anything approaching first class. 
 They were good handicap animals, considered capable 
 of winning in England amongst moderate second- 
 raters ; but if horses like First King, Commotion, 
 Grand Flaneur, or Carbine could have been landed in 
 good condition and none the worse for the voyage, 
 when they were in their prime, I am fully convinced 
 they would not have discredited Australia when pitted 
 against Persimmon, St Frusquin, & Co. Australians, 
 as far as I know, frankly acknowledge the fact that 
 it is owing to the importation of the best English 
 strains of blood, coupled with a more favourable 
 climate, which accounts for the high quality which 
 Australian horses undoubtedly possess. 
 
 With regard to Australian hurdle - racers and 
 steeple - chasers, the conditions under which they 
 race are so utterly different, that it is not to be 
 wondered that they do not succeed when competing 
 with first-class company in England. It must not 
 be forgotten that in England a steeple-chase horse 
 jumps through his fences, in Australia they jump 
 over them ; that's where the difference comes in. 
 
 The Australian fences, it must be remembered, are 
 of stiff post and rails, varying from 4 feet to 4 feet 8 
 
AUSTRALIAN HORSES 149 
 
 and 10 inches in height, log fences, and stone walls* 
 all of equally formidable proportions. There is no 
 getting through such obstacles as these. In 
 England, on pretty well all the fences, there is 
 generally some foot or two of brush which the 
 jumpers go through. Looking at an Australian 
 horse through English spectacles, he appears to 
 " prop " over his fences, and, as a rule, does not lay 
 a toe on them, his Australian schooling having 
 taught him to get over and not through them. 
 Trainers always expect when schooling their jumpers 
 that they will have a fall or two ; in fact they 
 rather wish it, as I have frequently heard them say, 
 " It makes 'em careful." 
 
 The first Australian jumper of any note to be sent 
 home it's many years ago was a horse called The 
 Dutchman. This horse and his owner were dis- 
 qualified for malpractices by the stewards of the 
 Victoria Racing Club. He was then sold and 
 sent to England, his purchaser believing that the 
 authorities would not raise any objection to the horse 
 racing, but they reckoned without their host, and 
 The Dutchman was not allowed to sport silk on 
 British soil. He was ridden to hounds for a season 
 or so, but, as a friend wrote out to me asking, " What 
 is the use of them sending horses home of that 
 description ? The Dutchman is as slow as a hearse 
 horse, but I verily believe he could pound any horse 
 in England." That description will apply, I think, 
 to most of our Australian steeple-chasers. They 
 have to jump, they cannot run through the stout 
 timber fences or knock down stone walls ; these are 
 the obstacles met with in a fair, Australian hunting- 
 country. The sneers about the " boasted " Daimio 
 
150 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 are ungracious and misplaced. Is there any one in 
 England game enough to emulate the sportsmanlike 
 spirit of my friend Gibson, and send a " Cloister " or 
 a " Lamb " to compete for a Grand National in 
 Melbourne ? I trow not. Ebor, who has won a few 
 steeple-chases in England, was a hurdle- racer in 
 Melbourne, and a good one too. My contention has 
 always been that horses of his quality might win 
 steeple-chases in England, but it was wasted energy 
 and enthusiasm to send steeple-chase horses home 
 with the idea of winning steeple-chases. They have 
 to learn the business over again ; they resemble first- 
 class hunters, not chasers, according to the English 
 model. 
 
 A steeple-chaser which might possibly have been 
 able to hold his own in England was a horse called 
 Sussex, who was not only good on the flat, making in 
 his day a record for, I think, it was a mile and a 
 quarter, but he was a great jumper too, winning a 
 Grand National (1881), with over 13 st on his 
 back ; but what is so vividly impressed upon my 
 memory is his style of jumping. He literally flew 
 his fences like a bird there was no " propping " with 
 him, he took his fences in his stride, and was a 
 beautiful mover ; but his deeds are quite overshadowed 
 by those of Mr Miller's horse Redleap, which could not 
 only get over country, no matter how big, but had 
 any amount of pace too, as his record most un- 
 mistakably proves. As a four-year-old he carried off 
 the Grand National Hurdle Race, three miles, and 
 three years later (1892) repeated the performance, 
 carrying 1 1 st. 1 2 Ibs., beating twenty-two others, in 
 the excellent time of 5 minutes 58| seconds, following 
 this up by winning during the same week, from 
 
AUSTRALIAN HORSES 151 
 
 nineteen others, the Grand National Steeple-chase 
 (three miles), with 13 st. 3 Ibs. on his back, in the 
 record time of 6 minutes 45! seconds ; and then to 
 crown all, a month later he carries no less a weight 
 than 13 st. 12 Ibs. to victory in the Caulfield Grand 
 National Steeple-chase over four miles of country, 
 possibly as stiff as that at Flemington. This 
 is a record that certainly has never been beaten, 
 nor is it likely to be for many a long year to 
 come. 
 
 Redleap's performances attracted at the time con- 
 siderable attention in England, and I was commis- 
 sioned by a leading English sportsman to purchase 
 him, but Mr Miller would not part with his old 
 favourite for love or money, and I don't blame him. 
 What with Carbine on the flat, and Redleap over the 
 " sthicks," Australians may well blow a wee bit when 
 Australian horses put up a world's record. 
 
 With regard to the general excellence which 
 Australian horses have of late years attained, no 
 surprise need be expressed, when one takes into 
 consideration the stock from whence they spring. 
 It will be admitted that the best blood has been 
 imported from England, and it would indeed be 
 strange if results were otherwise, when the names of 
 such horses as Fisherman, Panic, Musket, The Marquis, 
 Gang Forward, and Tim Whiffler figure amongst the 
 sires of years ago. The Messrs Fisher in the early 
 days spared no expense in procuring the best blood 
 available for the Colonies, importing high class mares, 
 such as Marchioness, winner of the Oaks, as well as 
 sires, amongst them being that " farmer " of Queen's 
 Plates, Fisherman, and Mr W. R. Wilson is at 
 present strengthening his stud by occasional impor- 
 
152 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 
 tations of the most successful strains extant. Little 
 
 wonder that, under circumstances such as these, the 
 high standard of Australian horses is attracting the 
 attention of breeders in all parts of the world. India 
 is a good customer, and so is America. 
 
 The particular strain of blood to which attention 
 has so recently been drawn is' undoubtedly that of 
 Musket, who was imported to New Zealand, his stock 
 having carried all before them in that Colony, 
 but the doughty deeds of famous old Carbine have 
 emphasised the excellence of the strain irt such a 
 marked degree that the popularity gained" for the 
 Muskets is easily understood. 
 
 One of the earliest importations from England was 
 a horse which rarely had the chance of being mated 
 with any but half-bred mares. I refer to Panic, 
 sent out to Tasmania by my friend, and at one 
 time colleague, George Browne, " Bruni " of the 
 Australasian. Panic certainly put the "guinea 
 stamp " on his progeny in a most pronounced 
 fashion, and I think I am well within the mark 
 when I say that nearly all our best jumpers were 
 descended from him, but he was also the sire of 
 that great horse Commotion, who won innumerable 
 classic races, including two Champion Stakes (three 
 miles), as a four- and six-year-old respectively; ran 
 third for the Melbourne Cup in 1883, and in the 
 following year ran second to the " Mighty Malua," 
 the sire of Malvolio, a Melbourne Cup winner, 
 Maluma, now in England, and many other winners, 
 conceding him 7 Ibs. Old Commotion was in these 
 days as great a public idol as was Carbine subse- 
 quently. The least successful, I think, of the imported 
 sires was The Marquis. I cannot at the moment recall 
 
AUSTRALIAN HORSES 153 
 
 the name of any of his progeny that approached 
 first-class form. The Marquis was brought out 
 to Australia by the Messrs Dakin Bros., both 
 enthusiastic students of breeding and pedigree, but 
 from some cause or another he failed to make a 
 reputation as a sire. 
 
 The last time I saw The Marquis was in a box at 
 Kirk's Bazaar, Melbourne, a hollow-backed, infirm old 
 savage ; with increasing age he had developed a devil 
 of a temper, and no stranger dare go near him. Tim 
 Whiffler's record was much better, his stock being 
 able to .'go fast and stay too. I was at Ascot in 1863, 
 and saw Tim run his famous " dead heat " with Buck- 
 stone in the Ascot Cup. Gang Forward, imported by 
 the late Sir Thomas Elder, has made his mark in 
 South Australia, and it may safely be said that no 
 matter which Colony one may look to, we see the 
 same spirit predominating, viz. the securing of the 
 best English blood for stud purposes. 
 
 Australian horses have for all time been noted for 
 their marvellous powers of endurance, and the dis- 
 tance bush horses, grass fed, will cover in a day, is 
 almost incredible. There must be great sustaining 
 power in the natural grasses, but the fact of it being 
 partly dried, a sort of growing hay, accounts in a 
 great measure for the horses not being as soft as 
 they would be in England, if taken off an ordinary 
 pasture. 
 
 From the foregoing cursory and very imperfect 
 reference to Australian horses, it may readily be 
 understood why they attain their undoubted excel- 
 lence, for when all is said and done, Australian horses 
 are English horses, the same as Australian men and 
 women are English men and women ; they have one 
 
 K 
 
154 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 and all simply been transplanted to more congenial 
 climes. 
 
 Note. Since the above chapter was written Merman 
 has distinguished himself by winning the long distance 
 handicap of the year, the Cesarewitch, beating a field 
 of twenty-one runners. 
 
TASMANIA 
 
TASMANIA 
 
 tight little island," "the garden of 
 Australia" such are the titles bestowed 
 upon one of the most charming spots over which that 
 beautiful constellation, the Southern Cross, sheds its 
 rays. A more delightful or more picturesque country 
 it would be difficult to find. It has not the grandeur 
 of the scenery of New Zealand, but its hills and dales 
 are quite like bits from a Scotch or English landscape. 
 Rugged mountains and beautiful rivers abound, and 
 the climate is healthful and invigorating. Fallow 
 deer thrive in the hills and English trout in the 
 streams, and although Tasmanians are supposed to be 
 lacking in those go-ahead characteristics which are 
 associated with Melbourne, the warmth of welcome 
 extended to a visitor, especially if he is fond of sport, 
 knows no bounds. Shooting, fishing, yachting, it 
 matters not what, facilities to indulge in any kind of 
 sport are offered on every hand, and my experiences 
 during my various visits to Tasmania are crowded 
 with pleasant memories. 
 
 The trip across Bass's Straits by the s.s. Pateena, 
 commanded by that good fellow, Captain Sams, can 
 at times be anything but pleasant for a bad sailor, 
 but, fortunately, it is but of short duration, and the 
 trip up the River Tamar, to Launceston, passing, 
 
 157 
 
i 5 8 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 as one does, through charming scenery, soon causes 
 the memories of mal de mer to fade away. A visitor 
 from Melbourne is immediately struck by the green 
 meadows and green hills. The environs of Melbourne 
 in summer may be parched and brown, but Tasmania 
 might well be called the Southern Emerald Isle, 
 so verdant are its pastures and English-like its 
 surroundings. 
 
 Launceston, a fine town and a great agricul- 
 tural district, can not be compared with Hobart 
 in regard to its picturesque situation. Hobart 
 is connected with Launceston by a line of rail- 
 way, narrow gauge, which twines and turns round 
 hills and mountains in a most remarkable manner ; 
 the curves at some points are so sharp, that 
 one can, if in the front part of the train, almost, 
 metaphorically speaking, shake hands with a friend 
 travelling in the hindermost part. Necessarily, the 
 speed attained is not high, and it used to be satirically 
 remarked that if you are in a hurry don't go by train 
 walk ! 
 
 When once clear of Launceston, the agricultural 
 aspect of the scene changes ; the extensive and well- 
 cultivated farms which greet the eye for the first few 
 miles of the journey give place to more wild and 
 rugged scenery, with here and there deserted and 
 dilapidated homesteads, the original occupants, 
 evidently owing to the rabbits or some other cause, 
 having failed to make farming pay, and the trim 
 hedges, after English fashion, are no longer visible, 
 and there is a general look of neglect and decay. The 
 air is laden with the scent of the sweetbriar which, 
 originally planted for hedgerows, overruns thousands 
 of acres, and forms a well-nigh impregnable refuge for 
 
TASMANIA 159 
 
 the rabbits which, whilst nothing nearly so plentiful 
 as in Victoria and New South Wales, are yet in 
 sufficient numbers to become a serious nuisance. 
 
 The fecundity of the rabbit in the warmer regions 
 of Australia is, indeed, prodigious. I well remember, 
 some years ago, a squatter telling me that rabbits had 
 been seen on his run in Riverina ; that he intended 
 taking time by the forelock, and had sent up some 
 twenty trappers and dogs to eradicate them forthwith. 
 More easily said than done, as subsequent events 
 proved. The trappers killed a few, and my friend 
 was under the impression that he had nipped the evil 
 in the bud, but "bunny" was not to be so easily 
 wiped out. By degrees the death-roll increased but 
 so did the rabbits, notwithstanding trappers, dogs, and 
 poison combined, until, in one year, the number 
 destroyed totalled half a million. Miles upon miles 
 of wire-netting had to be put down, and the only 
 consolation in a long drought, whilst sheep and cattle 
 might be dying in thousands, was the thought that 
 rabbits were dying also. Poisoned water in troughs 
 was placed alongside dried-up water holes, and the 
 rabbits would perish in thousands, the stench from 
 their dead bodies being noticeable for miles round. 
 
 But to return to Hobart, quite an English-looking 
 town, nestling under the shadow of snow-capped 
 Mount Wellington, with the River Derwent, wide and 
 expansive, flowing past it truly a more delightful 
 place it would, indeed, be difficult to find. It seems 
 somewhat strange that the British Government should 
 have selected such lovely spots as Botany Bay in 
 New South Wales, and Port Arthur in Tasmania, 
 whereon to establish convict settlements, yet, it is no 
 exaggeration to say that the places mentioned are 
 
160 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 veritably the beauty spots of the two Colonies referred 
 to. In Hobart,as in Sydney, little remains to remind one 
 of the unhappy past, and few, if any, traces remain of 
 the taint of convictism ; but there is an especial halo of 
 romance about the prison at Port Arthur, owing to the 
 fact that the principal scenes, so vividly and graphi- 
 cally depicted by Marcus Clarke in his book, " For the 
 Term of His Natural Life," were here enacted. 
 
 My trip to Port Arthur is indelibly impressed upon 
 my mind, inasmuch, as in all my travels by land or 
 sea, I was never so near being sent to my last account. 
 
 Port Arthur is reached by a small trading steamer, 
 sailing twice a week, and the voyage occupies some 
 eight or ten hours, according to the weather one meets 
 with. On our way we pass a high cliff at the mouth 
 of the Derwent River on which stands a neatly built 
 cottage, with flagstaff for signalling, etc., after the style 
 of a coastguard station. This cottage occupies the 
 site of a bit of a shanty, where resided, in the very 
 early days, an old salt who used to make a consider- 
 able sum of money by piloting vessels up the river. 
 He was a semi-Government official, and the boat in 
 which he used to put off was manned by a convict 
 crew. When business was brisk he treated these poor 
 wretches fairly well, but when trade was bad, and his 
 earnings light, his temper was most violent. He would 
 roundly abuse his crew, making use of the most 
 horrible language. 
 
 His first enquiry of a morning would be : " Any 
 ships in sight ? " If the answer was " No, sir," then 
 would come a volley of oaths, and he would call them 
 "lazy land-lubbers," and declare that he did not 
 believe they ever looked for ships, and, " shiver his 
 timbers," he was fully convinced that several ships 
 
TASMANIA 161 
 
 had entered the port but they were "too infernally 
 lazy to look for them." This kind of thing was of 
 no infrequent occurrence, but one of the convicts 
 suggested to his mates that if he could sneak the " old 
 'un's" telescope he should see ships, right enough. 
 The opportunity offered, and the telescope was 
 sneaked, sure enough, and a ship in full sail was 
 painted upon the glass at the end ; it was then replaced 
 in the locker. Next day the " old 'un's " temper was, 
 if anything, worse than ever. " No ships, you lazy 
 scoundrels ? " was his greeting. " No, sir." " Here, 
 Number Four, give me my telescope." "Ay, ay, sir." 
 And the telescope was duly handed up to him. 
 Raising it to his eye he said, in a tone of intense 
 surprise : " Why, here's a ship ! " And then looking to 
 another point of the compass, said : " And there's a 
 ship ! " And again scanning the horizon he said : " By 
 heavens, the bloomin' ocean's full of ships ! " Then 
 turning round to see if smoke was coming from his 
 cottage chimney an indication that his breakfast was 
 being prepared he exclaimed, as he again raised his 
 telescope : " By the Lord Harry, there's a bloomin' 
 ship on the top of my chimney ! " 
 
 On this particular outward journey we met with 
 fine weather, although the sea was a bit " lumpy," 
 and we passed that peculiar geological formation, 
 Cape Raoul, more generally called the " Organ 
 Pipes," owing to the pipe -like appearance of the 
 perpendicular corrugations which are so singular. 
 The cliff, or point, is of considerable height, and the 
 regularity of the " pipes "there must be, I should 
 say, some hundreds of them have the appearance of 
 being artificially produced, instead of being the 
 handiwork of Nature when in a highly artistic mood. 
 
i62 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 After rounding this point we soon steam through 
 the narrow entrance leading to Port Arthur, which for 
 all the world resembles a Scotch or English lake with 
 its little inlets and islands. The site whereon stood 
 the Model Prison is simply charming, but there is an 
 indescribable sadness about the whole surroundings 
 which the natural beauties of the place fail to 
 eliminate. 
 
 Notwithstanding the gloom and oppressiveness 
 which seem to haunt the place, there lived, in a 
 quaint, English - looking cottage, all covered with 
 flowering creepers, an old gentleman who was so 
 charmed with the spot that he bought from the 
 Government the old Model Prison, and was, at the 
 time of my visit, having various alterations made 
 with a view of turning it into an hotel or lodging- 
 house. Rather a gruesome idea this, breakfasting 
 under the shadow of the gallows' tree, or having one's 
 bath in what had previously been a padded cell ; 
 but no such absurd sentimentality oppressed this old 
 fellow. He was full of his project, and dilated upon 
 the delightful coolness which could be enjoyed on 
 the hottest day in summer in the inner rooms, the 
 walls of which were so thick, and " how secure one 
 would be in a burglary boom." He was a most 
 obliging cicerone, and pointed out to us all the places 
 of interest in the neighbourhood, but I fear his de- 
 scription of the Model Prison, with its terrible past, 
 was not conducive to his prospects in getting customers 
 for his model lodging-house or hotel. (I have recently 
 heard that the whole building has been destroyed 
 by fire.) 
 
 We met the only convict who still lives, or rather 
 did live, in the neighbourhood he must have died 
 
TASMANIA 163 
 
 long ago, for he was very bent with age and terribly 
 feeble and his description of the horrors of prison 
 life at Port Arthur was enough to make one's blood 
 run cold. According to his version, the accounts 
 related by Marcus Clarke in " His Natural Life " are 
 not by any means exaggerated or too highly coloured. 
 There can be no possible doubt that prison discipline, 
 as practised in those days, was closely allied to 
 barbarism. Hangings were of frequent occurrence, 
 and floggings were administered daily for the most 
 trifling breach of the rules and regulations. The 
 beam for executions was of unusually large pro- 
 portions, capable of accommodating, as the chaplain 
 was wont to say, " five comfortably," but " six was a 
 little crowded." Many men murdered their mates, or 
 committed some crime punishable by hanging, in 
 order to escape from a life of torture and misery. 
 
 The yard where the triangles were situated must 
 have been the scene of untold horrors blood streaming 
 from the backs of the poor wretches with each stroke 
 of the merciless cat, and little trenches had to be cut 
 to enable the blood to run quickly away. A friend of 
 mine, who was an officer in the Commissariat depart- 
 ment, was an eye-witness of many of these blood 
 curdling scenes, and from his own lips have I heard 
 him describe horrors revolting and unspeakable. 
 
 Point Puer, a lovely little headland, was the site of 
 the boys' prison, and many a youngster has from it 
 jumped headlong into the sea, driven to desperation 
 by the harshness of the gaol discipline. Not far from 
 the mainland is a prettily wooded island which was 
 used as a burial-ground, and was called Dead Island. 
 
 The English church, which was burnt down some 
 years ago, must have had, judging by the ruins, some 
 
164 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 architectural pretensions of no mean order. It is now 
 all ivy-clad, and forms quite an old-world looking 
 ruin. This " old-world look " is almost non-existent 
 . in Australia ; wherever one goes, and whatever one 
 sees, everything seems new. There is no past to 
 reverence, no ruined abbeys or castles to bring to 
 the mind the memories of long ago. Everything is 
 of yesterday. It may therefore be readily understood 
 that an ivy-clad ruin of a church comes rather as a 
 novelty . to those who have passed many years of 
 their lives in the Colonies. As I have previously 
 noted, despite the unusually beautiful situation and 
 surroundings, Port Arthur is so frightfully steeped 
 with horrible and painful memories which will, I fear, 
 cling 'to it for many generations to come, that all the 
 schemes of the dear old gentleman to fender it a 
 place of residence will be unavailing. 
 
 It" must be remembe'red that many of the un- 
 fortunate wretches sentenced to transportation had 
 been guilty of the -most . trivial offences, and the 
 treatment accorded them simply^ made their last state 
 considerably worse than their first. They were 
 obliged, no matter how paltry was their crime, to 
 consort with criminals of the deepest dye; thus, the 
 man who had merely shot a hare was sent out with 
 some scoundrel who had perhaps well-nigh committed 
 some diabolical murder, and had narrowly escaped 
 the gallows. Things, happily, have changed since 
 then, and more humane methods are adopted when 
 dealing with criminals, be they first offenders or " old 
 hands." 
 
 We were hot sorry to leave the place and journey 
 back to Hobart. When we went on board the Yolla, 
 a name I shall never forget, the sun was shining 
 
TASMANIA 165 
 
 brightly, but there was a stiffish breeze blowing, 
 " white horses " were tolerably plentiful as we steamed 
 out of the harbour, and I predicted a roughish trip 
 back. The skipper said he " did not think it would 
 be so." I am not a bad sailor, nor am Iwhat may 
 be termed a good one, but if there are big seas about, 
 I like a big ship, after the pattern of a P. and O. liner, 
 so that when we got fairly outside, and our little 
 cockleshell of a boat began to cut capers, ^and be 
 "rocked by the billows to and fro" in rather a -perilous 
 manner, I regretted we had not walked home, but 
 when, after stea'ming hard against wind and tide for 
 some hours, we got abreast of Cape Raoul, I certainly 
 thought the jig was up. A bit of a sail, the size of a 
 pocket-handkerchief, was run up, "just -to, steady her," 
 but for some time, during which we got -dangerously 
 close to the- shore, we made no . headway at all, 
 and we became very much alarmed, and began to 
 talk about "messages for home," should any of us 
 escape drowning. 
 
 However, our little r boat at last rounded the Point, 
 and we got safely into Wedge Bay, so called .on 
 account of a huge wedge-shaped rock being situated 
 just outside the entrance. Once inside this land-locked 
 harbour we breathed again, but only half our journey 
 was completed, and we were to be entertained at a 
 banquet that night at Heathorn's Hotel. ' Should we 
 ever get there? The skipper said he thought the 
 gale had blown itself out, and that, the rest of the 
 passage would be safely and comfortably completed. 
 But once outside again, how 'it did blow ! t The wind 
 fortunately, however, was behind us, and we made 
 the fastest trip on record from Wedge Bay to Hobart, 
 where on our arrival we were greeted by our friends 
 
166 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 with : " How the dickens did you manage to get 
 back?" Not one of them ever dreaming that the 
 little Yolla would put to sea in such a gale. It is 
 on occasions such as these that one agrees with Mark 
 Twain, that the man who wrote " A Life on the 
 Ocean Wave " was a fool. 
 
 If our experiences were uncomfortable on sea the 
 warm welcome of friends ashore fully obliterated all 
 desagrement, for kinder-hearted men it would be 
 impossible to meet. Those who know what Hobart 
 hospitality means will comprehend what I say, when 
 we were taken in hand by men of the class of dear 
 old Miller, Jack Hayle, Jack Curran, Charley and 
 William Davies, Oscar Hedberg, Billy Ikin, and 
 others. My readers may well remark there is nought 
 of the sporting reminiscence about all this ; quite 
 true, but the reminiscences are so pleasant and 
 interesting for me to recall that I trust I may be 
 forgiven. 
 
 Although I have always visited Hobart with the 
 object of getting a little rest and mild recreation, it 
 has somehow or another happened that a race-meeting 
 would be in progress, and that I should find myself 
 a guest of the stewards at Elwick Race-course. Here 
 again is an opportunity to enthuse over the delight- 
 ful surroundings, the view from the Grand Stand 
 being superb. 
 
 It was at Elwick Race-course I first saw a 
 Totalizator in actual operation. I had seen the Pari 
 Mutuel at Longchamps, but never had I seen the 
 mechanical Tote at work. There can be no doubt 
 of the fact that it is very popular with the general 
 public, and very profitable to the club, the percentage 
 deducted over the day's transactions amounting to 
 
TASMANIA 167 
 
 a considerable sum, thus enabling the executive to 
 give fairly good stakes to be run for, which, without 
 the Tote, in such a small community they could not 
 possibly do. There are only a few bookies who run 
 in opposition to it, and they have to pay rather a 
 stiff licensing fee. 
 
 The peculiar stillness which prevails in the paddock 
 and round about the enclosures is most striking. 
 There stands the Tote, a mechanical recorder, a 
 faint tick being the only sound emitted when the 
 ticket is stamped and the investment registered. The 
 voices of the few bookies as they shout " odds on the 
 field," seem altogether out of place, and, as a Melbourne 
 visitor remarked, " Quite a holy calm pervades the 
 course and its surroundings." To any one accustomed 
 to the ordinary din and turmoil of the Betting Ring 
 the contrast was very remarkable. Without the Tote, 
 the authorities say, racing could not be carried on, 
 but whilst that statement may, in substance, be true, 
 there can be but little doubt that there has been, 
 owing to its introduction, some slight loss of prestige, 
 as the principal events do not now attract horses 
 from the sister Colonies to the same extent as formerly, 
 and the intercolonial character of the various meetings 
 is not so well sustained. 
 
 The Tote, whatever its merits may be, is certainly 
 not popular with the majority of horse-owners. A 
 man likes to back his horse, and he likes to know 
 what price he is getting. If he takes fifty to one 
 from a bookmaker, the fact of his horse subsequently 
 starting an even-money favourite does not affect his 
 wager, but in the Tote his odds vary in proportion 
 to the estimation in which his horse is held by the 
 public, and he has to accept the same odds as the 
 
168 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 man who does no more than pay a small fee for 
 admission to the course, and there ends his responsi- 
 bility. The owner of the horse, however, stands 
 entirely in a different position. To keep up even 
 a small stud of race-horses entails an enormous 
 expense, to say nothing of the risks of accident to 
 which equine flesh is prone, and yet he has to share 
 and share alike with every Tom, Dick, or Harry who 
 puts his money in the Tote. This he naturally 
 argues is the doctrine of equality with a vengeance. 
 
 There are doubtless many men so constituted, in 
 whom the gambling spirit is in no way developed, 
 but they form a very small proportion in the ranks 
 of owners of horses. Men of fabulous wealth race 
 horses not for the purpose of gain, but for the love 
 of sport, but they, with but few exceptions, like to 
 back their fancy. This gambling spirit is inherent 
 in the human race, and the Tote does not offer 
 facilities for its indulgence. There is no fascination 
 in betting with a machine. 
 
 Tasmania has been the birthplace of some of our 
 best horses, and one of the greatest racing enthusiasts, 
 and a student of pedigree and form was Archdeacon 
 Reiby, who was the sporting parson of the Colonies. 
 It was he who bred Malua, the sire of Malvolio, 
 Maluma, and others, and no visitor to Tasmania, fond 
 of sport, considered his holiday complete unless he 
 met and yarned with the Archdeacon. Another 
 old celebrity was Tom Jennings, a man of over 
 twenty stone, whose countenance, one could very well 
 imagine, might have inspired Tenniel when depicting 
 the typical John Bull, so much was he a counterpart 
 of the John Bull of London Punch. Jennings kept a 
 little roadside inn, just outside Hobart, and was quite 
 
TASMANIA 169 
 
 a popular character, for he was a sportsman of the old 
 school. 
 
 Amongst the various products which Tasmania 
 supplies, apples have become celebrated the wide 
 world over, but to a Victorian the greatest treat is the 
 delicious fish which abound in the sea and rivers. 
 As every one knows, the fish caught in warm climes 
 is not in any way to be compared with that netted 
 in the more temperate zones, but the king of all the 
 fish caught in the waters which encompass the 
 Australian Colonies is, unquestionably, the Hobart 
 Town Trumpeter. Of late years the English trout 
 and English salmon have thriven apace, and before 
 long there is every reason to believe they will be 
 sufficiently plentiful to justify the withdrawal of the 
 law prohibiting their being caught, and salmon cutlets 
 and grilled trout will be no uncommon item on the 
 bill of fare at Heathorn's hotel. 
 
 To any one fond of a quiet life, Tasmania offers no 
 end of attractions. A genial climate, inexpensive 
 living, rural and English-like scenery, and a people, 
 descended many of them from good old county 
 families, whose hospitality is boundless, and whose 
 kindly instincts are ever in the ascendant. 
 
COURSING 
 
COURSING 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 I SUPPOSE no sport made greater or more rapid 
 strides than did the sport of coursing in 
 Australia. It became for a time almost a mania. 
 Up to 1873 hares (imported game) were protected ; 
 that is to say, there was no open season. It was a 
 punishable offence to kill one, a heavy fine being 
 imposed upon any one having a dead hare in his 
 possession. But before the period named hares had 
 become fairly plentiful near Melbourne, and many 
 little poaching parties were organised for the purpose 
 of having a trial with the longtails. We had to make 
 an early start, and great care had to be taken when 
 passing a Police Station for fear our poaching ex- 
 cursion should come under the ken of some active 
 and intelligent officer. 
 
 The buggies in which we drove to the appointed 
 tryst were not particularly well adapted for carrying 
 the dogs, and how to make them lie low, and steer 
 clear of observation, was a matter of no small diffi- 
 culty. But once we got into the bush we were 
 comparatively free from molestation, and then came 
 the difficulty of finding the hares. However, we 
 were satisfied with small mercies, and so long as we 
 
 173 
 
174 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 managed to get three or four trials were amply 
 repaid for any trouble we had taken. 
 
 The genial climate of Australia seems particularly 
 favourable for breeding almost anything, and hares in 
 a very short time increased and multiplied amazingly. 
 They are now so numerous in some parts of Australia 
 as to be almost a nuisance, especially where orchards 
 are being established, their great attraction being the 
 bark of the young fruit trees, which they gnaw 
 completely round, and thus destroy them wholesale. 
 
 Of pure bred greyhounds in those days there were 
 but few, but kangaroo dogs were common enough. 
 These kangaroo dogs were mongrels of a most 
 pronounced type, but all had in them a strain or so 
 of the greyhound or deerhound to give them pace 
 enough to overhaul the bounding kangaroo. An old 
 kangaroo dog could show as many scars as any grim 
 old human warrior who had been slashed and cut by 
 sword or sabre, for an old man kangaroo when stuck 
 up, his back against a tree, can deal out fearful punish- 
 ment to his pursuers with those hind legs of his, tipped 
 as they are with sharp and horny hoofs. I have often 
 seen dogs with their shoulders ripped open with the 
 downward stroke of an " old man's " hind leg. These 
 kangaroo dogs had to have moderate pace to over- 
 haul an "old man," and wanted plenty of courage 
 to get to close quarters with him when even they had 
 " stuck him up." 
 
 But this has really nothing to do with coursing 
 as we in England know it, but there was coursing 
 in Australia before the English hare was acclima- 
 tised, the quarry being the wallaby, or Paddy 
 Mellon, a diminutive kind of kangaroo that could, 
 as the Yankees say, skip a bit and " twist and turn 
 
COURSING 175 
 
 like a weather-cock," but they lacked the endurance 
 and pace of the hare. The headquarters of this 
 wallaby coursing was at Narracoorte, on the borders 
 of South Australia and Victoria, and they used years 
 ago to run a Waterloo Cup, but naturally, when hares 
 became sufficiently plentiful, this style of coursing 
 died out. 
 
 It was in Victoria, early in 1873, that the restrictions 
 with regard to the coursing or shooting of hares were 
 relaxed, and it was then that those who took an 
 interest in the sport began to bestir themselves. A 
 club was formed, the Victoria Coursing Club it was 
 called, under the patronage of the then Governor, Sir 
 George Bowen. The late Sir William J. Clarke was the 
 President, and the committee and stewards were 
 selected from the most prominent and influential 
 citizens, Members of both Houses of Parliament, lead- 
 ing squatters, merchants, doctors, barristers, lawyers ; 
 in fact there was not a class in the community which 
 was not represented on the roll of members. For 
 this out nearly every vessel arriving in Melbourne 
 from England brought a consignment of greyhounds 
 for some one or another, the blood from all the 
 principal kennels in England being fairly represented. 
 Amongst the first distinguished arrivals were Pell 
 Mell, from the late Mr Saxton's kennel, and Cumloden, 
 from that of Mr M'Connochie. I especially mention 
 these two dogs, because their own and their progeny's 
 merits formed the subject of many a heated debate, 
 and over their breeding and pedigrees many a hard 
 word was said and written by their respective partisans. 
 Soft spots were discovered on the side of their dams 
 or sires ; they might have pace, but assuredly no dog 
 with such and such a strain of blood could possibly stay, 
 
176 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 and so on, ad nauseam. The whole controversy bore 
 a striking resemblance to the wordy warfare which 
 raged for some time years ago between my old friend 
 Dr Shorthouse and Harry Feist of the Sporting Life 
 anent the merits of the "Accursed Blacklocks." I 
 refer to the days of Maccaroni and Lord Clifden, 
 when the merits of these equine celebrities were the 
 subject of much discussion and heated debate. 
 
 Those of us who are alive and remember the 
 somewhat acrimonious controversy relating to the 
 merits of these two dogs a quarter of a century ago, 
 must smile, and wonder why we " fashed " ourselves so 
 much, over so little ; but we were terribly in earnest 
 in those days, much ink was spilt, and much bad 
 blood engendered, but the principal combatants lived 
 long enough, I am glad to say, to shake hands and 
 bury the hatchet. 
 
 The first public coursing meeting held in Australia 
 under National Coursing Club rules took place at 
 Sunbury, on the estate of the late Sir William J. Clarke, 
 in May 1873, and a memorable meeting it was. Dick 
 Tattersall, a cousin of Edmund Tattersall, of Albert 
 Gate, was the judge, and a keen little Irishman and 
 thorough sportsman, Mickie Whelan, was the slipper. 
 Sir George and Lady Bowen and all the Melbourne 
 aristocracy were there, and the confusion that 
 prevailed ere we made a start was something to be 
 remembered. 
 
 The paddock, where the beaters were ranged in 
 line, was full of high tussocky grass and crab holes, 
 the said crab holes being full of water. The high 
 grass tussocks undoubtedly made fine shelter for the 
 hares, but they, nevertheless, somewhat obscured the 
 view of the greyhounds. The consequence was that 
 
COURSING 17? 
 
 we were continually having " no-goes," but when once 
 fairly on the scut, the way puss and her pursuers 
 made the water fly as they raced round the tussocks 
 and through the crab holes was a sight to see. The 
 judge galloped fearlessly through this almost inland 
 sea, followed by Sir George and Lady Bowen and 
 some of the stewards, who were privileged to see the 
 fun, and the state of mud and splash which ere long 
 covered the riding-habit of the lady and the boots 
 and breeches of the swells was a caution. 
 
 Poor Whelan, the slipper, was a little man whose 
 great forte was soho'ing, and he, regardless of the plan 
 of campaign, was continually off on his own account 
 looking for a likely tussock which might possibly 
 hold puss in her form. How on that eventful day 
 he did not meet with a watery grave I do not know. 
 
 Later on, however, we managed better, and had 
 good times. The Waterloo Cup commencing with 
 the modest entry of, I think it was three guineas, 
 and for thirty-two dogs only gradually assumed the 
 same dimensions as its English prototype, and became 
 quite an intercolonial affair. We paid Warwick the 
 judge a high fee to come from England to judge for 
 us ; and I am sure I shall re-echo the sentiments of 
 many an Australian when I say those were happy 
 days. My reminiscences of the coursing field would 
 really make quite a respectable volume, but I fancy 
 a general reference will be more acceptable to the 
 casual reader than if I went into details, which might 
 only possibly interest those who took part in the 
 proceedings I have here briefly related. 
 
 I cannot, however, dismiss the subject of our early 
 coursing experiences without referring to my many 
 yarns with old Warwick. He was a genial old soul, 
 
178 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 and, when fairly on the job, would rattle off some of 
 his early experiences, to all of which I was a most 
 attentive listener. He used to chuckle immensely 
 over the following little episode : On one occasion, 
 when he was judging at a meeting of the South of 
 
 England Club, Lord had a dog running, and 
 
 when the particular trial came on, his lordship rode 
 and picked up his dog. The verdict, however, was 
 unfavourable, and he asked Warwick if he noticed 
 his dog fall, which Warwick admitted. He then 
 asked the old man what he allowed him for the fall. 
 Warwick's reply was, " I allowed him to get up again, 
 my Lord," and then rode away. 
 
 Warwick's references to old Nightingale, the judge, 
 were most amusing. Nightingale's language was 
 largely interspersed with many forcible epithets which 
 will scarcely bear repeating on paper, but Warwick 
 always wound up any little anecdote with the 
 apologetic remark that "he was a terrible man to 
 swear, sir." I could reproduce many of the old 
 man's yarns and sayings, but will content myself 
 with relating an episode which has, doubtless, been 
 frequently recorded, but as I heard it from Warwick's 
 own lips, I must run the risk of it proving a 
 " chestnut." 
 
 " One meeting, sir," he said, " hares had not been 
 over-plentiful, and we did not finish until late on a 
 Saturday, which prevented those particularly in- 
 terested in the last ties of the various stakes from 
 starting for home until the following Monday. Many 
 of the coursing folk were thus thrown -on their own 
 resources to get through as best they could a Sunday 
 in the old town of Shrewsbury, where you know, 
 sir, I kept the Greyhound Inn. 
 
COURSING 179 
 
 " In the course of the evening they said, ' What can 
 we do with ourselves to-night, Warwick?' 'Well/ 
 I said, ' gentlemen, the Rev. Mr Brown preaches at 
 St Paul's to-night, and he is well worth hearing, as 
 he talks for about three-quarters of an hour, and 
 never refers to a note or a book.' 
 
 " The idea of listening to so voluble a parson 
 seemed to take on, and they all went to church, and 
 I followed later, but found, not an unusual occurrence 
 when the Rev. Mr Brown preached, the church packed, 
 and people standing in the aisles spellbound by the 
 eloquence of the preacher. 
 
 " He wound up, sir, a most beautiful sermon with 
 these words. He said : ' Brethren, there are two 
 courses yet left one leads to Heaven, and the 
 other to Hell ; it is for you yourselves to decide.' 
 Well, sir, I was standing listening most attentively ; 
 there was a pause, but in a voice loud enough to be 
 heard some distance down the aisle came the words 
 from old Tom Smith, as he looked round and saw me : 
 1 Undecided, by G ! ' he exclaimed ; ' there's old 
 Warwick with his hat off.' You may imagine the 
 effect, sir. We all had to get out of the church as 
 quickly as we could, and I never saw such a change 
 from grave to* gay in all my life, as we were convulsed 
 with laughter." 
 
 For the information of readers not well versed in 
 coursing laws, it may be as well to state that when a 
 course is pronounced " undecided," the judge indicates 
 the fact by taking off his hat. 
 
 Poor Frank Gardner came out after Warwick, and 
 created a very favourable impression, as he was a 
 fearless and most accomplished rider, but he had no 
 tact, and he soon came into collision with some of the 
 
i8o SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 owners, his outspoken and brusque manner giving 
 great offence. Poor fellow, those who knew Gardner 
 intimately overlooked his faults, and respected him, 
 for they knew him to be an upright and honest man. 
 His irritability of temper may be fairly excused, for 
 he suffered from some internal malady, and died after 
 a long and lingering illness. 
 
 There was a most marked difference in the manner 
 of these two men. Warwick was courteous to a 
 degree, and when questioned, with the utmost 
 deference be it said, by some enthusiastic courser as 
 to what he, Warwick, thought of the red dog that 
 stopped at such and such a fence, etc., Warwick would 
 look as grave as a judge should look, and say, " Oh, 
 yes, I remember the dog quite well ; he was going 
 strong until we came to the fence, but there he 
 stopped. He wants practising over fences, etc., etc., 
 and he will win you a stake some day." The enthu- 
 siastic courser would go away quite satisfied, and tell 
 me later that he had a very high opinion of Mr 
 Warwick. On the other hand, when Frank Gardner 
 was consulted under similar conditions, he would say, 
 " Now, sir, do you want my opinion about your dog ? " 
 " Yes," the enthusiastic courser would say ; " certainly, 
 Mr Gardner." "Well, sir, the best thing I could 
 recommend you to do is to hang him, sir." Warwick's 
 style encouraged the " young idea." Gardner's style 
 damped his ardour and hurt his feelings. As the 
 copy-books say, " the dog is the friend of man," and 
 the feelings of many of my Australian coursing friends 
 were bitterly wounded when their favourites were thus 
 unceremoniously damned. 
 
 Besides these two English judges, we had, as I 
 have already stated, Dick Tattersall, who died some 
 
COURSING 181 
 
 years ago, Donald Bantock, whose brother is a 
 famous London physician, and James Johnston. Their 
 position was anything but a bed of roses, and they 
 had much to contend with, as the majority of the 
 coursing men in those days really did not understand 
 the rules, and many an indignant owner wanted to 
 know what the judge meant in deciding against him 
 as " my dog killed." 
 
 We did not import a slipper, although Kerss came 
 out as trainer to the Hon. W. M'Culloch, and accepted 
 an engagement or two as slipper during his sojourn in 
 the Colony. I think it was at Ballarat, the weather was 
 exceedingly warm, and snakes were rather numerous 
 more plentiful, in fact, than hares. Kerss was jumping 
 about in the long grass like a cat on hot bricks, and 
 remarked to me that he came out from England to 
 course hares, not snakes. 
 
 Our slipper for years, after Whelan retired, was 
 Dick Banner, who earned the encomiums of both 
 Warwick and Gardner, they always averring that he 
 was quite capable of taking his place alongside Tom 
 Raper, Kerss, and the best of them. A more hard- 
 working, painstaking man I have never met no day 
 too long, never a grumble out of him, but as staunch 
 and loyal an employ^ as ever man had. Another 
 Australian slipper was George Bignell, who was a 
 smart, active man, and our last judge, one of the 
 most popular of all, was " Billy " Pitt, now the Hon. 
 William Pitt, M.L.C. Lots of trainers came out and 
 were paid handsome wages, and many have since 
 settled in the Colonies, and, taking them all in all, 
 they were a decent set of fellows. 
 
 One " new chum " trainer, a Geordie, used to get no 
 end of chaff from his confreres. He was not lucky ; 
 
i8 2 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 his dogs would frequently lead in the run up, but 
 something would then happen, and he could not 
 hoist a winning flag. His ill-luck became pro- 
 verbial ; he, however, made a bold bid for victory 
 in a course one day, but no, the wrong flag again 
 went up. His mates condoled with him, and the 
 general comment, when he returned with his charge 
 was, " I tho't you won that, Geordie." " Nay, nay," 
 he said ; " in Hengland, I could beat Lords, Dookes, 
 and Hurls, but, hang me, I can't beat you bloomin' 
 Colonials ! " 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE fact must not be overlooked that, whilst many 
 of those connected with the club had seen 
 coursing in England, but very few had ever taken part 
 in the management of a meeting. Consequently, 
 nearly every one who accepted office had, in a manner 
 of speaking, to be broken in. Thus, amongst others, 
 the flag-steward had to be coached as to his duties, 
 but our first flag-steward was a victim to nervous 
 excitement, and made an occasional mistake, and 
 when remonstrated with, keenly felt the reproach, 
 but determining that it should not occur again, 
 he on one occasion and it was his last appearance 
 rode off, muttering to himself over and over again 
 as a red and a blue dog were placed in the slips, 
 "The blue dog's red and the red dog's white," yet 
 notwithstanding this dirge-like refrain, the wrong flag 
 again went up, and my good old friend, as they say in 
 sporting parlance, "declined the office," and never 
 acted as flag-steward again. 
 
 As secretary I came in for no end of adverse 
 criticism, but by degrees things, as we say in 
 Australia, " panned out " all right, and, upon the 
 whole, I can look back upon my connection with the 
 coursing people of Australia with infinite pleasure. 
 
 At the very outset of my career as a coursing 
 
 183 
 
184 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 secretary one of my severest critics was an old 
 veterinary surgeon named Mick Rowell. He was 
 quite a character, not only in manner, but in appear- 
 ance also. Although well advanced in years, he was 
 as upright as a dart. He stood close upon six feet, 
 his hair was black, and his beard closely cropped. 
 He always wore a tall hat they call them bell- 
 toppers in Australia the said hat being worn a bit 
 on one side, and much the worse for wear, but withal 
 shiny. His coat in all the years I knew him he 
 only had this particular one was very long, and he 
 wore it "all buttoned down before," and buttoned 
 closely round his neck too. It was of that peculiar 
 nondescript hue it wasn't yellow and it wasn't 
 brown ; it was described as a dandy - grey - russet 
 colour. He carried a staff "like unto a weaver's 
 beam," and his office or location was the window-sill 
 of an hotel which faced the horse sale yards, Kirk's 
 Bazaar. 
 
 He was always to be found there towards mid- 
 day, summer or winter, and from the number of 
 his clients one would have imagined him to be a 
 fairly well-to-do man ; but I fear this was not the 
 case. His manner at times was particularly brusque, 
 at others it was courtesy and amiability itself. With 
 all his faults, however, he was very much liked, and 
 his reputation as a vet stood high with all the prin- 
 cipal horse-owners. 
 
 Dick Tattersall was a great friend of his, as he 
 was of mine, and Dick upbraided him for the 
 unkind and really unjust criticisms with which he 
 assailed me, the result being that the old fellow 
 recanted, and one day begged Tattersall to take him 
 to my office. I must admit I was immensely surprised 
 
COURSING 185 
 
 at the visit, but before I could utter a word he, stand- 
 ing hat in hand, said, " Sir, I have come round to make 
 the amende honorable (pronounced Anglice), for I 
 find you know a d d sight more than ever we gave 
 you credit for. There's my hand!" His quaint 
 apology was frankly accepted, and Dick Tattersall 
 invited us to the nearest hotel, where we pledged 
 one another in sparkling Moselle, and from that 
 day I never had a stauncher friend than old Mick 
 Rowell. 
 
 He used to attend some of our earlier meetings, but 
 ill-health overtook him, and not having the best of 
 constitutions, he passed in his checks. R.I. P. 
 
 Our first slip-steward was dapper little Sam 
 Waldock, who was Master of the Flemington Hounds, 
 and a good all round sportsman into the bargain. He 
 always had a few horses in training, but was not over 
 successful on the turf. Little chap though he was, he 
 knew how to put up his " bunch of fives," and many a 
 man double his size has had to bite the dust when 
 tackled by little Sam, for he was as game as the 
 proverbial pebble. When he "shuffled ofT" he was 
 succeeded by another little fellow, George Mayger, 
 who was as neat and natty as his predecessor, and was 
 never absent from his post a single day during many 
 seasons. He accidentally misplaced an H one day, 
 calling a dog to slips by shouting, "Where's the 
 H'admiral ? " He was never allowed an opportunity 
 of forgetting his blunder, for " Where's the H'admiral," 
 I'll warrant, re-echoes in his ears to this very day. 
 Coursing was sport in those days, and the season had 
 no sooner closed than we were looking forward with 
 pleasurable excitement to the opening of the next. 
 
 The rearing and training of the puppies was a source 
 M 
 
186 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 of never-failing interest, and their make and shape 
 and style of going formed the topic of discussion on 
 many a summer evening. The leading coursing men 
 built most elaborate kennels, all the latest improve- 
 ments, sanitary and otherwise, being adopted, regard- 
 less of expense. The trainers were most comfortably 
 housed, and to a man fond of his dogs and fond of 
 the sport, his life was quite to be envied. The owner 
 would pay periodical visits accompanied by a few 
 friends, and many a pleasant hour have I spent 
 discussing the prospects of the saplings and the past 
 deeds of the veterans in some cosy cottage, or under 
 the shade of some broad verandah, " eating cake and 
 drinking wine." 
 
 Who will ever forget the Stormont kennels, and 
 old Josh, Mary Ann, his wife, and Arny, their 
 youngster ? No hard and fast rules were laid down 
 here. The kennel was part and parcel of a well- 
 built brick villa, and the greyhounds were housed 
 and fed far and away better than many a so-called 
 Christian ; and many a night after dinner have we, at 
 the request of the " squire," visited the kennels and 
 inspected their occupants by candle-light. 
 
 Josh, Mary Ann, and Arny were all pressed into the 
 service, holding candles here, there, and everywhere, 
 whilst the master dilated upon the development of 
 muscle and the general merits of the animals thus 
 ruthlessly disturbed from their slumbers. That these 
 rude awakenings were not productive of evil effects 
 may be gathered from the fact that the kennel was 
 credited with no fewer than three Waterloo Cups, 
 besides many valuable stakes and trophies. Old 
 Josh was a bit of a character. He worked night 
 and day, but was very downcast when one of his 
 
COURSING 187 
 
 charges got beaten. His employer always said it was 
 quite unnecessary to watch which flag went up. Josh's 
 demeanour when picking up his dog was a sure indica- 
 tion. " Hulloa," he would say, " we're beaten. Josh is 
 travelling as if something had happened, or he was 
 going to a funeral." But many a time has the old 
 trainer remarked that he "did not think he was 
 'baten' fairly." 
 
 These kennel visits could be enlarged upon, but 
 sufficient has been said to indicate the almost youth- 
 ful enthusiasm that everywhere existed amongst the 
 men who loved the sport for sport's sake. 
 
 The quantity of whisky consumed at our early 
 coursing meetings by some of the " Boys of the Old 
 Brigade," was prodigious. Their flasks were of such 
 proportions that if need be they could very well 
 be utilised as warming-pans when not otherwise 
 engaged. The effects produced by frequent libations 
 were in some instances comical, but in one case, I 
 remember, tragical. 
 
 It was on a bitter cold day we were coursing 
 in the vicinity of Geelong when occasional nips 
 were necessary to keep up the circulation, that 
 one poor fellow carried the pitcher to the well once 
 too often. He became a bit unsteady and wandered 
 off on his own account, never reached his hotel that 
 night, and was found the next day sitting under 
 a tree, stone dead. He was absolutely frozen to 
 death. 
 
 Another ardent supporter of the sport, and the bottle, 
 and a great believer in " doubles," had stated at the 
 draw the card consisted of two thirty-two dog 
 stakes that he wanted to back a double, namely, Pell 
 Mell for the first event, and Pearl, his own dog, for 
 
i88 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 the second ; and this double, Pell Mell and Pearl, was 
 ever present in his mind. But on the following day 
 when his dog was called to the slips, neither dog nor 
 owner could be found. After searching for some 
 time the old fellow was discovered sitting on a log, 
 half-dazed, muttering to himself, "The two P's, 
 gen'elmen, the two P's Pell Mell and Pearl." His 
 prediction, however, was not verified, and the double 
 did not come off. 
 
 Other enthusiasts, and I may say connoisseurs, used 
 to take with them a supply of chops and steaks, and 
 a gridiron was quite a necessary adjunct to their 
 outfit. A keen old sportsman named Joe Harper 
 was always thus equipped, and I certainly think I 
 never ate with greater relish a chop or steak thus 
 grilled in the open over the embers of a wood fire. 
 It may sound like damnable iteration, but I cannot 
 refrain from emphasizing and dwelling upon the 
 thoroughly sportsmanlike spirit which abounded in 
 these halcyon days. The tedious journeys, the tramp- 
 ing miles upon miles o'er hill and dale behind the 
 beaters in search of game were all undertaken with 
 the utmost cheerfulness, and the utmost good humour 
 ever prevailed. 
 
 Hares, as I have already remarked, increased so 
 rapidly they breed all the year round, and frequently 
 produce four and five at a litter that Coursing Clubs 
 were formed in all parts of the Colony, Geelong, 
 Ballarat, Hamilton, and other up-country townships 
 quickly following in the wake of the Melbourne 
 people, but in many instances game was not suffi- 
 ciently plentiful to justify the holding of a public 
 meeting ; but so keen was everybody for the sport 
 that, quite undaunted by the fact that occasionally 
 
COURSING ; i8 9 
 
 the number of trials totalled did not reach a dozen, 
 plenty of entries were forthcoming, and the clubs 
 prospered. 
 
 Amongst the curiosities of coursing literature was 
 a rule of one of the country clubs to the following 
 effect : " That any dog running by c smell ' (sic) shall 
 be disqualified." 
 
 Many of the Press men told off for duty in these 
 early days had very slight, if any, experience of the 
 sport, and their descriptions of the various trials were 
 somewhat amusing, the language adopted being quite 
 novel when compared with that in ordinary use in 
 coursing chronicles, but the following few lines con- 
 cerning the scene at the railway station on the morn- 
 ing of our first meeting is worth repeating: "A 
 special train was provided for the members of the 
 club and the public who wished to take part in the 
 sport, and as the time of starting drew near the 
 Spencer Street Station presented a very curious and 
 interesting appearance. In every direction were to 
 be seen men leading highly-bred and carefully-pre- 
 pared greyhounds clad in all the coxcombry of dog 
 clothing. These animals were subjected to a good 
 deal of criticism by the persons present, the proper 
 thing apparently being to run the hand slowly along 
 the dog's back and say he was very fit. The dogs 
 must have been in good condition, for it was rarely 
 that any one ventured to give an unfavourable 
 judgment." 
 
 But so important a feature in our sporting life did 
 coursing become, that special reporters were engaged 
 in England by some of the leading papers. Principal 
 among those so engaged was my friend W. F. Lamonby, 
 "Skiddaw," of the London Field, and now keeper of 
 
190 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 the " Stud Book." His article published in vol. vi. of 
 the " Stud Book " on " Coursing in Australia," is well 
 worth reading, dealing as it deals in detailed fashion 
 with the ups and downs of the sport at the Antipodes. 
 
 At Sunbury Sir William Clarke he was not Sir 
 William then used to entertain at luncheon, in most 
 sumptuous style, the members and their friends each 
 day of the various meetings, but his hospitality was 
 soon abused, and the stewards, when they found that 
 a crowd of people attended the meetings, not so much 
 for the sport as for the free feeding, persuaded him 
 to discontinue the entertainments. But once during 
 the season, on the occasion of running for the West 
 Bourke Plate, to which Sir William always added a 
 Fifty Guinea Cup, the same lavish hospitality was 
 in evidence. 
 
 Private coursing parties were frequently organised, 
 at which all the greyhounds would be nominated by 
 ladies, when bracelets presented by the host would be 
 run for. This style of coursing meetings became so 
 popular that an Amateur Coursing Club was started, 
 to which only the upper ten could gain admission, 
 and which was managed by an entirely honorary staff. 
 The meetings of the club were largely patronised by 
 ladies, and the programme for the Bracelet Meeting 
 was framed on similar lines to the Waterloo Cup, 
 there being a Purse and Plate for beaten dogs, the 
 prizes being bracelets of different values. The principal 
 prize was worth a hundred guineas, and all the dogs 
 were nominated by ladies. From all this may be 
 gathered the extraordinary popularity the sport 
 attained after the first few years of its introduction. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 I DO not think I can better convey the idea of the 
 discomforts we went through in the early days, 
 than by reproducing an article I wrote in 1876, which 
 really is a very fair sample of what frequently took 
 place at many of the early meetings. Taking a 
 retrospect, it has often been to me a matter for 
 surprise that we were not, all of us, at some time 
 or another, prosecuted for cruelty to animals. In 
 England if there is a frost the meetings are post- 
 poned ; in Australia if there was a drought and the 
 ground as hard as adamant the meetings were not 
 postponed, and I have seen dogs after a course return 
 with their pads taken off as if with a knife. No 
 trainer's outfit was complete unless he carried with 
 him a miniature doctor's shop. 
 
 The article I refer to (reproduced by permission of 
 the proprietors of the Australasian} was headed : 
 
 "A TRIP TO TRAWALLA: 
 
 "OR, COURSING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 " I am most anxious at the very outset to let it 
 be thoroughly understood that I have not the 
 
 191 
 
i 9 2 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 slightest wish to criticise unfairly in any way either 
 the Ballarat Coursing Club or its management, nor 
 do I wish, even had I the power, to damp the ardour 
 of those owners of greyhounds who so pluckily and 
 perseveringly patronise the different meetings, and, 
 in a manner of speaking, "come up smiling" time 
 after time, notwithstanding repeated disappointments, 
 and are ever ready to rally round Judge Johnston 
 when he dons the scarlet ; tout au contraire, I am 
 desirous to award them the very highest meed of 
 praise for their indomitable adherence to a sport 
 which has this season, with them, been carried on 
 in the face of unusual difficulties. If the members 
 of the Ballarat Club are a fair sample of the 
 Australian coursing community, there is little fear 
 of the interest in the sport waning whilst this Mark 
 Tapley characteristic so strongly predominates. 
 
 " My simple reason for penning these lines con- 
 cerning my visits to Trawalla is to give an idea 
 of the nature of the peculiar difficulties that have 
 attended the two coursing meetings at which I 
 was present. 
 
 " On the first occasion (the Ercildoun Cup Meeting) 
 the heat was so intense as to place many a greyhound 
 hors de combat before being put into the slips, and it 
 is a matter of wonderment, considering the hardness 
 of the ground, and the scorching rays of the sun, that 
 either man or dog escaped without some really serious 
 injury. The visitors on foot were clustered under 
 what little shade the gum-trees afforded, and an 
 umbrella was regarded with envious eyes by those 
 not fortunate enough to possess one. The scarlet 
 of the judge's coat was painful to gaze upon, and 
 Banner, the slipper, with a pugaree, was an object of 
 
COURSING 193 
 
 pity. Such were the circumstances that attended 
 the opening meeting of the season. 
 
 " The second meeting of the Ballarat Club was held 
 at Ascot, under equally disheartening circumstances, 
 though the drawbacks were of a totally different 
 character; rain, hail, and snow fighting for the 
 mastery, and both biped and quadruped underwent 
 hardships indescribable. 
 
 " The third of this club's meetings, held at Trawalla, 
 could boast of no better treatment at the hands of 
 the clerk of the weather, for the Thursday morning 
 opened with a heavy downpour of rain and a 
 wretched cold, biting wind, which put to a most 
 severe test the enduring powers of these hardy 
 Norsemen. 
 
 " Owing to the exorbitant and preposterous terms 
 demanded by the railway department, the club were 
 unable to make arrangements for a special train ; so 
 the journey to Trawalla had to be made overnight 
 to enable me to be at the meeting-place at the 
 appointed time the following morning. 
 
 " The train landed us (myself and friend) at Trawalla 
 between 12 and i o'clock on Wednesday night, and 
 we immediately made tracks for the hotel close by, 
 where we discovered, much to our consternation and 
 disgust, that every bed was occupied, some two deep. 
 
 "There were, however, a couple of shakedowns 
 made up in the dining-room, and as it was a case 
 of Hobson's choice, we readily availed ourselves of 
 them, and prepared to turn in for the night, in the 
 hope of getting at the least a few hours' refreshing 
 sleep. But all such hope was quickly extinguished, 
 for the inmates of the hotel were little disposed to 
 indulge in any such peaceful diversion. The restless 
 
I96 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 p assp . some of them seemed unquenchable (literally 
 
 figuratively) and the persistency with which one 
 
 , their number in an adjoining room made known in 
 
 very loud key his desire to " lay fifty to forty and 
 
 >ost the money " became wearisome. He seemed to 
 
 be the most speculative of the party, as in spite of his 
 
 frantic efforts to lay (I wish he had laid and shut up), 
 
 he found few to respond. 
 
 " In harmony (?) with the shouts of the aforesaid 
 maniac, came ever and anon outbursts and exclama- 
 tions from a loo party hard by, and the utter 
 bewilderment of the man who was looed with two 
 trumps in his hand was frequently and forcibly 
 alluded to in terms the very reverse of parlia- 
 mentary. Add to this the occasional moaning of 
 some poor wretch of a greyhound, and the chorus 
 of his companions, our night at the Trawalla Hotel 
 was anything but pleasant. 
 
 "There was a capital fire in the room, but to 
 our dismay, instead of it being the comfort we 
 had looked forward to, it turned out to be simply 
 a nuisance, as the continual tramp of unsteady 
 visitors to the kettle on the hob only rendered 
 matters more unbearable. Remonstrance was in vain, 
 as the demand for toddy hot, strong, and sweet, was 
 incessant and irrepressible, and was kept up without 
 intermission until we were politely informed by the 
 landlord that we must turn out, as they wanted to lay 
 the breakfast table ready for an early meal. There 
 was nothing for it but compliance with this unwelcome 
 mandate. 
 
 " After completing a somewhat hasty toilet, as the 
 phrase goes, we had just sufficient leisure to take a 
 look round before breakfast. On our way we were 
 
COURSING 
 
 very nearly capsized by a trainer in hot ^ 
 of a greyhound that had escaped from his cusu 
 and was endeavouring to bolt a large piece of ra 
 meat which he had stolen from the cook. Othe 
 trainers were busy preparing for the start, and on all 
 their faces were plainly discernible traces of the 
 anxious and watchful night spent in anticipating 
 their probable chances in the day's contest, and the 
 astonishing confidence expressed by each and every 
 one that their several charges would utterly annihilate 
 their adjective opponents was marvellous in the 
 extreme. 
 
 "During breakfast the rain, which had been 
 threatening, came down in torrents, and continued 
 unceasingly for more than two hours, but as it was 
 announced that the first brace of dogs were to be in 
 the slips at the home station punctually at nine o'clock, 
 and considering that a distance of over four miles had 
 to be traversed, a move in that direction was deemed 
 advisable. 
 
 " On our arrival we found a small muster of half- 
 drowned coursers, who had, like ourselves, journeyed 
 from afar, but the kindly hospitality of Mr John 
 Wilson was extended to us in such a manner as 
 to make us forget our dismal experiences of the 
 preceding night. 
 
 " It was half-past ten o'clock before operations 
 commenced in earnest, but the hares had evidently 
 been advised of our coming, as they had studiously 
 forsaken their accustomed haunts, and beat after 
 beat was taken, yet only two courses were run up 
 till three o'clock. 
 
 " Mr Johnston looked grave, and a peculiar sadness 
 overspread his classic brow as the dreary hours 
 
196 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 passed slowly by. Banner's countenance was a 
 perfect puzzle, and the look of his " mug," as 
 bis face was irreverently termed by an unclassical 
 bystander, was the subject of much speculation. Up 
 and down those hills he tramped, and occasionally 
 where they were most steep took a run, and gazed 
 scornfully upon the beaters for their unsuccessful 
 efforts to find him a hare. 
 
 " The stewards, as a rule a jovial set of fellows, 
 looked mournful and miserable, and the honorary 
 secretary, on ordinary occasions a perfect host in 
 himself, was subdued and sad ; but the sadness of 
 the secretary, the gravity of the judge, and Banner's 
 scorn were unavailing, for on looking over our card 
 at night we failed to discover that we had run 
 more than six courses throughout the entire day. 
 
 " A pleasant evening was spent at the homestead, 
 which had the effect of somewhat obliterating the 
 disagreeable impressions of the night before. 
 
 " In conclusion, I wish the Ballarat Club every 
 success, to ensure which a more plentiful supply of 
 game is all that is necessary, as the members are 
 undoubtedly coursers at heart, and are not easily 
 daunted by ordinary difficulties." 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE coursing fever soon spread to New South 
 Wales, South Australia, New Zealand, and Tas- 
 mania, and for the former Colony I held an unlimited 
 commission to purchase live hares at five shillings per 
 head, and I sent over some hundreds. 
 
 Meetings were first held on the famous Bathurst 
 plains, and the Bathurst Cup became second only 
 in importance to the Waterloo Cup in Melbourne. 
 Later, however, the meetings of N.S.W. Club were 
 held on a lovely estate not many miles from Sydney, 
 the property of Mr Lamb, at Rooty Hill. These 
 meetings were of a most enjoyable character, the 
 Melbourne visitors especially being treated with 
 unbounded hospitality. 
 
 My first visit to Sydney was made on the occasion 
 of the opening meeting at Rooty Hill, and my ex- 
 periences will ever be remembered with the liveliest 
 satisfaction. Our party numbered about a dozen, 
 and from the representatives at Government House 
 and the leading people in Sydney, we received nothing 
 but kindness. Picnics and excursions were organised 
 for our benefit, and to many of us it was like the 
 opening up of fairyland, so charming was the scenery 
 and so cordial was our reception. 
 
 The praises of Sydney Harbour have been sung so 
 often, but no language can be of too eulogistic a 
 
 197 
 
196 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 passed <\n describing its beauties. I wish I had the 
 power to even faintly depict its manifold attractions. 
 Coming from Melbourne, where the scenery is not 
 oarticularly interesting, and travelling through miles 
 inexh" Ilost interminable gum forests, with their gaunt, 
 sot .vieton-like, and grotesquely-shaped trees, it was, 
 -indeed, a contrast when we reached the old-fashioned, 
 English-looking town of Sydney, with its quaint, 
 narrow streets, and gazed on " our Harbour." Whilst 
 on this topic of scenery I cannot do better than quote 
 a description of the Australian Bush, written by my 
 friend, the late Marcus Clarke, who wrote, as everybody 
 knows, that wonderful book, " His Natural Life." 
 
 He says : " The Australian mountain forests are 
 funereal, secret, stern. Their solitude is desolation. 
 They seem to stifle in their black gorges a story of 
 sullen despair. No tender sentiment is nourished in 
 their shade. In other lands the dying year is mourned* 
 the falling leaves drop lightly on his bier. In the 
 Australian forests no leaves fall. The savage winds 
 shout among the rock clefts. From the melancholy 
 gum, strips of white bark hang and rustle. The very 
 animal life of these frowning hills is either grotesque 
 or ghostly. Great grey kangaroos hop noiselessly 
 over the coarse grass. Flights of white cockatoos 
 stream out, shrieking like evil souls. The sun 
 suddenly sinks, and the mopokes burst out into 
 horrible peals of semi-human laughter. The natives 
 aver that when night comes, from out the bottomless 
 depth of some lagoon the bunyip rises, and, in form 
 like monstrous sea-calf, drags its loathsome length 
 from out the ooze. From a corner of the silent 
 forest rises a dismal chant, and around a fire dance 
 natives, painted like skeletons. All is fear-inspiring 
 
COURSING 
 
 and gloomy. No bright fancies are linked >. 
 memories of the Mountains. Hopelc^ explorers 
 have named them out of their sufferings Mount 
 Misery, Mount Dreadful, Mount Despair. As wjig^ 
 among sylvan scenes in places Qen - m 
 
 1 Made green with the running of rivers, *ng 
 
 And gracious with temperate air,' 
 
 the soul is soothed and satisfied, so, placed before the 
 frightful grandeur of these barren hills, it drinks in 
 their sentiment of defiant ferocity, and is steeped in 
 bitterness." 
 
 This picture of the Australian Bush is not attractive, 
 but it is, nevertheless, graphic and true. It may, there- 
 fore, readily be conceived with what pleasurable 
 emotions we feasted our eyes upon the lovely scenery 
 with which Sydney is surrounded. 
 
 But, to resume. This chapter, I must remember, is 
 supposed to be devoted to coursing experiences, but 
 I could not resist the temptation to record the never- 
 to-be-forgotten pleasures of my first visit to the 
 metropolis of New South Wales. 
 
 The sport, as in Victoria, became immensely popular, 
 and the interchange of visits by the leading coursing 
 people was one of the most agreeable features of the 
 
 season. 
 
 * 
 
 The meetings of the Hamilton and Western District 
 Coursing Club (Victoria) were run over quite park-like 
 lands, and were most enjoyable, and I shall always look 
 back with especial pleasure to my connection with them. 
 The pleasure, however, is largely tinged with regret, 
 inasmuch as my great friend, Henry Beresford de la 
 Poer Wall, the principal of the Hamilton College, 
 and whose guest I always was, is now no more. His 
 
200 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 colleague, and also my good friend, J. A. Pickup, is at 
 the English Bar, and when last I saw him, was in the 
 best of good health. 
 
 J?e'miniscences of Hamilton ! well, they are almost 
 inexhaustible. Poor old A. P. Rudd, the classical if 
 sovnewhat dilapidated Pop Seymour, the Hon. Thos. 
 l&romell, O'Connor (judge and journalist, who had 
 but one eye), Alfred Tennyson Dickens (son of the 
 Charles Dickens), and many other good men and 
 true. I could well say What nights ! ! ! and they 
 would know what that means. 
 
 I don't think it necessary, nor would any good 
 purpose be served at this period of time, to make 
 reference to the troubles and bickerings which 
 occasionally arose, and which subsequently led to a 
 split in the Victoria Coursing Club. These matters 
 we can well afford to bury in oblivion, but one of the 
 results of these dissensions was the opening up of 
 the Werribee Plains and the establishment of the 
 Australian Coursing Club. 
 
 Coursing reached its very heyday of prosperity 
 when the Messrs Chirnside threw open the famous 
 Werribee Plains, upon which the Australian Coursing 
 Club (previously referred to) established their head- 
 quarters. The only drawbacks here were the wire 
 fences, but they were few and far between, and by 
 degrees the greyhounds, owing to their being taught 
 whilst puppies at walk to know what wire fences 
 meant, were not such a detriment as one might 
 at first suppose. This estate, Werribee Park, com- 
 prised no less an area than 90,000 acres of freehold 
 land, the greater portion of which was beautifully 
 grassed, and such a contrast to most of the coursing 
 country free from stones. I don't suppose better 
 
COURSING 201 
 
 coursing has been seen in any part of the world than 
 was witnessed here, but the Plumpton craze took on, 
 and dog-racing became the order of the day, and it 
 seemed as if the sport of coursing was doomed from 
 the first introduction of this enclosed system. I am 
 not quite sure if the same results have not arisen in 
 England. From being a healthy and invigorating 
 exercise, it became simply a medium for betting. Dog- 
 stuffing (an expression incomprehensible to the old 
 school of coursers) and such like practices were 
 indulged in, until the sport, as we used to know it 
 some twenty years back, is almost as extinct as the 
 Dodo more's the pity. When I cast my eyes 
 back upon those days, and think of the men who 
 were its warmest supporters, I again say more's 
 the pity. 
 
 Irrespective of this dog-stuffing business, the know- 
 ledgable qualities of the greyhounds became developed 
 in a very marked and undesirable degree. Many a 
 third-season dog has shown no disposition to keep to 
 the line of his game ; he has headed in the direction of 
 the " home," being fully alive to the fact that he would 
 meet puss sooner or later. It was highly amusing 
 to watch an old stager standing off in this way, but it 
 was not by any means " according to Cocker." One 
 by one the principal supporters retired ; first one club 
 then another became extinct, until at the present 
 day the sport, which at the outset flourished in 
 such a remarkable manner, is now in very low water 
 indeed. 
 
 The general depression, the failure of banks and 
 building societies would, doubtless, have checked its 
 career in some measure ; but certain questionable 
 practices crept in, and the inevitable result followed. 
 
 N 
 
202 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 I don't think coursing died a natural death. It was 
 murdered. 
 
 There was one little club which struggled bravely 
 to keep open coursing alive. I refer to the Fitzroy 
 Club, whose leading spirit was Joe Brennan, a brother 
 of the man who invented the Brennan Torpedo. He 
 was a most enthusiastic supporter of the sport, and, 
 by the way, was a bit of inventor too, for he designed 
 and had constructed a machine, like a good-sized 
 watch, to be carried in the pocket, for the purpose of 
 registering the points scored in a course by a pair of 
 greyhounds. As far as I can remember, there were 
 two hands, one representing the red, and one the 
 white collar, and by pressing a spring, the number of 
 points as they were made were recorded in favour 
 of the respective dogs, so that at the conclusion of 
 the course, the register showed which collar had most 
 points to its credit. It was very ingenious, but I 
 don't think any of the judges adopted it. 
 
 The meetings of this club, managed by Joe Brennan, 
 were held either at Sunbury or at the Werribee, both 
 Sir William Clarke and the Messrs Chirnside offering 
 every facilities for open coursing, and many a pleasant 
 day have I spent with some of the old school tramping 
 behind the beaters, and getting sport as in the days 
 of old. 
 
 In the foregoing pages I have endeavoured to 
 depict some of the ups and downs of coursing as I 
 knew it a few years ago in Australia. To some of 
 my readers the perusal of them will, I feel convinced, 
 bring back pleasant memories, and many will join 
 me in sighing for the days that are gone. I have 
 not attempted to make these chapters a statistical 
 record, but I have touched lightly upon incidents 
 
COURSING 203 
 
 which will certainly interest those who were my 
 contemporaries, and they may possibly help to while 
 away an hour of the casual reader, who may, in 
 some way or another, have interests or connections 
 in far-off Australia. 
 
ATHLETICS 
 
ATHLETICS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THAT Australia has produced some wonderful 
 athletes goes without saying, and I have had 
 many opportunities of witnessing their prowess 
 in the various branches of sport they respectively 
 represented, before they became famous. In rowing 
 Trickett, Beach, and Searle made world-wide reputa- 
 tions, but the early demise of the latter, when just 
 entering his prime, brought to an abrupt termination 
 a career which seemed destined to eclipse that of 
 any of his predecessors. 
 
 The following acrostic, written by my friend, 
 H. V. Thompson, lately a journalist in Melbourne, 
 but now on the staff of the London Daily Mail, 
 appeared in the Sydney Bulletin, and most patheti- 
 cally embodies the feeling of profound grief every- 
 where expressed for Searle's untimely death : 
 
 " S peak softly, lads, our hero's gone 
 E re we could shake his hand upon 
 A well-earned victory. He'll never hear 
 R esounding loud the welcome cheer 
 L et loose from manly throats. He sleeps 
 E ncircled by his fame. Australia weeps." 
 
 With regard to rowing Melbourne has not the great 
 advantages which belong to Sydney, inasmuch as the 
 
 207 
 
SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 Yarra and Saltwater Rivers are not to be compared 
 with the Paramatta and the Nepean, and the honour 
 of giving to the world such champions as I have 
 mentioned belongs to New South Wales. Rowing 
 and rowing men are naturally therefore not so much in 
 evidence in Victoria as they are in the parent Colony, 
 all the great boating events being rowed on the 
 Paramatta River. Still, the Melbournites evince a 
 keen interest in the doings of the Sydney boys, and 
 they flock over in goodly numbers to Sydney when 
 any event of importance is to be decided. 
 
 Hanlan was made much of on his first visit to 
 Australia, and I had many chats with him ; the 
 current gossip that he had some mysterious 
 mechanism which helped to propel his boat afforded 
 him no end of amusement. 
 
 Considering that nearly the whole of the quarter 
 of a century which I spent in Australia was passed 
 in Melbourne, rowing, it may be gathered under the 
 circumstances, occupies but a very small space in 
 my " Reminiscences," although frequently thrown in 
 contact with rowing men, amongst whom I number 
 a great many friends. 
 
 Boxing has always been a favourite amusement in 
 Melbourne, and I have generally managed to be 
 present when any event of importance was on the 
 tapis ; but before boxing, as no\v\ practised, under 
 the Marquis of Queensberry Rules, there was some 
 desperate fighting, as they say, with the " raw 'uns." 
 But during my time people were becoming more 
 civilised, I suppose, and prize-fighting was suppressed 
 by the authorities, but, notwithstanding all the 
 vigilance of the police, fights were occasionally 
 brought off, the last one of any importance being 
 
ATHLETICS 209 
 
 between Abe Hicken, of Melbourne, and Larry Foley, 
 of Sydney. 
 
 Jem Mace's arrival in Australia gave boxing a bit 
 of an impetus, and sparring matches were not of 
 unfrequent occurrence. Jem Mace, although he was 
 then getting on in years, still retained his marvellous 
 quickness and judgment of distance. I have seen 
 both professionals and amateurs in an exhibition spar 
 try to hit him, but they nearly always failed to get 
 home anything but the faintest of taps. One of the 
 most amusing exhibitions of boxing I ever saw was 
 at the old Princess' Theatre, Melbourne, when Jem 
 Mace put on the mittens to box old Harry Sailers, a 
 coloured gentleman, a rare battler of the old school, 
 and the darky's frantic but futile efforts to get home 
 on old Jem were highly ludicrous, and were greeted 
 with shouts of laughter. 
 
 Since writing the foregoing, I see that Jem Mace 
 has absolutely entered the Ring again, to box a 
 man named Donovan six rounds, for the veteran 
 championship of the world. The ruling passion must 
 be strong indeed, when Mace, who is now in his sixty- 
 seventh year, is once again seeking glory as a veteran 
 champion. Paragraphs appeared in the London sport- 
 ing papers describing in detail the work Jem was 
 doing; what he had for his breakfast, and what was 
 provided for his dinner ; but, notwithstanding all his 
 training, Nature can't be trifled with, for I see that 
 the two veterans could only box three rounds ; it was 
 then a case of "bellows to mend," and the referee 
 humanely called a draw. 
 
 There has always been, and is to this day, a keen 
 rivalry between the Sydney and Melbourne boxers, 
 but a contest which created tremendous excitement 
 
SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 was that between Larry Foley, of New South Wales, 
 and Peter Newton, of Victoria. I had seen, previously 
 to this, many a merry set-to in back rooms of pubs, 
 but this was the first public exhibition of the " noble 
 art " at which I was present, and which was patronised 
 by swells from the Melbourne Club and the leading 
 sporting people of Melbourne. The match took place 
 in a large hall adjoining Tattersalls Hotel, and the 
 arrival of the " Bon tonners," headed by no less a 
 personage than Captain Standish, the Chief Com- 
 missioner of Police, was greeted with loud applause 
 by the "great unwashed," who were largely in the 
 ascendant. The appointments of referee and time- 
 keeper were not accomplished without considerable 
 disorder, one section declaring lustily for Joe 
 Thompson as referee, and another section being 
 equally emphatic in denouncing him. For a time 
 it was a perfect pandemonium, but when the " gentle- 
 men of the fancy " had shouted themselves hoarse, the 
 adherents of Joe Thompson prevailed, and the fight 
 began. 
 
 I won't attempt to describe it in detail. It was, how- 
 ever, a desperate go. Considerable amount of feeling 
 prevailed, and it was impossible to suppress the 
 frantic yells of " Go it, Peter," or " Bravo, Larry," 
 when either of the combatants were successful in 
 landing "a beauty on the boko," or dealing out a 
 " lovely stab in the bread-basket." I don't remember 
 how many rounds were fought, but they went at it 
 hammer and tongs to a pretty lively tune, until the 
 exuberant spirits of the rowdy element got beyond 
 control, and the fight was stopped by the police. 
 
 I must not omit to mention that the Master of the 
 Ceremonies on all these occasions was a man named 
 
ATHLETICS 211 
 
 Ned Bitton. He was the proprietor of a fried fish shop, 
 and was a most pronounced " Sheeny " in looks and 
 language, but he fully recognised the heavy responsi- 
 bilities of his position, and the air of importance he 
 assumed on these occasions was highly amusing to 
 witness; he was very stout, and always arrayed 
 himself in black clothes, but when addressing his 
 audience, or introducing the combatants " The Port- 
 land Puncher and the Collingwood Chicken, two 
 game lads, gents, and all I ask is that you'll give 
 'em fair play. Timer Ned, in his shirt sleeves, 
 and with a towel over his arm, had a most business- 
 like look about him. During the progress of the 
 bout, an occasional " Go it, Puncher," or " Let go 
 with yer left, Billy," and " Now you've got J im," 
 would be heard from some enthusiastic supporter, 
 who was immediately reproved by Bitton with, 
 11 Order there ; can't yer give the lads a chance ? " 
 These were the customary incidents at ordinary 
 "spars." On this particular and important evening 
 it is needless to say Ned officiated with a dignity 
 befitting so momentous an occasion. 
 
 The skill and stamina displayed by Larry Foley 
 in this particular set-to caused his Sydney friends the 
 greatest glee, and before he returned home he was 
 matched against Abe Hicken, one of the most perfect 
 models of a middle-weight pugilist that ever stepped 
 into a ring. This fight came off at Perricoota, a 
 station on the New South Wales side of the River 
 Murray, and resulted in the victory of Foley, after a 
 desperate battle, which lasted over an hour. I think 
 I am correct in saying this was the last prize-fight of 
 any note that took place in Australia. 
 
 The adoption of the Marquis of Queensberry's Rules 
 
212 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 for glove-fights followed, and the Melbourne Athletic 
 Club was formed, and for a time prospered immensely. 
 Why it should not now be a flourishing institution I 
 cannot comprehend. The premises occupied by the 
 Club were large and commodious, and were fitted 
 up with all the latest details necessary for a first- 
 class gymnasium. The president was Sir John 
 Madden, now Chief Justice of the Colony, and the 
 manager Professor Miller, one of the most courteous 
 of men, and it seemed safe to predict, from the 
 personnel of the club, that a long and prosperous career 
 for it was assured. But although everything at the 
 start seemed so propitious, the interest after a few 
 years began to flag, and the Melbourne Athletic 
 Club has now, I believe, ceased to exist. I am afraid 
 my sporting friends in Australia are a wee bit 
 capricious and inconstant; but to "return to our 
 muttons," and the boxing at the Athletic Club, 
 some rare sport and exciting scenes have been 
 witnessed within its walls. I will but briefly refer to 
 one or two of the fights which aroused a vast amount 
 of interest. 
 
 I suppose that between Joe Goddard, the Barrier 
 champion, and Joe Choinski, of San Francisco, created 
 the greatest excitement. I don't think there was much 
 difference in their respective weights, but their style 
 of fighting was somewhat dissimilar. Goddard was 
 essentially a fighter, Choinski was a most scientific 
 boxer, and seemed to somewhat underrate his 
 opponent, with the result that he could not withstand 
 the terrific rushes of Goddard, who, before many 
 rounds had been fought, landed a blow on that fatal 
 spot, the point of the jaw, and Choinski was counted 
 out. Goddard, however, did not escape without 
 punishment. 
 
ATHLETICS 213 
 
 Whilst from a patriotic point of view, most people 
 wished the Australian to win, much sympathy was 
 felt for Choinski, who, by his quiet and gentlemanly 
 demeanour, had made many friends during his short 
 stay in the Colonies. 
 
 A contest which created wide-spread interest, and 
 drew an enormous house, was that between Burke 
 and Slavin. I am sure I am well within the mark 
 when I say that several hundreds of people were 
 unable to gain admission. This fight took place 
 whilst the Marquis of Queensberry was on a visit 
 to Melbourne, and at which he acted as referee. 
 He, however, was rather late in putting in an 
 appearance, the consequence being that he was 
 unable to get near the entrance to the hall, the 
 crowd being so dense, and he subsequently was 
 hoisted on a man's shoulders, and hauled up through 
 a side window, his advent under such circumstances 
 being loudly applauded. 
 
 Another fight which attracted considerable interest 
 was that between Tommy Williams, of Victoria, and 
 George Dawson, of New South Wales. This match 
 took place on the night of the Melbourne Derby, and 
 the partisans of the two lads mustered in full force, 
 the Melbournites swearing by Tommy Williams, and 
 the Sydneyites believing the defeat of Dawson 
 impossible. The term " game lads " was never more 
 .appropriately applied ; both had any amount of 
 science, but Williams was the hardest hitter, and 
 before many rounds were over, it was pretty patent 
 with whom victory would lie, Williams having 
 frequently landed home some heavy blows ere ad- 
 ministering the fatal " knock out." 
 
 I was present at the National Sporting Club, in 
 
214 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 Convent Garden, to see Williams box Tracy, and was 
 very much surprised to see him get his quietus in the 
 first round. 
 
 Prior to leaving Australia, the great Peter Jackson 
 took part in an entertainment given at the Club, and 
 put on the gloves for an exhibition spar with a young 
 amateur only about half his size and weight. The 
 youngster was rather nervous, but somewhat proud 
 of being selected to spar with the renowned Peter, 
 and he shaped remarkably well, so well that when 
 an opening occurred he got home on Peter's " kisser," 
 and made his lip bleed. Peter did not relish this 
 tap, and immediately went for the youngster, who 
 was terribly scared when he saw that the coloured 
 gentleman was in earnest. However, Professor Miller, 
 who was general M.C. and Referee, interposed, and 
 Peter had to modify his ardour, but not without an 
 emphatic protest against the young fellow's idea of an 
 " exhibition " spar. Peter certainly made a mistake 
 when he lost his temper. 
 
 Another unequal match was between Sydney Reed, 
 a young solicitor, and at one time amateur champion 
 middle-weight boxer of England, and a young 
 squatter named Ricketson. It looked like another 
 case of David and Goliath, but David, as personated 
 by Sydney Reed, had left his sling and stone behind 
 him, and with it he apparently left the only chance 
 of downing the big fellow. But one never can tell. 
 Although Reed was once knocked clean out of the 
 Ring, he showed any amount of pluck and science, 
 which in the end prevailed against his huge and 
 powerful opponent. The spar lasted four rounds, 
 Ricketson failing to come up to time, Reed was 
 awarded the verdict. 
 
ATHLETICS 215 
 
 There was a big fight on one night, an immense 
 crowd being present both inside and outside the club. 
 I cannot recall the names of the boxers ; they were 
 two well-known men, however, but they both seemed 
 afraid of each other, and for some rounds I don't 
 think really a blow was struck; they certainly did 
 nothing but " spar." It was evident they did not wish 
 to hurt one another. They danced round the Ring 
 like a couple of kangaroos, notwithstanding that 
 several hints were thrown out to " Get together, 
 boys." Some of the old members became a bit 
 fidgety, and one declared he could stand it no longer, 
 and went out. When interrogated outside as to the 
 progress of the fight, he said, " I really don't know, 
 but I think Jones," or whatever his name was, "is 
 about three laps ahead," rather a curious commentary 
 on a glove-fight. 
 
 I was introduced to the great John L. Sullivan 
 when he arrived in Australia, the committee of the 
 club welcoming him most cordially, and he was duly 
 toasted in bumpers of champagne. To my mind, 
 John L. was not by any means a nice man. He came 
 to Australia under engagement to Messrs M'Mahon 
 Brothers, the theatrical entrepreneurs^ to appear in a 
 drama called, " Honest Hearts and Willing Hands." 
 On the opening night, the theatre was packed from 
 floor to ceiling, the sporting world of Melbourne being 
 anxious to see how John L. shaped both as a mummer 
 and a boxer. He was greeted on making his appear- 
 ance with rounds upon rounds of applause, mingled 
 with any amount of good-humoured laughter. The 
 scene was a blacksmith's forge, in which John L. ap- 
 peared as the blacksmith. He was clad in black 
 knee-breeches, silk stockings, low patent leather shoes 
 
ai6 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 with silver buckles, and wore the orthodox leathern 
 apron. This get-up somewhat aroused the risible 
 faculties of the audience, and his unsteady gait, the 
 result presumably of his not having quite lost his 
 sea-legs, caused the gallery boys to give him a turn. 
 This riled the hero considerably, and forgetting for 
 the time all stage etiquette, he advanced to the foot- 
 lights, sledge hammer in hand, and told the gallery 
 boys that if they did not behave themselves, he would 
 "put a tail on some of them." I have seen some 
 funny things in my time, but John L.'s first appear- 
 ance on the stage in Melbourne takes some wiping 
 out. 
 
 To any one fond of boxing, the representation 
 of the Corbett-Fitzsimmons fight by the cinemato- 
 graph is most interesting, as, irrespective of the life- 
 like aspect of the fight which it exhibits, it sets 
 one wondering what will not science do for us next. 
 The fight and its preliminaries are shown with 
 startling reality, but the silence the lack of noise 
 has a most strange and peculiar effect. It seems 
 odd not to hear the time-keeper call "Time," or 
 the referee's injunctions to " Break away, lads," an 
 order which must frequently have been given during 
 the progress of the bout, as there was evidently 
 any amount of clinching, so much so, that on the 
 occasion of my visit, a pugilistic enthusiast in the 
 gallery called out, being quite carried away by the 
 illusion, "Why don't you kiss him?" and again, 
 whenever a telling blow was administered, there 
 would be many an exclamation of, " That's a beauty!" 
 and so on. The exhibition attracted large crowds 
 daily, a good percentage of ladies patronising the 
 show. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 WRESTLING, too, had its day in Melbourne, 
 and Whistler, when he arrived, was the 
 hero of the hour. It seems to be admitted on all 
 hands that Whistler has had no equal as a wrestler 
 in any part of the world, but, as the old saying 
 goes, he could not stand corn. He kicked over the 
 traces, and used to exhibit his marvellous strength 
 in the most idiotic fashion, lifting dining-room tables 
 with his teeth, chewing and eating up glass tumblers, 
 and such like insanities, with the inevitable result, he 
 went under ; broken glass, although washed down with 
 champagne, not being good for the digestive organs. 
 You see he had not the stomach of an Emu, to whom 
 nails and pieces of iron-wire rank as delicacies. 
 
 Donald Dinnie and Professor Miller, both remark- 
 ably powerful men, with world-wide reputations, had 
 many a bout, but wrestling never became so popular 
 as boxing, although it must be admitted that in its 
 day it created an enormous amount of enthusiasm, 
 and I have seen the Exhibition Building packed with 
 most enthusiastic crowds when any special match 
 was set down for decision, that in which the two 
 above-named champions met being productive of 
 intense excitement. But it was not a pleasant sight 
 to see Donald Dinnie get a half-Nelson hold, I 
 O 217 
 
2i8 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 think they call it, on the Professor, and nearly twist 
 his arm out of its socket, which was what occurred in 
 the match referred to, and the Professor had, perforce, 
 to yield. 
 
 We had a great night once with the wrestlers. It 
 was during the time the contests took place between 
 Cannon and Connor. At the conclusion of one of 
 their bouts, an ardent supporter of wrestling invited 
 a number of his friends to partake of refreshment 
 (the brandy at the club was old and curious), and 
 meet these two athletes. A goodly crowd responded 
 to the invitation, and the wrestlers being obliging, the 
 intricacies of the "hammer-lock," the "half-Nelson," 
 and other wonderful holds were explained and ex- 
 patiated upon until the "wee sma' hours," everybody 
 being delighted, and everybody, moreover, going to 
 bed fully believing they were perfectly conversant 
 with the Grseco-Roman, Cumberland, and catch-as- 
 catch-can styles, so very obliging were the pro- 
 fessionals in demonstrating how it was all done. At 
 breakfast, a somewhat late one, on the following 
 morning, wrestling was again the one absorbing topic, 
 and many asseverated most emphatically Connor 
 could not be beaten. " No," said one of the guests, 
 " Connor's very good, but Henessey beat you all last 
 night." " Henessey Henessey I don't remember 
 any one of that name being present," said the chair- 
 man. His friend simply pointed to a bottle of " Three 
 Star," and the band played. 
 
 It was here at the Melbourne Athletic Club I first 
 heard Harry Atkinson, now dubbed in London the 
 "Australian Orpheus." His imitations were looked 
 upon as very unique, and when one day he performed 
 before dear old Johnny Toole, he listened to and 
 
ATHLETICS 219 
 
 accepted the old chap's advice, resigned his position 
 as accountant to a leading firm of merchants, and 
 came to London, where his remarkable gifts have 
 been duly recognised and rewarded. 
 
 I have been present at all the principal cricket 
 matches played on the Melbourne ground, from that 
 between W. G. Grace's first team to those recently 
 played with Stoddart's Eleven. I think, notwithstand- 
 ing all the extraordinary enthusiasm over the last test 
 matches, the first arrival of the great W. G. evoked 
 even a greater amount of enthusiasm, and was looked 
 forward to with the keenest possible interest. I well 
 remember the day that Grace and his team landed. 
 There was a match being played, South Melbourne 
 against East Melbourne, at the first-named place, 
 and the English team were driven on to the ground 
 by Jimmy Garton, in one of his four-in-hands, and 
 they met with a particularly hearty reception. 
 
 These matches between East and South were 
 productive of intense excitement, and party feeling 
 occasionally ran very high. On this particular day 
 the roughs, for some cause or another, absolutely 
 pelted the visiting team with road metal as they 
 were leaving the ground. 
 
 The members of Grace's team, on making their 
 appearance on the Melbourne Cricket Ground, on the 
 occasion of their first match, were greeted with round 
 upon round of cheers from the thousands assembled, 
 and when in due time the great W. G. appeared at 
 the wickets, bat in hand, excitement reached the 
 highest pitch. How was he to be got out was the 
 question. The coveted honour of disposing of the 
 great man fell to the lot of J. Allan, who was dubbed 
 " the bowler of a century," who, when he accomplished 
 
220 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 this all-important feat, immediately executed a sort of 
 pas seul, so greatly did he rejoice. 
 
 The final test match with Stoddart's team will long 
 be remembered by those fortunate enough to witness 
 it. How the hopes of England fell when Stoddart 
 was given out leg before, the first ball bowled, I 
 think on the second day ! How young Australia was 
 jubilant, but how, when Ward and Brown got together, 
 they played such cricket and saved the day ! I have 
 seen a good deal of cricket in my time, but such 
 "attack" and "defence" has never been excelled. 
 The bowling and the fielding was superb, and the 
 tension for a time was positively painful. 
 
 Ladies did not patronise cricket so much in the 
 early days as they do now, and were not so au 
 courant with the intricacies of the game; consequently 
 their comments are not now so ludicrous. We don't 
 overhear remarks about the laziness of those two men 
 in long white coats ; they never try to stop a ball, etc., 
 or remarks of the short-sighted lady, who said, "What 
 a long time Mr Saunders has been in ! " she mistaking 
 "Sundries" for "Saunders." No ; the up-to-date ladies 
 know what cricket is, and also how to play it. 
 
 Amongst the Knights of the Trigger, Australians 
 have been more than able to hold their own, the most 
 recent visitor from Australia game enough to enter 
 the lists against English and foreign shootists being 
 Mr Donald Mackintosh,* whose performances at the 
 English Gun Club, Monte Carlo, Brussels, and other 
 places where shootists most do congregate, will bear 
 
 * Mr Mackintosh won no less a sum than ^3500 in stakes 
 and trophies during his recent visit to Europe. 
 
ATHLETICS 221 
 
 favourable comparison with the crack-shots, from 
 whatever portion of the globe they may hail. 
 
 In the early days, old Tom Grimwood and William 
 Sayer were almost invincible at the traps ; but 
 amongst the latter day champions must be mentioned 
 such experts as Leander Clarke, who tied in a match 
 with the celebrated American shot, Captain Brewer, 
 each killing ninety-five birds out of a hundred at 
 thirty yards' rise ; J. L. Purves, Q.C., W. T. Coldham, 
 and many of the younger generation, who may be 
 classed as good all-round men. 
 
 With regard to billiard players, it is true we have 
 not yet unearthed a Roberts, but young Charley 
 Memmott takes some beating when in good form, 
 and holds his own with most of the best in England. 
 
 Enough has, I think, been written to demonstrate 
 that, no matter what branch of sport we may turn 
 to, Australia has the distinction of producing many 
 champions, of whom she may justly be proud. 
 
THEATRICAL MEMORIES 
 
THEATRICAL MEMORIES 
 
 very first theatre I ever visited was the Old 
 Surrey in Blackfriars Road ; it must have 
 been in 1850 or 1851. The piece played was called, 
 I think, "France in 1790." It certainly dealt with 
 incidents of the great Revolution, and the guillotine 
 was shown upon the stage, but not in actual operation, 
 as the curtain descended before the victim met his 
 fate. The unpleasant impression created upon my 
 youthful mind by this piece of realism was not eradi- 
 cated for many a long day. As I grew older my 
 favourite theatre was the Olympic, when little Robson 
 was in the heyday of his prosperity. 
 
 Frequent reference is made to Robson's abilities in 
 nearly all the dramatic journals of the day, but, no 
 matter how facile the pen or gifted the writer, 
 language cannot adequately convey the effect which 
 his marvellous faculty of depicting both grave and 
 gay produced. Take his Jacob Earwig in " Boots at 
 the Swan," "Jem Baggs, the Wandering Minstrel," 
 Pawkins in "Retained for the Defence," and many 
 other plays and farces where his comicality was as 
 quaint as it was irresistible. On the other hand, his 
 pathos in the "Porter's Knot" and plays of a like 
 character, was touching to a degree. It was impossible 
 
 225 
 
226 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 to spend an evening at the Olympic without shedding 
 tears ; one moment they would be drawn from you 
 with laughter by some indescribable look or gesture, 
 and in the next grief would gain the mastery, as 
 Robson, with broken accents and tears in eyes, made 
 some touching appeal. 
 
 I shall never forget Robson one evening. He was 
 playing in a piece called " Camilla's Husband " ; the 
 part he enacted was that of a travelling tinker, and a 
 real live donkey was introduced in one of the scenes. 
 From some cause or another Robson became tongue- 
 tied, and there was a very awkward wait, during which 
 Robson's "phiz" was a study. The actors and actresses 
 on the stage were in a bit of a dilemma ; the cue was 
 more than once repeated, but for a few seconds it 
 seemed minutes a most embarrassing silence pre- 
 vailed, only to be broken by Robson, who, with a look 
 indescribably comical, asked his nearest colleague, in 
 a voice just loud enough for the house to hear, " Have 
 you got a cough lozenge ? " There was such a peal 
 of laughter at this unlooked-for interpolation. The 
 lost word was, however, soon recovered, and the play 
 proceeded. 
 
 Robson was a great friend of a friend of mine, to 
 whom he one day mentioned that he had engaged a 
 young fellow who, he thought, would make his mark 
 on the London stage, that young fellow being Henry 
 Neville. 
 
 The pit at the Haymarket during the Buckstone 
 regime was another of my favourite haunts. I well 
 remember one night particularly, when there was 
 indeed an attractive Bill, the two plays represented 
 being the " Overland Route " and the " Critic," Mr 
 and Mrs Charles Matthews, Buckstone, Compton, and 
 
THEATRICAL MEMORIES 227 
 
 Chippendale being in the cast. It was here, too, that 
 I saw Sothern as Lord Dundreary in " Our American 
 Cousin." Charles Matthews stood alone as a comedian, 
 and no one has ever, I think, filled his shoes. There 
 was a burlesque in which both he and his wife appeared, 
 and which is indelibly impressed upon my memory. 
 It was called "Jason, or the Golden Fleece," and in it 
 Mrs Charles Matthews uttered a mock curse with such 
 tragic vehemence that it was enough to make any one 
 " sit up." 
 
 At the Adelphi in Ben Webster's time I have 
 seen, amongst others, Mr and Mrs Boucicault in the 
 " Colleen Bawn," and Johnny Toole and Paul Bedford 
 in the " Area Belle," when the dear old chap warbled 
 forth a " Norrible Tale." I was present at the Princess 
 in George Vining's time, when the drama, " It is Never 
 too Late to Mend," was first produced. There was a 
 tremendous uproar when in the prison scene a boy, 
 personated by either Miss Louise or Miss Nellie 
 Moore, I forget which, was apparently subjected to 
 some harsh and brutal punishment, which piece of 
 realism the house vigorously and noisily resented, and 
 the thing had to be toned down considerably. 
 
 I remember seeing Henry Irving at Manchester or 
 Edinburgh I am not quite sure of the town, it's so 
 long ago when he played in a piece called " Hunted 
 Down," and at the same time Lydia Thompson, the 
 most charming of charming burlesque actresses, played 
 the " Middy Ashore." I have seen the late Edmund 
 Phelps in most of his principal characters; the one 
 that had a peculiar charm for me was his Sir 
 Pertinax Macsycophant in the " Man of the World." 
 The greatest Shakespearian production I ever saw 
 was "Julius Caesar," at Drury Lane, when Phelps, 
 
228 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 Walter Montgomery, and Anderson were in the 
 cast. Fechter was all the rage then at the Lyceum, 
 his " Hamlet " being diversely criticised, but in " Bel 
 Deminio " and the " Duke's Motto," he came in for 
 unstinted praise. 
 
 I have heard Charles Dickens read his " Christmas 
 Carol" and "The Trial from Pickwick." It was at 
 St James' Hall, and I well remember the dignified 
 reproof he administered to some late arrivals, by 
 simply pausing in his reading, and waiting until 
 they were seated. His pathetic rendering of the 
 story of " Tiny Tim " was unapproachable, and during 
 its recital there was not a dry eye amongst that 
 packed assembly. I think I have heard more than 
 one amateur excel him in the description of the trial 
 " Bardell v. Pickwick." 
 
 The greatest master of the art of elocution I ever 
 listened to was the Rev. J. M. Bellew. I have " sat 
 under him " at the old Bloomsbury Chapel, and I have 
 heard him lecture on Shakespeare and other subjects. 
 His dignified presence, his mellifluous voice gave an 
 inexpressible charm to his oratory which I have never 
 known excelled, notwithstanding the fact that I was 
 a frequent visitor to the Strangers' Gallery at the 
 House of Commons, and have heard in my time such 
 celebrities as Lord Palmerston, Lord Beaconsfield, 
 John Bright, Mr Gladstone, and others in more than 
 one debate. 
 
 When occasion offered, I have found my way to the 
 gallery when grand opera was produced at either 
 Her Majesty's or Covent Garden, and I have heard 
 Guiglini and Santley, Mesdames Titiens, Patti, both 
 Adelina and Carlotta, Parepa, and other stars, and I 
 happened to be at Her Majesty's the very night be- 
 
THEATRICAL MEMORIES 229 
 
 fore it was burnt down in 1867, when " Don Giovanni " 
 was produced, with Santley in the title role. 
 
 In these days a "night out" was not completed 
 without a supper at "Evans," when Paddy Green 
 held his sway, and where we would, over a devilled 
 kidney and a tankard of nut-brown ale, discuss the 
 topics of the day, and listen to glees and part-songs 
 rendered by a choir of boys in faultless fashion. 
 Comic singers would do their turn, and general 
 merriment prevailed. Herr von Joel would hand 
 round the cigars ; his powers of mimicry of the 
 feathered tribe having with increasing years failed 
 him. He was, however, " retained on the staff" so 
 the Bills had it in recognition of "valuable services 
 rendered." 
 
 Music-halls were not so plentiful thirty years ago. 
 Weston's (now the Royal) in Holborn, and the Canter- 
 bury over the water, being those most frequented. I 
 fancy the Oxford was a comparatively new venture, 
 and the Alhambra was then called the Panopticon in 
 Leicester Square, the centre of the said Square being 
 then covered by the Great Globe. 
 
 I suppose our tastes have improved since those 
 days, yet I don't know that any negro delineator has 
 ever charmed me as Mackney did ; not that I would 
 for one moment decry the merits of Eugene Stratton, 
 who is an artiste to the tips of his fingers, and so was 
 Billy Emerson, one of the most graceful dancers and 
 refined singers in his own particular line. (I don't 
 know whether " Billy " ever visited England.) But in 
 the times I am writing about, songs such as " Villikins 
 and his Dinah," "The Ratcatcher's Daughter," and 
 "The Young Man from the Country," were the 
 popular songs of the day, and were hawked about 
 
230 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 by itinerant vendors with cracked voices, and played 
 on German bands and street organs wherever one 
 went. I suppose the present generation would call 
 these " pop'lar songs " tommy rot, but I don't think 
 " Tarrara-boom-de-ay " is a production that may be 
 termed an effort of some mighty genius. With- 
 out doubt, the class of entertainment given at the 
 Halls has improved almost beyond belief during 
 the last quarter of a century, and there is no fear that 
 the high standard attained is likely to be lowered, for 
 the public taste, once whetted with first-class music 
 and artistic performances, devoid of vulgarity, will 
 brook no falling off in the quality of the entertain- 
 ment submitted. 
 
 It savours, however, somewhat of an incongruity 
 to hear, amidst the jingling of glasses, the fumes of 
 whisky toddy, and clouds of tobacco smoke, a 
 lady warble forth concerning "The Holy City," 
 "Jerusalem," " Hosannah," and the like, and to be 
 then followed by an artiste, in very dilapidated 
 garments, who chortles about " Doodle-doodle-doo, 
 if you don't doo them, they'll doo you." I must admit 
 it sounded somewhat odd, but enthusiastic applause 
 greeted both singers, the taste of the vast audience 
 being of a thoroughly diversified and cosmopolitan 
 order. 
 
 Like a good many young fellows, my theatrical 
 tastes developed in me the idea that one day I might 
 possibly be an actor, and a little band of adven- 
 turous youths formed an Amateur Dramatic Club, 
 and occasionally gave performances in schoolrooms 
 or public halls in aid of some charitable fund or 
 another. We certainly rather fancied ourselves, and 
 emboldened with fairly moderate success, we allied 
 
THEATRICAL MEMORIES 231 
 
 ourselves with the members of another Amateur Club, 
 quite as bad as we were, and took for three nights 
 the Cabinet Theatre. It was up King's Cross way, 
 but has no doubt long been pulled down. I wonder 
 it did not fall down, considering of what we were 
 guilty. We did not, as may be conceived, play to 
 very full houses. There was any quantity of paper 
 about, but we managed to get out without any serious 
 loss, a few pounds each being levied to meet the 
 rent and the costumier's bill. 
 
 Considering the bent of my mind, it may natur- 
 ally be assumed that I have seen the most important 
 stage representations in Melbourne during my twenty- 
 five years' residence in that city ; and my statement 
 will be borne out by the many English professional 
 people who have visited Australia, that more critical 
 or more generous audiences cannot be found in any 
 part of the globe. 
 
 George Coppin is the oldest theatrical entrepreneur 
 at present living in the Colonies, and he has a record 
 which any one might envy. He has had his ups and 
 downs, but has always been able to weather the storm, 
 and is universally and deservedly respected by all 
 with whom he is thrown in contact. He is now a 
 member of the Legislative Council, representing an 
 important constituency. In conjunction with his 
 partners, Messrs Harwood and Stewart, tragedians 
 of the stamp of G. V. Brooke, Walter Montgomery, 
 and William Creswick were induced to visit the 
 Colony, and, later, comedians of the rank of Mr and 
 Mrs Charles Matthews played in the principal 
 Colonial cities under their management. George 
 Coppin was an actor of considerable ability, and 
 shone to perfection in such parts as " Milky White," 
 
232 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 Chrysos in " Pygmalion and Galatea," " Paul Pry," etc. 
 I first saw "Milky White" played at the Strand, 
 London, with the author Craven in the title role, and 
 it was in this delightful little play that Millie Palmer, 
 afterwards Mrs Bandmann, made her bow to a 
 London audience. Harwood, too, was inimitable in 
 some parts, such as Mo Davis in the " Flying Scud," 
 or Cabriolo in the "Princess of Trebizonde." On 
 the retirement of this triumvirate, theatrical enter- 
 prise was developed in an extraordinary degree by 
 their successors, Messrs Williamson, Garner, and 
 Musgrove, who struck out in quite a new line, desert- 
 ing what is termed the legitimate drama for the 
 comic operas of Messrs Gilbert and Sullivan, and 
 high-class comedy. 
 
 J. C. Williamson, the head of the firm, and his 
 wife, Maggie Moore, who both came from America, 
 had all Melbourne at their feet instanter, by their 
 masterful performances of John and Lizzie Stofel 
 in " Struck Oil." They did enormous business, and 
 literally and figuratively " struck oil." A little later, 
 Arthur Garner arrived on the scene with a Comedy 
 Company, composed of actors and actresses of more 
 than usual ability, the head and front of the said 
 Company being the late Freddy Marshall. He, to my 
 mind, was the nearest approach to a Robson I have 
 ever seen, possessing, as he did, the wonderful faculty 
 of causing " the extremities alike of joy and grief to 
 find utterance in tears." 
 
 I feel convinced that it was with the arrival of this 
 Company that stage mounting entered upon quite a 
 new era, which one can safely say has in no manner 
 retrograded since the "Firm" have taken the lead. 
 Arthur Garner was a good man in what may be 
 
THEATRICAL MEMORIES 233 
 
 termed domestic drama, and George Musgrove was 
 the man of business. 
 
 This combination succeeded beyond measure; no 
 expense was spared in mounting their productions, 
 and the best talent was procured, regardless of mone- 
 tary considerations, and although it may appear 
 extravagant and boastful, I unhesitatingly affirm that 
 some of the productions of comic opera, with Miss 
 Nellie Stewart as prima donna, were in no sense 
 inferior to those produced at the " Savoy" in London. 
 I am somewhat overrunning my story, however, so 
 must hark back a bit. 
 
 So deservedly prosperous was this triumvirate, 
 that they secured a lease of the Old Princess Theatre, 
 a building constructed almost wholly of galvanized 
 iron, which they rebuilt on a scale of luxury and 
 magnificence, which I have rarely in my travels seen 
 exceeded. There may be hundreds of theatres 
 larger, but there are none more elegantly decorated, 
 more comfortable, or better ventilated than the 
 Princess, Melbourne. 
 
 The principle of the sliding roof was here adopted, 
 so that during the hottest nights, the theatre was 
 always comparatively cool. The eye was gratified by 
 the sight of little ferneries and trickling fountains. 
 Refreshments were served in spacious balconies, and 
 both in front of the curtain and behind it too, every 
 little detail to ensure the comfort of those who 
 amused, and those who came to be amused, was 
 attended to. To a young Australian architect is the 
 credit due for designing and carrying to completion 
 one of the prettiest and one of the most comfortable 
 theatres it has been my lot to visit. This architect's 
 name is " Billy," I beg pardon, I knew him when a 
 
 P 
 
234 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 . 
 
 boy in knickerbockers I mean the Hon. William 
 Pitt, M.L.C. 
 
 Comic opera was the standing dish at the Princess, 
 but occasionally high-class comedy and even tragedy 
 would for a time comprise the " bill of fare." 
 
 For some years past the comic operas have been 
 produced under the stage management of Harry 
 Bracy, who, with his wife Clara Thomson, were 
 members of the Company. In the Press and every- 
 where, where theatrical gossip was the theme, but one 
 opinion prevailed, viz. that Harry Bracy had no 
 compeer in the difficult role of stage manager. The 
 Bracys, as with the Broughs, were deservedly great 
 favourites with Australian audiences, and a " Compli- 
 mentary Benefit" had always a dual significance, a 
 cordial reception and an overflowing treasury making 
 manifest the high esteem in which these capable 
 artistes were held by the Melbourne public. 
 
 It cannot be said that the "Firm" had not to contend 
 with friendly, but at the same time rather powerful 
 rivals in the shape of the Busy B's, viz. Messrs 
 Brough and Boucicault. 
 
 Bob Brough and his wife were not long in 
 Melbourne before they established themselves prime 
 favourites. Brough made his first appearance as the 
 Lord Chancellor in " lolanthe," and Boucicault came 
 out with his father when he made his tour of the 
 Colonies, where the younger elected to stay. These 
 two scions of families, whose names are as familiar as 
 household words to playgoers all over the world, 
 joined hands and presented high-class comedy as it 
 was never presented before to Australian audiences. 
 They allied with themselves many sterling comedians, 
 such as Geo. Titherage, W. Anson, and Cecil Ward, 
 
THEATRICAL MEMORIES 235 
 
 whilst Mrs Brough, Miss Tempest, her sister, Miss 
 Romer (Bob Brough's mother), Pattie Brown, all 
 actresses of recognised ability, enabled them to cast 
 their various pieces with remarkable success. 
 
 Their home was the Bijou Theatre, and no matter 
 how great the attractions elsewhere, the little house 
 was nightly filled by enthusiastic audiences. The 
 shekels rolled in, and if the Company presided over 
 by the two Busy B's were rendered happy by the 
 unstinted patronage of their Melbourne friends, their 
 Melbourne friends were proud of their Company. 
 
 During the height of their success, however, a 
 terrible misfortune overtook them, viz. the total 
 destruction of the theatre by fire. Their wardrobes, 
 their scenery, everything, was destroyed, and the 
 honey so industriously stored by the Busy B's was 
 thus cruelly filched from them. It was a terrible 
 blow to all concerned, but the scene on the night of 
 the opening of the newly-built Bijou must have 
 compensated them in some measure, for they had, 
 notwithstanding their great pecuniary loss, unmistak- 
 able evidence that they had not lost their friends, 
 but that they still lived in the hearts of the Melbourne 
 public. 
 
 Many touching evidences of this fact must be not 
 only indelibly impressed upon their minds, but also 
 upon the minds of those who assisted in giving out- 
 ward and visible signs of their sympathy, when the 
 opportunity occurred, viz. at a " Benefit." 
 
 There are, of course, Benefits and Benefits. Some 
 Benefits take the form of charity, as in the case of a 
 performance organised for the relief of any one who 
 may have met with misfortune, and who may not 
 have the wherewithal to withstand "the slings and 
 
236 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 arrows," but many theatrical Benefits do not come 
 under that category. 
 
 I am fully alive to the wisdom of the old saw that 
 " fine words do not butter the parsnips," but at the 
 same time many theatrical Benefits, at which I have 
 taken perhaps rather an active part, have not been 
 organised altogether on the plea of charity, and 
 whilst I quite recognise the fact that the " tangible " 
 Benefit is not to be altogether disregarded, the recog- 
 nition of one's merits, social and intellectual, is really 
 the greatest reward which such demonstrations can 
 convey. Should misfortune overtake you, and your 
 money has flown, there is some consolation in feeling 
 that you still have the good opinion of your fellow- 
 men. " Gently over the stones, Poll " (as the man 
 with the pimply face said to his barber, when being 
 shaved) I fancy some of my friends, hauling me up 
 with some such a comment these rambling disserta- 
 tions are not reminiscences. Quite true, but I think 
 the remarks, nevertheless, are not altogether mat- 
 apropos^ as I certainly have assisted at Benefits where 
 the paramount idea has been to testify in some form 
 the esteem in which the btntficiaire was held by his 
 fellow -citizens, and mere pelf has been quite a 
 secondary consideration, and has been very properly 
 relegated to the background. 
 
 When one takes a retrospect of his journeyings to 
 and fro on this wide world of ours, it seems a bit 
 strange that I, as a youngster, should have sat in the 
 pit at the Haymarket, and applauded to the echo 
 Mr and Mrs Charles Matthews, and should have done 
 ditto at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, some 16,000 
 miles away. That I should have seen Herr Band- 
 mann and his wife, Millie Palmer, Henry Creswick, 
 
THEATRICAL MEMORIES 237 
 
 Johnny Toole, and John Billington, Dion Boucicault, 
 Miss Saunders (Lady Don), and some few others, 
 whose names now escape me, all of them, I say, have 
 I seen on both sides of the globe. One only has to 
 travel a little to find out how small the world is. 
 
 I verily believe that no portion of Her Majesty's 
 dominions is better or more reasonably catered for 
 with regard to dramatic and musical productions than 
 the Australian Colonies. It is rarely that prices are 
 raised, no matter how great the " star " appearing. 
 The ordinary prices of admission are 7s. 6d. for the 
 dress-circle, and $s. for the stalls. The visit of Sara 
 Bernhardt and Mr George Edwardes' Gaiety Company 
 were certainly made exceptions to this rule, and no 
 one objected, for both entertainments, notwithstanding 
 their diametrically opposite character, were well 
 worth the extra charge. 
 
 The engagement of the " Great Sara " was looked 
 upon as rather a risky experiment, but despite the 
 fact that all her plays were spoken in the French 
 language, intellectual Melbourne was to the fore, and 
 there was never a vacant seat in the theatre. No 
 greater treat has ever been provided for the Australian 
 public, and if Messrs Williamson and Musgrove had 
 no other claim upon the gratitude of the playgoers of 
 Australia, they can, with certainty, look back upon 
 their Bernhardt season with unbounded satisfaction, 
 as they will long be regarded by the thousands, who 
 appreciated the genius of the " Divine Sara," as public 
 benefactors. 
 
 I have made a passing reference to the London 
 Gaiety Company, but it brings with it sad memories, 
 for does it not recall poor Fred Leslie, who was 
 positively beloved by every man, woman, or child 
 
238 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 who was privileged to know him ; he was as great, 
 a favourite off the stage as he was on it, and his 
 death was sincerely mourned by hosts of Australian 
 friends and admirers. The Gaiety Company's first 
 visit to the Colonies was made in 1888, whilst I was 
 home in England for a holiday, but on their second 
 visit I became very intimate with several members of 
 the Company, and had more than one chat with Miss 
 Nellie Farren, whom I had seen as Sam Willoughby, 
 in the " Ticket of Leave," at the Olympic well, polite- 
 ness forbids me saying, how many years ago but her 
 sprightliness she still retained, and she and Fred 
 Leslie will long be regarded as the standard by which 
 all burlesque artistes will be judged. Then we had 
 Sylvia Grey to charm us as a premiere danseuse. 
 Comical Charley Danby, graceful Florence Levy, 
 Harry Monkhouse, Teddy Lonnen, Freddy Kaye, 
 Louis Bradfield, Decima Moore, Florrie Lloyd, not 
 forgetting genial " Pat " Malone the manager, and 
 many others whose fame and position in England 
 are assured, but all of whom have, I doubt not, 
 pleasant recollections of their trips to Australia. 
 
 Another great favourite who recently joined the 
 majority, was dear old Charley Ryley. He was origin- 
 ally a member of the Princess Opera Company, and 
 his singing, acting, and dancing in the " Gondoliers," 
 soon placed him on a pedestal of fame from which he 
 was never dethroned, and many a sympathetic tear 
 was shed, I'll warrant, when the news of his death 
 reached Australia. 
 
 I must not omit to mention a most tragic, and 
 unlooked-for finale which occurred at the Princess 
 one night. It was on the occasion of a representation 
 of " Faust," wherein a most capable vocalist and actor 
 
THEATRICAL MEMORIES 239 
 
 named Fredrici met his fate. The opera had gone par- 
 ticularly well this evening, and Fredrici, as Mephisto, 
 had excelled himself, but his final disappearance down 
 the trap amidst flames and red fire in the last scene, 
 proved his final appearance on any stage, as he fell 
 dead when he reached the basement, a heart affection 
 being, I believe, the cause. The audience left the 
 theatre quite unaware of the fate that had befallen 
 poor Fredrici. 
 
 The largest theatre in Melbourne is the Royal, 
 and, like the Adelphi or Drury Lane in London, has 
 become associated in the public mind with melo- 
 drama. It is, except at the Pantomime season, 
 generally tenanted by George Rignold and his Com- 
 pany, or by Bland Holt. Their audiences are much of 
 the same character one meets with at the London 
 Theatres above named ; the villain gets vigorously 
 hissed, and the hero is cheered again and again. Virtue 
 triumphant and vice discredited can always be relied 
 on to get their due share of applause from a " Royal " 
 house. 
 
 A great favourite with Royal audiences was Miss 
 Jenny Lee in her inimitable rendering of that hapless 
 little waif, " Jo." This play had a long run, and the 
 " Jo " Company did enormous business. 
 
 Johnny Sheridan, as the Widow O'Brien in " Fun 
 on the Bristol," could always count upon an enthusi- 
 astic welcome, and during his season at the Opera 
 House, money was frequently refused at the doors. 
 Sheridan was, and I fancy still is, what is called a 
 bit of a sport, and was a great favourite with the 
 Melbourne public both on and off the stage. 
 
 Then Australia is not without its actor managers 
 and authors, for have we not Leitch, Dampier, and 
 
240 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 Darrell, the last-named combining all the virtues a 
 veritable tria juncta in uno. What an enthusiast is 
 George Darrell, his heart and soul is in his profession, 
 and his plays, such as the " Sunny South," and the 
 "Double Event," have been more than ordinarily 
 successful. The last-named, as a sporting drama, 
 was a most creditable production, and had a fairly 
 good run. The scene at Flemington on Cup Day, 
 and the actual race for the Melbourne Cup, where 
 some ten or a dozen horses finish on the stage in full 
 view of the audience, was very favourably and en- 
 thusiastically received, as was also the scene in which 
 the night before the Cup at the Victorian Club was 
 so realistically depicted, all the prominent metallicians 
 being introduced, their dress and mannerisms being 
 most amusingly emphasised. 
 
 Dampier, in his particular line, had few equals, and 
 George Leitch will always be remembered for his 
 quaint and artistic rendering of " The Insect," in that 
 ever memorable production of " Paul Jones," when the 
 principal characters were represented by such talented 
 artistes as Miss Nellie Stewart, Madam Marion 
 Burton, G. H. Snazelle, Johnny Gourlay, and others. 
 
 Both English and Italian operas have been most 
 creditably presented by companies engaged by the 
 late W. S. Lyster and Martin Simonsen, and Mel- 
 bourne audiences cannot, with justice, complain of 
 the fare provided for them. Amongst the favourites 
 who established themselves in the hearts of the 
 Melbourne public, either on the lyric stage or concert 
 platform, were artistes of the first rank, such as lima 
 de Murska, Arabella Goddard, Sir Charles and Lady 
 Halle, Santley, Foli, Newbury, Ketten, Mesdames 
 Belle Cole, De Vere Sapio, Schiller, Camille Urso, 
 
THEATRICAL MEMORIES 241 
 
 and many more, and in lighter work, Emily Soldene, 
 Emilie Melville, the Linguards, Marie Halton, Charley 
 Ryley, Joseph Tapley, Walter Brownlow, and several 
 others. 
 
 Add to all this imported talent the names of the 
 native born Australian artistes, and it will be readily 
 admitted that there has been no dearth of high-class 
 talent at the disposal of the artistic section of 
 Australian society. 
 
 Most prominent of all stands Madame Melba, who 
 is still affectionately remembered as Nellie Mitchell 
 by a large circle of her Melbourne friends. Madame 
 Frances Saville, a daughter of that thorough artiste^ 
 and most excellent of tutors, Madame Simonsen, 
 Ada Crossley, Amy Sherwin, Nellie Stewart, Ethel 
 Haydon, Florence Young, and many more who are 
 at the present time upholding, in no discreditable 
 manner, the fame and name of sunny Australia. 
 
 In drama and in comedy the very best exponents 
 have been induced to visit Australia. Ristori and 
 Bernhardt, Brooke and Montgomery, Charles Matthews 
 and Edward Terry, Toole and Billington, and many 
 lesser lights have trod the Australian stage, the results 
 of their visits being of a most satisfactory nature to 
 all concerned, the artistes carrying away with them 
 agreeable memories of their visits to such a far-distant 
 land, and leaving nought but pleasant reminiscences 
 behind. May this pleasant interchange of visits 
 become even more largely developed, as nought but 
 good must accrue therefrom. 
 
 Of late years the so-called music-halls have 
 seriously interfered with the general prosperity of 
 theatrical enterprise, and this may be accounted 
 for from a variety of causes. In the first place, 
 
242 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 the collapse of the Banks and similar institutions 
 curtailed in a great degree the spending power of 
 the public, who, under ordinary circumstances, were 
 regular patrons of the theatre, and they, doubtless, 
 sought a cheaper form of entertainment, which the 
 Music-Halls provided. Then, again, the quality of the 
 entertainments showed marked improvement ; the 
 items were generally amusing, and people with 
 business worries were glad to forget their troubles, 
 if only for a few hours, and they would "just pop 
 in " to hear So-and-so sing, or see somebody dance 
 a jig. Anywhere for diversion, providing the cost 
 was small. 
 
 I have made use of the expression "so-called 
 music-halls," which may require some slight ex- 
 planation. The music-halls in Australia differ in 
 a very marked degree from those in England and 
 elsewhere, as there are no promenades, and no re- 
 freshment is served except at the ordinary bars. 
 The entertainments are similar in character, but to 
 an English visitor the absence of the promenade 
 and the whisky and soda seems, to say the least of 
 it, peculiar; but there are many little eccentricities 
 in Victorian laws and customs that certainly are 
 difficult of comprehension. Thus, with regard to 
 Sunday trains. It is quite proper to run trains to 
 the suburbs, but outside that radius you cannot go 
 by rail on Sundays ; it shocks the " goody-goodies/' 
 Sunday concerts are held at the music - halls ; 
 almost similar programmes are rendered as on week- 
 days, but a nigger minstrel must not put burnt cork 
 on his face, or an artiste don a costume, and no 
 charge must be made at the doors, but you "con- 
 tribute" the customary fees according to the part 
 of the house you frequent to sober, staid-looking 
 
THEATRICAL MEMORIES 243 
 
 attendants, who hand round the plate ! It's strange, 
 but it's true. 
 
 The improvement in the style and quality of music- 
 hall entertainments has been most marked of late 
 years, and to the enterprise and keen judgment of 
 Harry Rickards is this improvement largely due. 
 
 Harry Rickards' first appearance in Australia dates 
 back a good many years, during which he has 
 "taken fortune's favours and demands with equal 
 grace," and after much buffeting about, seems now 
 safely harboured in the Port of Prosperity. Frank 
 Clark was in advance of Rickards in providing 
 variety shows for the delectation of the Melbourne 
 public, and many creditable programmes were sub- 
 mitted under his management, but Rickards, whose 
 "turn of the tide" came at the Tivoli in Sydney, 
 adopted the idea of running two shows one in Mel- 
 bourne and one in Sydney, being thus able, with a 
 double company, to provide plenty of change and 
 plenty of variety, and he has met with his reward, 
 and the best turns on the English variety stage 
 now frequently appear under his management " down 
 under." What with the visits of Australian artistes, 
 Australian cricketers, Australian horses to England, 
 and English artistes, English cricketers, and English 
 horses to Australia, the silken bond is becoming no 
 matter how insignificant the means or far-fetched the 
 simile may at first sight appear more and more an 
 evidence of that tie which unites the dear old Mother 
 Country with the Greater Britain of the South. 
 
MELBOURNE MEMORIES 
 
MELBOURNE MEMORIES 
 
 WHEN I arrived at Sandridge (it is now called 
 Port Melbourne) in January 1870, there was 
 a fierce hot wind blowing, and the sand was driven 
 about hither and thither in blinding clouds, and it 
 appeared on landing as if we had by some mysterious 
 means or another been transported to the deserts of 
 Sahara. The place, Sandridge, was most aptly named, 
 for it really seemed to be nothing but a ridge of sand, 
 only a small fringe of low weatherboard houses lining 
 the shore. The first mile or so of the railway journey 
 to Melbourne failed to dispel this unpleasant impres- 
 sion, as whichever way one looked there was nothing 
 but a sandy waste ; the few gum-trees dotted here 
 and there simply served to accentuate the dreariness 
 of the prospect. When passing through the Suez 
 Canal some twenty years afterwards, the early im- 
 pressions of my arrival in Australia were revived, as, 
 although the area was naturally not of such vast 
 proportions, Sandridge to my mind then was a Sahara 
 in miniature. 
 
 I lived, however, long enough in Melbourne to see 
 this sandy waste reclaimed, and commodious houses 
 and well-paved streets take the place of this apparently 
 irreclaimable desert. 
 
 247 
 
248 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 I have seen the piers at Sandridge resembling a 
 perfect avenue or forest of masts, and scores of vessels 
 at anchor, waiting for an opportunity to come along- 
 side to unload, and twenty-five years after, I have seen, 
 as was the case when I sailed from Australia in 1895, 
 the principal pier with but a solitary vessel tied up. 
 This remarkable change has been brought about by 
 a variety of causes. 
 
 In the first place, the fiscal policy of the Colony 
 Protection with its high and almost prohibitory 
 customs charges, does not encourage importations, and 
 the English merchant has to look for another market 
 where duties are lighter, where Peace, Progress, and 
 Prosperity go hand in hand, and where the anti- 
 quated and selfish policy of Protection is less pro- 
 nounced. Then again, the magnificent work done by 
 the Harbour Trust in widening and deepening the 
 River Yarra, enabling vessels of considerable tonnage 
 to come up to the wharves, almost in the heart of the 
 city, has tended in no small degree in bringing about 
 the deserted appearance which now characterises 
 Sandridge, or, as it is now called, Port Melbourne. 
 The large increase in the number of steamers, the 
 opening of the Suez Canal, by which the length of 
 the voyage to Australia was so materially lessened, 
 were factors in driving sailing vessels, which could of 
 course only traverse the long route, out of the 
 Australian trade, and the whole aspect of the shipping 
 at the Port has been completely changed. 
 
 Melbourne is, without doubt, one of the finest cities 
 of the world, and its growth has been so remarkable 
 that it seems incredible that there are numbers of 
 people living who remember the principal streets 
 when huge stumps of trees were here and there to be 
 
MELBOURNE MEMORIES 249 
 
 found, and when occasionally bullock drays would be 
 bogged in some " glue - pot " hole. A visitor to 
 Melbourne nowadays would imagine that the city 
 had been founded many, many years ago, and that 
 the tales told by the oldest inhabitant partook largely 
 of the " fairy " series ; but it is not so, the growth of 
 Marvellous Melbourne may be mushroom-like, owing 
 to the rapidity of its development, but the streets, the 
 buildings, and everything connected with it, are not of 
 the fragile order of the ordinary fungus species, but 
 are solid, sound, and sure. 
 
 During my quarter of a century of Australian 
 experiences, I have seen many changes and marvellous 
 progress, but many men who are now my intimate 
 friends remember Melbourne when the township con- 
 sisted principally of weatherboard or galvanised iron 
 buildings or tents ; in fact one of the principal suburbs, 
 now called South Melbourne, was then known as 
 Canvas Town. 
 
 When I arrived in Melbourne, the streets and foot- 
 paths were fairly well kept, but the open sewers, 
 surface drainage it was called, running down the sides 
 and across the principal thoroughfares, were somewhat 
 of a novelty, and not altogether an agreeable ex- 
 perience, as the odours arising therefrom, especially 
 on a hot-wind night, did not, in imagination " fancy 
 free," remind one of " Araby, the Blest." Add to this 
 the ravages of a fully developed mosquito of^ huge 
 proportions, on the war-path, a night spent in meander- 
 ing down Elizabeth Street had its terrors. Now, as 
 with a magician's wand, Heigh Presto ! all is changed. 
 The introduction of wood-paving, the formation of 
 the Metropolitan Board of Works (whose presiding 
 genius is my dear old friend Edmund Gerald Fitz- 
 
 Q 
 
250 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 Gibbon, the lineal descendant of the White Knight 
 of Kerry), have caused the whole aspect of the city to 
 be changed. 
 
 Contributing in no small degree to this state of 
 affairs was the introduction of the Cable System of 
 tramways, whereby 'buses and cabs have been alto- 
 gether superseded, particularly on the main routes, 
 the consequence being that the streets along which the 
 cars run are scrupulously sweet and clean. What 
 a change has been wrought between 1870 and 1895 ! 
 In 1870, there were no 'buses ; the only public convey- 
 ance was a cab. These cabs were two-wheeled cars, 
 not like the Irish jaunting-car with seats running fore 
 and aft, but the seats were ranged dos a dos, and the 
 occupants of the rear seats had to hold on like grim 
 death, as the cars ploughed through the open gutters, 
 which, after a fall of rain, became turgid torrents, so 
 much so, that more than one life has been lost by 
 drowning in the streets after exceptionally heavy rains. 
 
 The various suburbs, which really now form part 
 of Greater Melbourne, were looked upon as being in 
 the bush, and many a case of " sticking up " and high- 
 way robbery occurred within earshot of the Melbourne 
 Town Hall. The building of the present Town Hall 
 of Melbourne was not completed when I reached 
 Australia, and the magnificent pile of buildings form- 
 ing the General Post-Office was only partly finished. 
 Parliament House was still in the hands of the con- 
 tractor, and the banks and insurance offices were 
 located in tenements, much more modest than those 
 one sees to-day. The site of the splendid Eastern 
 Market was an open space occupied by vendors of 
 fruit and fried fish ; here the corn doctor dilated upon 
 the efficacy of his treatment, and hard by would be 
 
MELBOURNE MEMORIES 251 
 
 a phrenologist expatiating upon the various bumps 
 which seemingly exist in countless forms on one's 
 cranium, and by which, if we can believe only half we 
 hear, a just estimate of one's character could be 
 obtained for some small consideration. At election- 
 eering times this was a favourite resort of the stump 
 orator, and many a man who has held high office in 
 Parliament first sought the suffrages of the free and 
 independent elector from the top of an upturned beer 
 barrel in Paddy's Market. 
 
 Who, looking at the magnificent buildings which 
 adorn the principal thoroughfares of Melbourne, would 
 believe that this marvellous change in the condition 
 of affairs could have been effected within the memory 
 of men now living. The historian who writes of the 
 rise and fall of Melbourne will have plenty of material 
 upon which to point a moral or adorn a tale. I make 
 use of the phrase, " rise and fall " perhaps this last 
 word is not altogether applicable. Melbourne has not 
 fallen, but it is in check ; the pace was too strong, the 
 sanguine anticipations I don't say of unprincipled 
 speculators, but, to put it mildly, of over sanguine 
 speculators could scarcely, under ordinary circum- 
 stances, ever be realised within a reasonable period. 
 Huge piles of buildings some eight or ten stories 
 high, erected in the principal streets to supply office 
 accommodation, remain all but tenantless, and in the 
 suburbs there are rows upon rows of villas waiting for 
 occupants that never come. Everything, doubtless, 
 will come round all right one of these days, but there 
 is enough office accommodation in the city, and enough 
 houses in the suburbs for double the present popu- 
 lation. 
 
 But to return to the streets and cable-cars. These 
 
252 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 cars now run to all the suburbs, and in the summer- 
 time those having their terminus at the sea-shore are 
 crowded with people who merely go for an evening 
 ride, so pleasant is this mode of travelling. Tree- 
 planting, inaugurated by my old friend G. D. Carter, 
 has been extensively carried out, and the avenues 
 of English elms, which thrive amazingly, are quite a 
 pleasant feature whichever way one turns. The fact 
 of it being necessary to pave the centre of the streets, 
 so as to form a permanent way for the tramcars, has 
 rendered all the approaches to the city well-nigh 
 perfect, and the reproach that the bad roads formed 
 one of the " defences of Melbourne " no longer holds 
 good. 
 
 Another feature which strikes a visitor is the large 
 number of Chinamen everywhere to be seen ; whether 
 it be on the goldfields or in the cities, in the bush, or 
 in the suburbs, " John Chinaman " is met with every- 
 where. " John " doubtless, has his faults, but in many 
 ways he is almost indispensable. I really do not 
 know what the great bulk of the population would 
 do for vegetables were it not for patient, plodding 
 " John." He seems a born hawker. He travels miles 
 with his load of vegetables or fish, and is generally 
 moderate in his charges. He works in his garden 
 night and day, and is, as far as my experiences go, 
 an industrious and inoffensive creature. A visit to 
 the Chinese Quarter in Little Bourke Street in the 
 evening is somewhat of a novel experience. There 
 are gambling-dens where " fan-tan " is played, it seems, 
 all day long, and all night too. There are opium-dens 
 which reek with an odour indescribably foul and 
 offensive, and there are filthy dens where some eight 
 or ten miserable wretches may be sleeping, all huddled 
 
MELBOURNE MEMORIES 253 
 
 together, more like animals than human beings, in 
 an atmosphere poisonous and sickening. A turn 
 round with a detective is worth experiencing once. 
 The authorities, however, have of late years insisted 
 upon certain sanitary improvements, and many of 
 these wretched hovels have been demolished, and 
 " John " has become more civilised and amenable to 
 cleanliness. 
 
 The all-round improvements, which have been carried 
 out in Melbourne, in what seems such a brief space to 
 look back upon, have indeed been remarkable. Hotel 
 accommodation has increased in a marvellous manner, 
 and with it the style and service have not been lack- 
 ing, and I should think that in no part of the world 
 is the manage of Menzies or Scotts' to be beaten. 
 The coffee palace craze got a tremendous hold of 
 some of the people, who vainly think it possible to 
 make people sober by Act of Parliament, and are 
 under the impression that it is quite a legitimate enter- 
 prise to invest money in a cofTea palace, whilst it 
 would be a high crime and misdemeanour to have an 
 interest in a public house. These good souls must 
 many a time have bewailed their fate, as huge palaces 
 in which they so freely invested their money, such as 
 the Grand, the Federal, and others, are nothing more 
 nor less than white elephants, which do not distribute 
 dividends, and, wonderful to relate, efforts are now 
 being made to get licenses for them, in order to make 
 them pay. 
 
 Then French restaurants became quite the fashion, 
 the pioneers in this branch of catering being the 
 Lacatons. 
 
 I was one of their first customers when they started 
 in a very humble way. Charlie was the cook, and 
 
254 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 Madame was the waitress, assisted by a little girl. 
 There were a few congenial spirits who first found 
 out these worthy folk, whose fame soon spread, until 
 commodious premises were taken, and the Maison 
 Doree became the place at which to dine. My first 
 companions were Monsieur Charlie Brun, John 
 Strachan, of Melbourne Punch > and Folingsby, the 
 artist and the director of the National Gallery. 
 
 John Strachan was a remarkably clever man with 
 a keen sense of humour, and his name will ever be 
 associated with that memorable satire which did so 
 much to wreck the Berry Ministry. It may be in- 
 teresting just to refer briefly to this subject. I cannot 
 quite remember the details, but the Government, of 
 which Graham Berry was the head, had determined 
 to send home to England, for some object or another, 
 a deputation to the Colonial Office, the deputation to 
 consist of Messrs Berry & Pearson. The scheme 
 met with considerable opposition, but the Government 
 majority voted solid, and the only way which sug- 
 gested itself of bringing the thing into contempt 
 and ridicule was the appointment, by the people, 
 represented by Strachan and a few other wits, of a 
 third ambassador, and their choice fell upon a black 
 fellow named Henderson, more generally known as 
 " Henderson Africanus," who, taking the proposal 
 quite seriously, readily accepted the position. Sub- 
 scriptions were invited to pay the expenses of 
 sending the third ambassador to England, and 
 they came in freely. A farewell banquet was 
 organised, at which there was much speech-making 
 and an enormous amount of fun. Henderson, who, 
 by the way, was a fairly well-educated man and a 
 very fluent speaker, had made all his arrangements 
 
MELBOURNE MEMORIES 255 
 
 to go, but the P. & O. Company refused him his 
 passage on account of his colour. This huge joke 
 had its effect, however, and brought the whole thing 
 into well-deserved ridicule. Punch, it may be added, 
 issued a special edition, the frontispiece of which 
 was a medallion, most artistically limned by Tom 
 Carrington, on which were the three heads, two 
 white and one black, of the three ambassadors. 
 
 This is a bit of a digression, but I never think of 
 poor old Strachan without associating his memory 
 with one of the cleverest satires of modern times. 
 It was town talk for many a day. 
 
 Besides hotels, restaurants, and coffee palaces, there 
 are wine shops where excellent Australian wine is 
 retailed at very moderate cost, but colonial products, 
 like prophets, are not much appreciated in their own 
 country. Personally, however, I am a great believer 
 in Australian wines when properly matured, and I 
 have consumed my fair share without any unpleasant 
 results. Many a yarn have I had with Marcus Clarke 
 and old Birnie (the Essayist of the Australasian) over 
 a bottle of rosy red or white Chasselas from the Yarra 
 Flats. 
 
 One meets with quaint characters on our journey 
 through life, and I only wish I had the power to 
 sketch some of them and introduce them to my 
 readers. Who, for instance, could ever forget John 
 Edwards, the younger, the bosom friend of G. V. 
 Brooke. Jack Edwards was a solicitor by profession, 
 at heart a thorough Bohemian, a bit of an amateur 
 actor, and a ban vivant toujours. He was a tall hand- 
 some fellow, with black curly hair, and I remember 
 spending an afternoon with him in company with that 
 celebrated barrister, R. D. Ireland. He was at the 
 
256 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 time looking very ill, and as yellow as a guinea. I 
 suggested liver troubles. He said : " Yes, my boy, it's 
 liver, right enough, but I'm adopting a new system 
 now. When my liver used to call out for Cockles I 
 used to give him Cockles, but now I'm trying a 
 different plan ; when he calls out for Cockles I give 
 him an extra dose of whisky, and say : ' Take that, 
 you wretch ! ' ' Poor old Jack did not live long 
 under this regimen. 
 
 A rare wit and clever writer was Josh Pickersgill ; 
 his impromptu jokes and smart repartee has kept many 
 a table in a roar, but necessarily most of our fun has 
 so much local colouring that to the general reader it 
 could possibly have no interest, but I must risk one 
 episode which created no end of merriment. 
 
 There had been rather an important Masonic meet- 
 ing, at which Sir William Clarke and all the leading 
 Masons had been present, and whilst having a last 
 glass in the smoking-room at the Masonic Club, it 
 was suggested, it being rather late, that we might have 
 supper before going home. One joker, noticing that 
 one of the party had left the room to get his coat 
 and hat, immediately in his name invited every one 
 to supper. On his returning he wished all and sundry 
 good-night, saying he must catch his last train. 
 " How can you do that," said half a dozen in chorus, 
 " when we are all going to have supper with you ? " 
 "Supper with me!" he replied in astonishment. 
 "Yes," they said, "with you." "Oh, yes," said Sir 
 
 William Clarke, " it's so kind of you, Mr B ; you are 
 
 always so thoughtful." Poor old B 's face was a 
 
 picture of amazement, as unresistingly he permitted his 
 hat and coat to be removed. " Yes," said every one, " it's 
 so like old Charley." " There's some mystery here," 
 
MELBOURNE MEMORIES 257 
 
 he said, whilst others remarked that B 's memory 
 
 must be a little treacherous, as they distinctly re- 
 membered the invitation. In the midst of the dis- 
 cussion the waiter announced that supper was ready, 
 and we all filed up the staircase to the dining-room. 
 
 B , all politeness, suggested that Sir William should 
 
 take the chair. To this every one demurred, as Sir 
 William, they protested, was, like the rest of the 
 company, a guest, not the host, and it was the host's 
 duty to preside. At last we all settled down in our 
 places, but still there was a sort of unexplained 
 mystery about the whole thing, when the culprit, who 
 had, unknown to the host-against-his-will, bidden them 
 all to the feast, uprose and spake somewhat as follows. 
 He said : 
 
 " Gentlemen, there seems, by the Chairman's coun- 
 tenance, to be an air of mystery pervading this supper, 
 which perhaps I can in some measure explain. My 
 friend, the Chairman, is so constantly springing upon 
 us little surprises of a like character, that it is not at 
 all to be wondered at that he occasionally forgets his 
 many engagements. This supper was decided upon 
 weeks ago." (" What an infernal lie ! " interjects the 
 Chairman.) " Gentlemen," continued the speaker, " I 
 was warned beforehand not to heed these interrup- 
 tions, they are part of the play." (" The man's mad," 
 again interjected the Chairman.) " No, sir, I am not 
 mad, for you, to the best of my belief, consulted my 
 friend the Doctor opposite as to what in his opinion 
 would tend to cement the bonds of brotherhood, and 
 he suggested lobster, as we should all have nightmare." 
 " I beg your pardon, sir," said the Doctor from India ; 
 "nothing of the kind occurred. I was never even 
 consulted." Then said the speaker, "I must apolo- 
 
258 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 gise," and he resumed his seat. The Doctor then said : 
 " I must take the present opportunity of thanking Mr 
 
 B for many acts of kindness and hospitality. 
 
 Immediately on my arrival in Melbourne from India, 
 
 I had the pleasure of an introduction to Mr B , who 
 
 asked me to come to his club, have a glass of sherry, 
 and he would make me an honorary member, and," 
 continued the Doctor, " I shall never forget the great 
 kindness I have received since I have been here." 
 
 Josh Pickersgill had been listening to all with a 
 merry twinkle in his eye, and it was now his turn. 
 He said : 
 
 " Gentlemen, I quite agree with the remarks which 
 have fallen from the previous speakers regarding the 
 proverbial hospitality of our Chairman, and I can well 
 understand the Doctor, a stranger to our shores, being 
 quite overcome with gratitude at the kindly attentions 
 bestowed upon him by the Chairman, but the good- 
 ness of heart, the unbounded hospitality to strangers, 
 so marked a characteristic of the Chairman, was not a 
 thing of yesterday, for it was well within the memory of 
 the oldest inhabitant, that when that renowned navi- 
 gator, Captain Cook, landed on the shores of Botany 
 
 Bay, Charley B was there to meet him. He 
 
 greeted the great and worthy man with : ' How d'ye 
 do, Captain ? Come up to my club, we'll have a glass 
 of sherry, and I'll make you an honorary member.' 
 The same thing occurred, gentlemen, when the 
 noble Batman navigated that pellucid stream the 
 
 Yarra. Charley B was there to greet him. So 
 
 you see, gentlemen, the development of this grand 
 and beautiful characteristic of our worthy friend is 
 not the growth of yesterday, but has gradually ex- 
 panded, until we find him reaching the zenith of his 
 
MELBOURNE MEMORIES 259 
 
 fame in planning this magnificent function, and so 
 modestly declining the credit due to him for his share 
 in its organisation." 
 
 This speech was received with uproarious applause, 
 and the whole evening passed off amidst the utmost 
 conviviality. When my friend paid the bill, he 
 smilingly remarked that he did not object altogether 
 to the cost, but he thought it would be only an act 
 of courtesy to him if we would give him a little 
 notice when we wanted another supper. 
 
 We have had great nights at the same Masonic Club; 
 we have entertained most of the celebrities visiting Mel- 
 bourne, amongst the many being Lord Caernarvon, 
 George Augustus Sala, Edward Terry, Johnny Toole, 
 and Jno. Billington. We had a high old time the 
 night the two last named were entertained at supper. 
 Toole sang a song, and John Billington pathetically 
 recited, " Come home to the Childer and Me," and 
 the Chairman told us how America was discovered 
 by Christopher Columbus. This last yarn appeared, 
 I think, in an American newspaper, called the 
 Danbury Neivs> and is, I think, well worth repro- 
 ducing. It ran somewhat as follows : 
 
 " It appears in some American schools, prizes are 
 annually given for the best essay on the ( Discovery 
 of America by Christopher Columbus.' Some of the 
 essays written show considerable literary ability, 
 whilst others, like many a board-school examination 
 paper, are quaint in the extreme. The essay here 
 brought under notice largely partakes of the latter 
 character : 
 
 "'There was once upon a time a man called 
 Clumbus, and he wanted to discover America, 
 so he went to the King of Spain, and said : " If you 
 
*6o SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 please, Your Majesty, I want to discover America." 
 So the King said to him, " All right, Clumbus, 
 discover." But Clumbus said, " If you please, Your 
 Majesty, I haven't got a ship." So the King turned 
 to the man in charge of the ships, and said to him, 
 ' Give him a ship." So they gave him a ship, and 
 Clumbus put a lot of sailors on board, and sailed 
 away over the vast expanse of the ocean. When 
 they had been at sea many days, the crew mutinied, 
 aud foregathered on the forecastle, and they said to 
 Clumbus: " Whar are ye going?" And he said, " I 
 am going to discover America." And they said, 
 "Whar is it?" and he, with a graceful wave of the hand, 
 said, " It is over there." With this very lucid explana- 
 tion the crew were perfectly satisfied, and they fell 
 to work as one man. However, after sailing on for 
 many more days, one morning to their great surprise, 
 the Pilot came on board, and approaching Clumbus, 
 he said, " Whar are ye going ? " and Clumbus replied, 
 " I am going to discover America." And the Pilot 
 replied, " Right you are, old hoss, sail on ! " So they 
 sailed on, and sailed on, until one morning land hove 
 in sight, and Clumbus, gazing from the prow of his 
 vessel, discovered a lot of niggers running about, and 
 hailing the chief of the tribe, said, " What, ho, there ! is 
 this America ? " The chief of the tribe replied, " It 
 is. Are you Clumbus ? " And Clumbus said, " I am." 
 Then the chief of the niggers turned to the rest of the 
 tribe, and said: "Boys, the jig is up, we are dis- 
 covered ! " 
 
 There can be no possible doubt whatever that we 
 all had merry times. Everything and everybody 
 seemed to flourish ; money was plentiful and, I fear, 
 it was a case of " easy come and easy go " with a 
 
MELBOURNE MEMORIES 261 
 
 great many of us ; but I fancy most of those of us 
 who are left look back on the past with pleasurable 
 rather than with regretful emotion. But to continue 
 my Memories. 
 
 There was one hostelry which is, I think, deserving 
 of passing notice, inasmuch as it was the last calling- 
 place of the members of the Bohemian Brigade, who 
 lived out East. I refer to the " White Hart," kept by 
 the late Harry Edwards, not but what there were 
 plenty of other places where the inner man could 
 be refreshed ; for instance, a supper at Jack Warne's 
 where fish was cooked to perfection, and where the 
 very latest news of glove-fights and sporting matters 
 generally could be gleaned from the ever-attentive 
 Summer Boy would probably be followed by a visit 
 to " Her Majesty's", presided over by a man in every 
 way worthy of dispensing hospitality in the Queen's 
 name. Pollock, the proprietor, is, I suppose, the 
 best-dressed man in Melbourne, and the value of 
 the jewels which adorn his person would, were it 
 possible to purchase them, deplete the coffers of a 
 Rothschild, but the proprietor of " Her Majesty's " 
 is a dignified, courteous gentleman, full of kindly 
 instincts, and an ornament in more ways than one 
 to his profession. Then there is the " Royal Mail," 
 with good old Pat Reynolds with his rich Irish brogue, 
 and but slightly further afield is the " Lounge," where 
 the Gallagher girls break hearts and dispense the " best 
 Scotch " only ; close by also is " Kirk's," presided over 
 by " one fair daughter," who gathers round her some 
 of the best vocal talent Melbourne contains, and where 
 one would occasionally hear a patron warble about 
 "The Little Mud Cabin down the Lane," or Sims 
 Reeves' double trill forth "My Pretty Jane." The 
 
262 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 homeward tack was thus pleasantly varied until we 
 arrived at " Old Harry's", the last port of call. One end 
 of the bar was called the " dress-circle," and here, just 
 before closing time, and for a matter, after closing time, 
 would congregate the " late birds " for a " final " before 
 making tracks for home. The jokes and the fun in 
 that corner! Old Harry himself was a bit of a raconteur, 
 and the latest yarns and latest scandals were discussed 
 and debated until the curfew tolled, and they " doused 
 the glim." 
 
 Railway construction has been in my time carried on 
 with the same reckless extravagance that characterised 
 office and house building, viz. with utter disregard 
 as to whether the projects would pay their way or 
 not. Political pressure is responsible for the present 
 disastrous state of affairs, when expensively con- 
 structed lines are absolutely being closed because 
 traffic receipts are not sufficient to pay for greasing 
 the wheels. The Bill which authorised the construc- 
 tion of all these lines was well and appropriately 
 called the Octopus Bill, that part "coloured red" 
 of the enormous map which hung in the Legislative 
 Chamber resembling a huge octopus, its feelers stretch- 
 ing out from its body (Melbourne) in all directions. 
 My old friend, Richard Speight, was made the scape- 
 goat for this insane legislation, the evil effects of which 
 will not be obliterated for many a day to come. 
 
 The principal railway terminus at Spencer Street 
 is a terribly tumble-down, rambling structure, but the 
 Government offices alongside are quite palatial. 
 
 Two scenes, which I witnessed at this particular 
 railway station, are very vividly impressed upon my 
 memory. The first was the departure of leading 
 police officials, and people attracted out of a love 
 
MELBOURNE MEMORIES 263 
 
 of excitement and curiosity en route to Glenrowan, 
 the little bush township where the Kelly gang of 
 bushrangers was brought to bay. 
 
 Bushranging and bushrangers have been so truth- 
 fully and dramatically described by Rolf Boldre- 
 wood, in "Robbery Under Arms," and books of 
 similar character, that were I sufficiently gifted, I 
 should hesitate to attempt to describe with my 
 'prentice hand that which has been done so well by a 
 master. But the doings of the Kelly gang, and the 
 fact that some of their most daring exploits had been 
 perpetrated within a comparatively short distance of 
 Melbourne, rendered the excitement attending their 
 every movement most pronounced, so that when the 
 news reached town that the Kellys were themselves 
 " stuck up " in a little bush hotel by the police, whose 
 efforts to dislodge them had, for the time being, been 
 fruitless, there was quite a rush of people at the rail- 
 way station, all anxious to book for Glenrowan to 
 witness the " siege." 
 
 It is all now a matter of history how the place 
 was set on fire, and how the charred remains of 
 some of the outlaws were found ; how one mys- 
 terious figure for a time escaped, and stalked about, 
 bearing, to all appearances, as Sergeant Steele, 
 his captor, told me, a charmed life. Shots, however 
 well directed, failed to take effect, until some one 
 fired low and hit Ned Kelly, for it was no other than 
 he, in the ankle. It then was discovered that Kelly 
 was rigged out in armour made from ploughshares. 
 Kelly's " coat of mail " and helmet (made out of a 
 nail-can), are in the Melbourne Museum, and so heavy 
 are they that to an ordinary man they take some 
 lifting. But to return to the despatching of a strong 
 
264 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 body of police to Glenrowan. The Kellys had, it 
 appears, got an inkling of the departure of the train 
 which was bringing up the troopers, under Mr Super- 
 intendent Hare, and they had proceeded forthwith to 
 remove some of the rails near the approach to a 
 rather dangerous curve on the line, and the whole 
 train with its living freight would undoubtedly have 
 been wrecked, had it not been for the ready resource 
 and great courage of the local schoolmaster, who had 
 overheard the diabolical proposal to remove the rails 
 discussed by the bushrangers. How to leave the 
 house and warn the driver of the coming train was 
 the problem that faced him. He knew he would 
 have been shot like a dog if any of the gang suspected 
 him, but determining to risk everything, he sallied 
 forth in the darkness on his somewhat risky errand. 
 Then the difficulty arose as he heard the approaching 
 train How was he to stop it ? This happy thought 
 then occurred to him. He was wearing a tall hat, 
 and his pocket handkerchief happened to be red, so 
 he hit on the following expedient. He struck a 
 match, held it in his hat, placed his red handkerchief 
 in front, and this improvised danger signal proving 
 effective, the train was stopped, and the lives of the 
 passengers were saved. Curnow was the name of 
 the schoolmaster. He was, of course, rewarded, but 
 I always thought that sufficient credit was not given 
 to him for his ready resource in a particularly trying 
 situation. 
 
 Two absurdities strike me in connection with this 
 excursion to the capture of the Kellys. A couple of 
 friends of mine were passengers by the train. One 
 claimed to have been in the wars in Canada the 
 time of the Rebellion, he referred to, I suppose and 
 
MELBOURNE MEMORIES 265 
 
 used to describe with great spirit how he was pressed 
 into the service, and what a serious thing it was, 
 being, as he proudly boasted, the sole support of a 
 widowed mother and several sisters, but his patriotism 
 was paramount, and the order for his uniform was 
 given, the tailor having especial instructions to have a 
 brass plate sewn in his tunic over the region of the 
 heart, so that he might, as he described it, be im- 
 pervious to the bullets of the enemy, the responsibilities 
 attaching to the care of his widowed mother and 
 sisters rendering the utmost precautions for his safety 
 necessary. The uniform in due time was sent home, 
 was duly tried on, and gave perfect satisfaction, but 
 the one instruction re the brass plate had not been 
 attended to ; it certainly was not fixed to any part 
 of the tunic, but was found in his nether garments. 
 His indignation knew no bounds. He demanded 
 from the tailor an explanation of his total disregard 
 to instructions, and asked what the devil he meant 
 by putting the brass plate there pointing to what 
 Hieland men do not wear. 
 
 " Well, sir," said the tailor, with a knowing look, " I 
 guess that's where your heart will be when you go to 
 battle." Ned Kelly's armourer was more considerate. 
 
 My other friend who accompanied this old soldier 
 to the seat of war was what is termed of a rubicund 
 appearance, and when lighting his cigar in the dusk, 
 his " pink " complexion showed to advantage, and 
 prompted the remark from one of the party that he 
 would make an excellent living danger signal, as if he 
 would only hold a lighted match in front of his face, it 
 would stop any train. 
 
 On another occasion, the scene at the station at 
 Spencer Street was a most distressing and painful one. 
 
 R 
 
266 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 It was on the occasion of the return of the wounded 
 from that frightful catastrophe, the Cootamundra 
 Railway accident, the most serious which has ever 
 happened in Australia. 
 
 It appears that owing to an unusually heavy fall of 
 rain, a large culvert over which the line passed was 
 washed away during the night, and no warning having 
 been given, the train rushed at full speed headlong 
 into the gap, with frightful results, carriages 
 telescoping as they fell into the roaring torrent below, 
 and how any escaped being killed or drowned was 
 simply marvellous. The majority of the passengers 
 were sporting people, amongst them being several 
 prominent bookmakers, all bound for the Sydney 
 Races. 
 
 Joe Thompson was a passenger, and his account is 
 both graphic and interesting. When interviewed at the 
 time, he said : " They have treated us very badly, but 
 we are not dead yet, although Zucker and Cohen are 
 bad, poor fellows. Oscar Barnett was standing along- 
 side the conductor (Wilson) when the latter was 
 killed, and never received a scratch. Fancy us lying 
 out there in the dark and cold, and not a blanket to 
 cover us until some bushmen lent us theirs ! There 
 never was such an experience. I'll tell you what 
 happened. We were standing, or sitting, talking to- 
 gether, about the centre of the car, on the left hand 
 side, and Oscar had just gone a little way apart to 
 ask Conductor Wilson to make up his berth, as it was 
 time (eight o'clock) for all to turn in. No sooner had 
 he said this, when I heard a crash. I thought we 
 were gone, and hoped it would soon be over. We 
 were going round a curve, and when the engine went 
 down the couplings broke, and enabled the second- 
 
MELBOURNE MEMORIES 267 
 
 class car to forge ahead slightly. If we in the 
 sleeping-car, which was next, had hit the second-class 
 car end on, we should have telescoped it, and then 
 there would have been no more of us. As it was, we 
 struck the second-class car slantingly, and in turn 
 were crashed into by the first-class carriage next 
 behind, also in the same manner. The half of the left 
 side of our car was torn open by the first-class 
 carriage, and the roof burst open, the larger portion of 
 it falling over to the right and giving us ample exit 
 room. First of all I heard the two thuds made by 
 the brake gripping suddenly, then a rush as of water, 
 then the crash of the car behind driving into us, then 
 the roof coming off, and we all found ourselves in the 
 water. 
 
 " How I got free of the car I cannot tell, but I at once 
 struck out up the stream, calling out to the boys to 
 help themselves, as I knew that I could not. I believe 
 I was the first to strike the shore, and then I felt my 
 hurts for the first time. I believe a lot of poor fellows, 
 who happened to be thrown out on the right side, 
 floated right away and were drowned, and their bodies 
 have not been found. You see I and those with me 
 had the luck to be thrown out on the left side, where 
 the water was, so to speak, dammed by the roof of the 
 sleeping-car sticking up to make a sort of a break- 
 water. This helped us a great deal I can tell you ! 
 Well, as I say, we lay there helpless and wounded on 
 our backs in the rain, so I cannot tell you what was 
 done with the poor creatures who had not got free 
 from the cars. At last they got us up to Coota- 
 mundra, to the Albion Hotel there." 
 
 Some ten or a dozen people were killed outright, 
 and many died subsequently from injuries received. 
 
268 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 The wounded totalled close upon fifty, a majority 
 of the latter being Melbourne sporting people. 
 Naturally, therefore, excitement ran high, and latest 
 bulletins were posted, and the condition of the sufferers 
 excited the keenest sympathy in all quarters. 
 
 The accident happened on the Sunday night, but it 
 was not until the following Wednesday that the train 
 bringing back the maimed and wounded arrived at 
 Melbourne. It is the arrival of this train at Spencer 
 Street which I shall never forget ; the platforms were 
 crowded with relatives and friends of the injured 
 passengers, who waited anxiously as if expecting 
 some one back from the grave, so astounding was 
 their escape from destruction. The scene was most 
 pathetic, as one by one the injured were carried to 
 carriages or ambulances, for conveyance to their homes, 
 from whence it was many a long day before they 
 were able to depart. Apparently most of the injured 
 recovered, but upon many the effects of the accident 
 were never obliterated, and they ultimately passed in 
 their checks before the customary settling day. 
 
HOME IMPRESSIONS 
 
HOME IMPRESSIONS 
 
 1 SCARCELY think it possible for any individual, 
 unless he or she has gone through the experience, 
 to thoroughly realise the feelings which are engendered 
 when embarking on a voyage, be it outward or home- 
 ward bound. If, as in my case, "Outward Bound" 
 meant a long sea journey of some 16,000 miles to 
 a new country, new people, strange sights in strange 
 lands ; the picturing to oneself what sort or manner 
 of people one would be thrown in contact with for 
 some years to come ; the kind of home one would 
 build up ; and a thousand such thoughts ever present 
 in one's mind ; I say, when the imagination 
 
 " Bodies forth the forms of things unknown," 
 
 in suchlike manner, the feelings of intense expectancy 
 cannot easily be described. When on the homeward 
 tack, after a quarter of a century's absence, one nears the 
 white cliffs of dear old England, and once again the eye 
 feasts upon its glorious foliage, its emerald green, its 
 red-tiled roofs of snug homesteads nestling amongst the 
 trees, its running brooks and fat pastures, a big lump 
 rises in one's throat, the tear will find its way down our 
 cheek as the thought arises that possibly many a 
 chair will be found vacant, many a kindly voice will 
 long since have been stilled, and feelings and emo- 
 tions arise which, I repeat, can scarcely be realised 
 
 271 
 
$72 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 except by those who have experienced the leaving of, 
 and the returning to, Home. 
 
 This word " Home," is, I am glad to say, applied to 
 England by every young Australian, whether he or 
 she has ever visited the old country or not, and 
 notwithstanding occasional references by some pro- 
 fessional agitator, who hopes to gain a little cheap 
 popularity by his prating about Freedom, and the de- 
 termination of Australians never to be slaves, there 
 is really no serious person nowadays who talks about 
 "cutting the painter." Young Australia is by 
 degrees beginning to understand and appreciate the 
 country from whence his ancestors sprung, and after 
 visiting England, whether in pursuit of pleasure or 
 for educational objects, he returns home thoroughly 
 loyal, and thoroughly embued with England's great- 
 ness. The Australian visitors to the Jubilee all returned 
 to their respective homes impressed with feelings 
 ultra loyal. 
 
 But to return to impressions. In previous chapters I 
 have briefly referred to the great contrast which exists 
 between Australian and English landscapes, and this 
 contrast is most pronounced, especially if one leaves 
 Australia during the summer months, when every- 
 thing is parched and brown, and arrives in England 
 in the merry month of May. The railway journey 
 through Kent and Surrey is at all times, even to an 
 Englishman fond of rural scenery, a delightful ex- 
 perience, but what a revelation it must be to an 
 Australian, and what a delightful awakening of old 
 memories to the returning Colonist ! These sensations, 
 so imperfectly described, simply overwhelmed me on 
 my return home. 
 
 In Australia, everything is so vast and expan- 
 
HOME IMPRESSIONS 273 
 
 sive. The streets in the towns, the roads in 
 the villages, are of enormous width from a chain 
 (66 feet) to two chains wide ; it can easily be 
 imagined, therefore, how quaint and narrow the 
 streets and roadways appear when travelling in the 
 rural districts of England. But how charming is it 
 all, and yet everything appears strange and puzzling. 
 The village green whereon we played cricket we now 
 look upon as a mere insignificant patch, whereas, 
 in our young days, it was considered no mean feat to 
 make a boundary hit, so extensive did it then appear. 
 The old school-house a select academy, it was called 
 now appears but a very ordinary country residence, 
 whereas then it was surrounded with a dignity and 
 significance which it is now difficult to reconcile. The 
 rooms appeared large, now they seem particularly 
 small ; their low ceilings, with heavy oaken timbers 
 supporting the storey above, strike one as being 
 stuffy and depressing, compared with the modern 
 houses with lofty and well-ventilated rooms built 
 in the almost tropical climes of Australia. 
 
 Then the boys and girls one left behind have 
 grown into men and women ; the ruddy-faced youths 
 have become almost greybeards ; and the dimple- 
 cheeked, laughing girls have settled down into fat 
 and comfortable matrons, with grown-up sons and 
 daughters, married and marriageable. It is a kind of 
 Rip-Van-Winkle awakening, but, in many cases, a 
 most pleasant one. My own experiences tell me 
 that faces change, however, but voices do not. Many 
 of the friends of my boyhood have become quite 
 unrecognisable as far as outward appearances go, 
 but I have been able to place them by the sound of 
 their voices alone. 
 
274 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 These experiences are, doubtless, common to many, 
 but they nevertheless are striking and quite unknown 
 to those who have never sojourned many a year 
 amongst strangers in far-distant lands. 
 
 Since my return I have been more than once asked 
 the question: What feature in London has struck me 
 most ? Well, the query is not easily answered. The 
 vastness of London is simply bewildering. When I 
 was a lad, a few miles of a journey out of London 
 took you amongst green fields and country lanes ; now 
 the forest of chimney-pots has extended for miles and 
 miles, the Iron Horse having opened up districts 
 which were inaccessible to all but the leisured few 
 who had no regular business to attend to. Omnibuses 
 were then the principal, in fact, pretty well the only, 
 means of communication between the city and suburbs. 
 
 I well remember my first ride in a railway train. 
 It was in an open truck, third class, no covering or 
 roof, and people had to hold on to their hats or 
 bonnets as the train travelled along at the rate of 
 some 15 or 16 miles an hour. What a change has 
 been wrought during the last forty years in the means 
 of locomotion I The speed attained and the comforts 
 provided are remarkable. Still our American cousins 
 say we don't yet know the A B C of the business. 
 
 Then, again, look at the quality of the horses one 
 sees both in 'buses and cabs, and the cheap rate at 
 which one can see London from the top of the said 
 'buses. When I first arrived home I, in a manner of 
 speaking, lived for some time on the top of the 'buses, 
 and spent days going here, there, and everywhere, and 
 I found my journeyings most interesting and instruc- 
 tive. Most of the drivers, whilst still having a 
 strong cockney accent, I found to be intelligent and 
 
HOiME IMPRESSIONS $75 
 
 obliging men. They seemed to take a delight in 
 pointing out places of interest to strangers, and their 
 occasional chaff, not particularly refined perhaps 
 with a "pirate," had generally some rough wit 
 about it which was mostly amusing and clever. 
 
 I overheard an interchange of compliments between 
 some of these fellows which partook somewhat of the 
 retort courteous (?). What the nature of their argu- 
 ment was I can't quite say. One of the disputants, 
 however, had a rather full and flowing beard, whilst the 
 other was what is termed smock-faced, i.e. hairless; but 
 the final touch was put to the argument by the remark 
 made to the descendant of Esau, that it was useless 
 talking to him, the hairless one, for anybody could see 
 he was a fool, as hair didn't grow on wood. 
 
 On one occasion a stranger got on to a 'bus wishing to 
 go to the Marble Arch, but by accident hailed a " pirate" 
 going to Hyde Park corner. When the 'bus arrived at 
 the Corner, the stranger innocently asked if he alighted 
 there for the Marble Arch. " Oh yes, sir," said the 
 conductor, " you git down here and just stroll across 
 the lawn, and there you are ! " A stroll of over a mile. 
 
 As a lover of dumb animals it has gratified me 
 beyond measure to see how much more kindly dumb 
 creatures are treated nowadays, and how rarely the 
 whip is used on horses, and how even the coster's 
 moke is persuaded to do his allotted task by kindly 
 words instead of being belaboured with a club. To 
 the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
 Animals this state of things is no doubt largely 
 due, and all lovers of our four-footed friends and 
 allies owe it grateful thanks. I think I am a bit of 
 a maniac in my love for animals dogs, perhaps, having 
 the pride of place and I shall never forget, when a 
 
276 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 child, the pain it used to cause me when I saw some 
 poor doggie drawing a little catsmeat cart, getting 
 an occasional flick with a whip in order that he might 
 bark or howl a bit louder, and thus announce to far 
 and near the coming of the catsmeat man. 
 
 The new system of paving the streets with asphalt 
 has its advantages, but in slippery weather it is very 
 trying for the poor brutes of horses in making a 
 start with a heavy load, but when once under weigh, 
 however, the haulage is reduced to a minimum. 
 Wood pavement is undoubtedly much superior, and 
 now that Australian hard woods, such as Jarrah and 
 red gum, have come into notice, I feel sure that 
 they will elbow all the white wood out of the 
 market, and Australian wood paving will be univer- 
 sally adopted throughout Great Britain. 
 
 The management of the enormous traffic is another 
 feature of London life which must commend itself to 
 strangers, and in the eyes of foreigners the power of 
 the police in regulating it must cause them intense 
 astonishment. The policeman's will is apparently 
 supreme ; and it is a remarkable and a most creditable 
 phase in street management, that the enormous powers 
 placed in the hands of a London Bobby are rarely, if 
 ever, abused. The politeness and civility of the men 
 on duty in places where the traffic is most congested 
 call for unstinted praise; their attention to old people, 
 be they gentle or simple, in assisting them across the 
 streets, has frequently and favourably been commented 
 upon, but to a stranger it is an agreeable and much- 
 appreciated surprise. 
 
 What seems to me so incomprehensible is the fact 
 that, notwithstanding new streets being opened, new 
 bridges built, the extension of the underground rail- 
 
HOME IMPRESSIONS 277 
 
 way system, both steam and electric, the traffic in the 
 streets seems as great, if not greater, than ever. I 
 suppose it will be the same when the Central London 
 Electric Railway gets into full swing. London is 
 always growing. 
 
 I think one has only to take a trip down to Green- 
 wich by a steamboat to thoroughly understand what the 
 Port of London really is, the river traffic the same as 
 the street traffic is so vast and apparently illimitable 
 Steamers and sailing craft bound for the East or 
 West meet similar vessels returning from all points 
 of the compass. Huge barges, amongst them many 
 " Maidstone Men of War," as the hay and straw 
 sailing barges used to be called, float up and down 
 the tide, in such countless numbers, that it is a 
 marvel how they ever reach their various destinations. 
 
 Another feature which is so strikingly illustrated in 
 the streets, in St Paul's Churchyard, and in many 
 other places, is the tameness of the thousands of 
 pigeons which strut about unmolested, and which, 
 during luncheon hour, are fed by lads and youngsters 
 from offices and factories with scraps from their 
 luncheon bags or baskets. One time of day they 
 would Shanghai them. The same thing is observable 
 in the parks ; children go in hundreds to feed the wild 
 fowl, and even little cock-sparrow is not neglected. 
 Thrushes and blackbirds are numerous, and in gardens 
 within a twopenny ride of Charing Cross, you can, in 
 springtime, hear them pipe as if in some country lane. 
 This encouraging the young idea not to shoot at, but 
 to be kind to animals and birds must have a human- 
 ising effect, and is an enormous advance in the right 
 direction. 
 
 The cultivation of flowers, too, has made enormous 
 
278 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 strides, and the parks and gardens round about 
 London in spring, summer, and autumn are particu- 
 larly and strikingly beautiful. The flowers and bouton- 
 nieres vended in the streets are most artistically ar- 
 ranged by the girl-hawkers, who all dress in the same 
 style as did their great-grandmothers years and years 
 ago. They and their belongings may politically be 
 radical, but the coster "bloke" and his "donah" 
 are most conservative in sticking to old traditions, 
 especially with regard to dress. 
 
 In Australia, horticulture has also made immense 
 progress, and in no part of the world are more lovely 
 public gardens to be found than in Sydney and 
 Melbourne. The Botanic Gardens in Sydney owe 
 a great deal to their naturally beautiful situation, 
 whilst the sloping lawns and most picturesque land- 
 scapes to be found in the Melbourne Gardens have 
 been artificially produced, under the guiding genius 
 of the Curator, Mr W. R. Guilfoyle. I have visited 
 the gardens at Kandy, Ceylon, and whilst one sees 
 here the most gorgeous tropical vegetation, with 
 flowering creepers of superb magnificence, and butter- 
 flies as big as birds, the natural beauties of the 
 Sydney gardens render them, to my mind, from many 
 points of view, the most beautiful. 
 
 London street cries, as a child, were always full of 
 interest and wonder to me, but I miss many that 
 used to be so familiar, but above the din of traffic 
 comes ever and anon the dreadful newspaper boy 
 with his : " All the Winners ! " I have lived for the 
 greater part of my lifetime in an atmosphere of sport; 
 have been associated in some capacity or another 
 during a long period with sport and sporting matters, 
 and in a community, where it is considered that 
 
HOME IMPRESSIONS 279 
 
 too much attention is devoted to such so-called 
 frivolities, but little did I think, when returning 
 to London, I should find the air resound with the one 
 absorbing cry : " All the Winners ! " Earthquakes 
 may take place, empires may be tottering, war and 
 rumours of wars may be occupying the attention of 
 statesmen and diplomatists, but what mattereth it 
 to the noble army of punters ? What's won, and what 
 was the S.P. ? is the one engrossing subject. 
 
 This picture is not a bit overdrawn ; the fact is 
 indeed continually being illustrated. Demand and 
 supply, I suppose, govern the publication of the 
 halfpenny papers, as in all other commercial matters, 
 and the items which are the most attractive get the 
 biggest headlines. You hear little rats of boys at 
 street corners enquiring between their puffs at their 
 cigarettes : " What's won ? " and when supplied with 
 the information sought for, remark : " That's a bit of 
 all right ; I had my bob on." The S.P. business is 
 carried on in barbers' shops, swell offices, and 
 bogus clubs to an enormous extent. The police 
 occasionally make a raid, but it seems like pruning a 
 tree ; you may reduce its proportions for a time, but 
 ere long it flourishes with renewed vigour. " Scotched, 
 not killed," would be an appropriate sign for a bogus 
 betting club. 
 
 I miss the street ballad singer of the Jem Baggs 
 type, and one is struck by the comparatively few 
 number of beggars met with when taking our walks 
 abroad, but I fancy the use of blasphemous and 
 filthy language is more in evidence. I am not over 
 squeamish in these matters, but the language of 
 the street urchin, both male and female, sad to relate, 
 is enough to make an old Billingsgate fishwife look to 
 
280 SPORTING REMINISCENCES 
 
 her laurels. There is another special 'dition cry which 
 is heard no more. I refer to the " Last Dying Speech 
 and Confession " of the felon when making his last 
 public appearance " beneath the Gallows Tree." This 
 " Last Dying Speech and Confession " used to be an 
 attraction outside Newgate. 
 
 I have had many opportunities of seeing hangings 
 both in England and Australia, but my courage always 
 failed me at the last minute. A grand opportunity 
 was once offered me of seeing five pirates hung outside 
 Newgate, and on the Saturday previous I was pointed 
 out the window, nearly opposite the prison, from which 
 I would get a splendid view, but the outside prepara- 
 tions were quite enough for me. 
 
 The streets all round the prison were barricaded, 
 and subdivided with stout timber, into what looked, 
 for all the world, like cattle-pens. Even on this parti- 
 cular Saturday evening, many of the most depraved 
 and horrible-looking creatures in human form had 
 selected good sites, and had provided themselves with 
 food and drink to sustain them until the eventful eight 
 o'clock on Monday arrived, and the bell of St Sepul- 
 chre's began to toll. I was quite content to leave 
 the rest to imagination. 
 
 The same feeling prevailed with me in Australia 
 when invited to witness Ned Kelly, the famous bush- 
 ranger, expiate all his crimes and misdemeanours in 
 the Melbourne goal. In hot blood there are many 
 men perhaps amongst them I might possibly be 
 found who would not hesitate at dealing out lynch- 
 law to some miscreant who had violated all laws, 
 human and Divine, but who, in calmer moments, would 
 say : " Let the law takes its course." No matter how 
 great the criminal, or how heinous his offence, one 
 
HOME IMPRESSIONS 2 $i 
 
 shrinks from assisting or officiating, unless stern 
 necessity compels it, at last rites of this description. 
 
 In the preceding chapters I have endeavoured to 
 jot down little episodes which might prove of interest 
 to many Australians, and even to those who may be 
 termed Anglo-Australians. I have had to trust to 
 my memory, as I now regretfully say, for I made no 
 notes during my quarter of a century's residence 
 in the Colonies, and there may probably be many 
 inaccuracies, which, however, I trust may be 
 pardoned. There are many facts and many 
 episodes which I, doubtless, have overlooked. I 
 have referred to no unpleasantnesses, which are 
 inseparable from a life full of bustle and excitement, 
 and I have made every effort to tell a plain, un- 
 varnished tale, devoid of all malice or uncharitableness. 
 I claim to be a thorough Anglo-Australian English 
 first, Australian afterwards, and I trust that whatever 
 my shortcomings may be, they will be forgiven and 
 forgotten, as I only wish to be remembered as one 
 who loved his fellowmen. With these sentiments 
 uppermost in my mind, I affectionately bid my friends 
 Adieu. 
 
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