464 



a -performance which led many excellent judges to the belief that she was likely to prove 

 an exceptionally smart racehorse; but she failed unaccountably in the Oaks, a race, after her 

 Derby victory, considered to be at her mercy. It was remarkable that in the Derby Tagalie 

 led all the way and won with such ease that stamina was considered to be her strong point; 

 yet in the Oaks she led for a part of the course, and then failed to stay, finishing last. Tagalie 

 also ran in a very disappointing manner in the St. Leger, which was won by Tracery, who 

 had finished third, to her in the Derby. It may be mentioned that Tracery was bred in 

 America, as also was Sweeper II, the winner of the Two Thousand Guineas. The former 

 was, however, of English parentage. During the season of 1912 as many as eight owners 

 won over 10,000 each in stakes, Mr. T. Pilkington, mainly by the aid of Prince Palatine, 

 heading the list with 20,822 and Lord Derby coming second with 17,333. 



Hunting. 



British fox hunting still holds its own, in spite of such modern developments as 

 barbed wire, increase of railways, excessive pheasant rearing, and the greater cost of 

 maintenance of hunt establishments. In some districts the scene of operations of 

 various hunts has been curtailed, owing to the expansion of the country towns, to the 

 institution of small holdings near the townsj and to the fact that coal mining has greatly 

 extended. But nevertheless every part of the country where hunting is possible has 

 its pack of hounds, whether they be foxhounds, staghounds, harriers or beagles, and 

 everywhere there are more people hunting every year, while the great expansion in the 

 size of the fields is chiefly caused by the ever-increasing number of ladies who hunt. 

 In this connection it can truthfully be said that there are a dozen lady foxhunters for 

 every one that followed hounds a generation ago. Foxes are more plentiful than 

 formerly; hounds are faster; and much of the hunting, especially in the most famous 

 countries, is carried on at a higher speed than formerly. This means that hounds are 

 taken from one covert to another at a canter, that there is no dawdling between the 

 hunts, and that at times hounds are unable to do justice to their own hunting 

 powers, because of the crowd pressing on from behind. 



Great Britain still takes the lead in foxhunting, but many hunt clubs have been estab- 

 lished in the United States in recent years; there are in France over 300 hunts, the quarry for 

 which is deer, wolf , hare, and occasionally fox; and jn the British colonies and in India hunting 

 is carried on wherever it is possible. The price of the best English foxhounds has risen 

 enormously, and good hunters are only to be secured at high figures. 



Lacrosse. 



It is generally held that the use of the lighter crosse with less rigid strings, introduced 

 by Canadian teams into England a few years back, has made lacrosse a less difficult 

 game to acquire and has improved the general quality of team play. In the north of 

 England several clubs have attained a high standard of attack play: but defence seems 

 to have slightly deteriorated, mainly through the disuse of the body check: and this 

 may tell against English sides when international matches are undertaken. 



The north of England is still uniformly superior to the south. The North and South 

 match in 1911 and 1912 produced the identical score of 16 goals to 7. The Stockport Club, 

 having won in both years the Northern Flags, beat Lee in the Club Championship by 15-5 

 and 1 8-8, and the County Championship was twice taken by Cheshire. The runners up to 

 Stockport in 191 1 were the Old Hulmcians, who lost only after a tie; in 1912 Albert Park were 

 tx-aten in the final by f goals to 3. For the Southern Flags Oxford University fought out the 

 final match with Lee in 1911, and West London reached the final in 1912. The University 

 match of 1911 was won by Cambridge at 8-3; in 1912 Oxford won at 9-4. 



The competitions among the professional clubs of Canada ended in Vancouver winning 

 the Minto Cup in 191 1 after having beaten the holders (New Westminster) and the champions 

 of eastern Canada (the Tecumseh team). In 1912 New Westminster regained the Cur>, 

 defeating Vancouver and Victoria, and then easily answering the challenge of Cornwall. 

 The Manx Cup for amateur lacrosse is held by the Vancouver Athletics, who in 1911 beat 

 Toronto Juniors, and in 1912 defeated Winnipeg (champions of the north-west) and St. 

 Catherine (champions of the cast). 



Lawn-Tennis. 1 



In the countries where good turf is not generally available lawn-tennis is satisfactori- 

 ly cultivated on hard courts. The covered court form of the game was recognised by 



1 See also under "United States" below. 



