4G ON AND OFF THE TURF. 



circumstance that made his ceiling give way. Any- 

 how, I got my money, and we knocked, down a bottle 

 at '^ Sam's/' next door. 



Such wagers as these do no man any harm. 

 But to the ring and the men in it. First and fore- 

 most, the leader of the ring is Mr. Humphrey Oxen- 

 ham, a man who has the goodwill of all classes. To 

 show the respect in which he is held, I have only to 

 say that before he left on a trip to the old country, a 

 banquet was tendered him in the Town Hall, at which 

 the Minister of Justice presided, and the then Premier, 

 Sir George Dibbs, sent a neatly- worded apology for 

 his absence. '^ All sorts and conditions of men"" were 

 present^ and amongst them Members of Parliament 

 ad lib. It was a glorious success, and we had a fine 

 time of it. 



Mr. Oxenham's transactions in the ring are all on a 

 large scale, and in giving a description of his mode of 

 carrying on business, a very fair idea will be obtained 

 of the Australian ring generally. 



The " Leviathan,^' as he is generally called, is a 

 personal friend of mine, and I have always found him 

 a genuine, upright man, a good husband and father, 

 a generous, high-minded citizen. Mr. Oxenham is 

 liberal, very liberal, and his hand is always in his 

 pocket when help is needed. How much he gives 

 away in the course of a year I cannot say, but it must 

 be a very large sum. No deserving case is ever 



