152 ON ANT) OFF THE THRF. 



stay there Mount Morgans boomed ahead on the 

 market. I know men who made thousands in the 

 course of a few weeks over these shares. One friend 

 of mine cleared about fifty thousand. He lost it 

 all and died a poor man in England not long ago. 

 Another friend made half that sum : he lost the 

 bulk of it at racing, but is, I am glad to say, 

 getting it back on the Sydney Stock Exchange. 

 They were stirring times in Brisbane then. 



Captain Ricardo was Secretary of the Q. T. C. 

 in 1884, and he was succeeded by Mr. J. H. 

 G. Pountney, and Mr. Hyde, son of Mr. Hyde who 

 manages at Kempton Park, is the Secretary at the 

 present time. Eagle Farm, the headquarters of the 

 Q. T. C, is a fine course and has a splendid stand. 

 I have seen some grand races on this track, and the 

 Brisbane Cup and Tattersalls' Cup were, in my time, 

 good races. 



With the bad times, however, racing has de- 

 clined a good deal, and there are very few horses 

 trained there now. Mr. Harry Walsh was one of 

 the principal trainers, and a clever man at his work. 

 Mr. McGill owned some good horses — Pirate, 

 Lancer, and others ; also Mr. Herbert Hunter and 

 Mr. John Finney, J. P. Jost and others. I saw a 

 famous old English racehorse in Brisbane. I went 

 into McLenan's stable one morning and saw a 

 couple of stallions in boxes. 



