ODDS AND ENDS. 205 



Merchant was a clever runner. He never knew wliat 



ifc was to be nervous on the mark, and that gave him a 



great advantage. There were hundreds of good 



runners then, and many of them lived on the game. 



Such men as Samuels are not often found on a 



running track. Charlie Samuels, as I have stated in 



a former chapter, was an aboriginal hailing from 



Queensland. He was a splendid runner, and in his 



matches with Hutchins showed what he could do. 



Hutchins, however, I do not think, was seen at his 



best in the Colonies. He was never properly fit, and 



indulged too freely. Samuels could run from 75 yards 



up to 440 yards as well as any man I ever saw. 



Thousands of pounds must have been won over him 



by Lees and others at one time or another, and yet 



Lees died a few years ago a broken man. Mr. Tom 



Rose, Mr. H. Oxenham's head manager, can spin 



yarns by the hour about pedestrianism and the tricks 



runners were up to. A well-known former English 



champion, Mr. Frank Hewitt, is in Sydney, and he 



can run now faster than many younger men. Mr. H. 



Rolston, a colleague of mine on the press, has had a 



good deal of experience with foot runners, and some 



articles he wrote were widely read and much talked 



about. 



On one occasion I went with Charles Merchant 

 to Botany Grounds to see the American Myers run 

 for a handicap. We fancied he would win^ but^ alas 



