FIFTY YEARS OF A SHOWMAN'S LIFE 



In pursuance of this policy of avoiding un- 

 necessary bustle, especially towards the finish, 

 I always make a point of settling down in my 

 office in the show yard with my staff a good week 

 before the show opens. The only occasion, since 

 my connection with the Bath and West Society, 

 on which I could not carry out ths condition 

 was at the first of the Society's shows for which 

 I was responsible. I entered upon my duties on 

 the first of January, 1883, and the show was 

 held towards the end of the following May, so 

 it was impossible for me to observe the time- 

 rule I had laid down for myself of a twelvemonth's 

 preparation. Beyond this, as I have already 

 explained, Oxford had claims upon my time 

 and attention which had to be met, and so my 

 week in the yard before the show had to be docked 

 of a day. And this brings my narrative to the 

 point at which I have or my experiences would 

 be incomplete to record the most exciting, and, 

 while it lasted, tragic incident of my career as 

 a showman. Knowing that my new masters 

 would very naturally judge of my fitness for 

 the office with which I was entrusted by the way 

 in which my arrangements worked out at my 

 first show, I was nervously anxious that there 

 should be no failure in this respect. My future 

 mainly depended upon how, at the onset, I lived 

 up to, or failed to do so, the character my Oxford- 

 shire friends had given me. It will be seen, 

 I think, how momentous, therefore, it was to 

 me to pass unscathed through an ordeal which 

 could either make or mar me. 



Every year I have to transfer from my office 

 110 



