GIVING WINNERS 



course with insufficient capital — a very nice little sheet 

 called the Era, with the sub-title, Queensland Sportsman 

 and Licensed Victuallers^ Gazette. The subscription 

 list was capital. It was four pages about the same 

 size as the Referee, but printed on slightly better 

 paper. I got hold of a firm of printers who turned it 

 out very well considering what they had at their 

 disposal. It was the time that Beach beat Hanlan on 

 the Parramatta River, and having a good picture of 

 the winner I got an artist to draw it. Oh, those days 

 of crude reproduction ! It was in this paper that I 

 published my first turf fiction story, to be followed by 

 so many since. I called it " Loved and Lost " and was 

 not ashamed of it when reading it over some years 

 afterwards. But what made the paper go so well was 

 that the racing article gave so many winners. I knew 

 all about the Tasmanian horses, and gave Blink Bonny 

 for the Caulfield Cup. She started at a long price, 

 and was a ready winner. Then they would buy my 

 rag and follow me blindly, for there was an astonish- 

 ing run of successes. I had for my " intercolonial " 

 correspondent that well-known journalist Dicker 

 Hamilton, who used to write under the nom de plume 

 of " Tout Cela " : the boys used to call it " Towt Selah " 

 — it was as near as they could get. By the way, I nearly 

 got put out by the husband of a young woman who 

 was playing in comedy at the Theatre Royal. I forget 

 what it was, but she was in the play a French 

 adventuress, of sorts, and her attempts at French 

 phrases were so astonishing that there had to be a 

 humorous paragraph at her expense. Monsieur la 

 mari took it very badly, and came round to my office 

 in a very pugnacious mood. He had a friend with him, 

 and I could see that both of them meant the worst. 

 It was not convenient at the moment, in my nice white 



