CHAPTER XXIV 



FRENCH RACING DIVISION 



" Bobs' " Articles — Herald's Attractiveness — Richard Figes the Starter 

 —His Love of " Spoof " — " Johnny " — Sir George Chetvvynd 



Men of all sorts and conditions were met with during 

 my time in France. Leading French owners were 

 always willing to talk and give information — especi- 

 ally to the Herald. There was a certain vogue for 

 my racing articles and I managed to ring the changes 

 from day to day — not giving a bald compte rendu of 

 what had transpired, but getting in a little bright 

 feature, and of course stuffed the column full of names ; 

 that was one of the features of the paper which pretty 

 soon I began to see the value of. There are tens of 

 thousands of people on the Continent who have nothing 

 to do except enjoy themselves. They become accus- 

 tomed to go about from one place to another, making 

 crowds of acquaintances and a few friends. They 

 read with wonderful interest who is here and there, 

 and what is going on too. The Herald is really then 

 a newspaper and an authoritative society paper. 



Richard Figes was the starter at the majority of 

 the meetings, and having known him in former years 

 in England he helped me to become familiar with who 

 was who. He dispensed hospitality in his flat in the 

 Avenue de la Grande Armee, and I ate my first 

 Christmas dinner in France at his place. He was very 

 fond of the best, which made his table all the more 

 attractive. His wife was an excellent soul ; she died 

 a few years after Figes came back to this country : 



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