NEWSPAPER WINDOW-DRESSING 



England and Australia in the autumn of 1902, I 

 endeavoured to get from Hirst and Rhodes the bats 

 which they used in making that final stand which won 

 England the match, but they would not part with 

 them. Having the idea in my head I would not give 

 it up, and, asking many prominent cricketers for a bat, 

 got together nearly two score, which were offered to 

 the highest bidders. The sale was to close on a 

 certain evening, and two or three of the bats could 

 have been sold twice over. Nearly all offers were 

 eclipsed by a Putney publican giving fifty pounds for 

 a bat of W. G. Grace's. Trumper's was bought by a 

 fancier for forty-two pounds, and all the others were 

 distributed. Rhodes and Hirst eventually gave theirs, 

 and they were sold at a big figure. The effect of the 

 whole feature, which ran some weeks, was to increase 

 permanently the circulation. Those who are not in 

 the newspaper business have little idea what it takes 

 to make even a daily paper known to the million. I 

 took a cab one day to ask that eminent Surrey 

 cricketer, Robert Abel, a few questions, and was most 

 disconcerted on hearing from him that he had never 

 heard of the Express. However, that was soon re- 

 paired. I told Mr Pearson, and he did not seem 

 altogether surprised ; he repeated to me the figures 

 of the enormous sums which had been expended in 

 preliminary publicity, and every month after the first 

 issue in keeping the name of the new paper before the 

 public. 



A year or two afterwards there was the idea of getting 

 up a sale of race-horses for the "Fresh Air Fund," 

 providing there could be a sufficient number of gift 

 horses ; the early stages of it formed a remarkable 

 success. Mr J. B. Joel was one of the first inter- 

 viewed ; he gave me three two-year-olds. Mr Sol Joel 



212 



