HONOUR IN THE RING 



a great man at first nights, and all the Bohemian 

 functions which take place. Both the brothers have 

 built up their success on sheer merit. 



Heatliorn in Piccadilly has had a great deal to do 

 with the success of the Globe Club in Shaftesbury 

 Avenue. This place has been a great attraction, as it 

 is so well placed. They are getting an increasing 

 membership of substantial men every year, as their 

 annual dinners show unmistakably. 



In all the abuse levelled against racing, perhaps the 

 most undeserved charge is, that those who go racing 

 and bet must of necessity be lacking in those moral 

 attributes which contribute to financial integrity. 

 Now, taking the racecourse section of backers and 

 layers, I do not suppose there is a more honourable 

 body of men existing in an English-speaking country. 

 " Bargains " — that is, wagers — are laid and taken 

 with a precision worthy of a purchase at, say, the Wool 

 Exchange. It is a most unusual thing for a bet to be 

 disputed ; even then, either part, as a rule, will take the 

 decision of a mutual friend where there has been a 

 slight misunderstanding as to what really occurred. 



There is a code of honour on a racecourse, the 

 meaning of which is most difficult to explain to the 

 uninitiated, but it may be summed up in the explana- 

 tion that, as so much depends on the future, it is a 

 necessity to take somebody else's word and to be 

 believed oneself. From the biggest men on the rails 

 who lay wagers to moneyed clients, to the smallest men 

 in Tattersalls' ring there is a wish to be thought well 

 of, and the whole good-will of a business may consist 

 in obtaining confidence, so that there should not be 

 the slightest diminution of turn-over, but rather the 

 advertisement of reliability which shall gain them 

 clients. The small man who deals in cash as a rule 



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