180 REMINISCENCES OF SONEPORg. 



the watch the day before, when being bought. The winner 

 turned up in Rowland's nomination, a very good-looking 

 pony indeed, purchased for him by Jimmy at the commence- 

 ment of the fair ; a fourteen-hand investment of Frank John- 

 son's, running second. 



Then men began to talk of next Sonepore Meeting, and 

 various suggestions were made, which culminated in Harry 

 Abbott putting up a notice to the effect, that With a view to 

 induce owners of horses to attend, it was proposed to offer a 

 very liberal prospectus for the following year including a purse 

 of Rs. 3,000 for all ponies. The following gentlemen kindly 

 consented to form a committee of management : Messrs. F. 

 M. Halliday, J. Boxwell, E. A. Mackintosh, W. Macgregor, 

 J. Harrison, D. B. Allen, R. Lockhart with H. E. Abbott as 

 Honorary Secretary, and a first-class prospectus to suit all 

 conditions of horses was to be issued within the next month. 



This notice was discussed by a select committee at the 

 second supper on the last ball night, when Mr. D. B. Allen 

 was called upon to make some suggestions for the ameliora- 

 tion of the meeting. He pointed out that the visitors to 

 Sonepore might be divided into two classes, the racing division 

 and those who came to pic-nic, play tennis and look for wives. 

 The latter class, however, in not according sufficient support 

 to the former by attending lotteries and taking tickets, he said, 

 overlooked the fact that without races there would be no 

 Sonepore at all, and that as racing is impossible without lot- 

 teries, they were to blame for withholding that support. But 

 On the other hand, each party had its duties towards the other, 

 and so the racing men must not expect the pic-nickers to fill 

 up lotteries without being prepared to allow them to back 

 their fancies, instead of glaring at them with venomed looks 

 when they bid up horses (they should be satisfied with claim- 

 ing half their horses), and so give the pic-nickers a chance of 

 sharing in the profits of winning horses. Now this was 



