TOUTS AND TOUTING 245 



on the course or in S.P. transactions, is by no 

 means the game that it was. 



This enterprise of the papers has also been 

 entirely responsible for the decrease in the betting 

 on future events. Very few, either of the largest 

 bettors in the ring or those who keep S.P. offices, 

 will now accept any such business. By means 

 of the trustworthy training reports which are 

 furnished by touts the public can tell any morning 

 the amount of work the various candidates have 

 done, and they (the public) are able to read 

 between the lines, and find out the horses that are 

 doing good preparations for big races ; hence, as 

 the judgment of the public has always been con- 

 sidered good when backed up by information, for 

 the past few years it is questionable whether, on 

 the events in question, backers have not had the 

 best of the deal. 



In olden days the tout had to gather the in- 

 formation for his employers very often under 

 highly unsatisfactory conditions, and I have very 

 distinct recollections of sundry unpleasant hours 

 spent in observing the work done by horses, it 

 being absolutely necessary at that time to avoid 

 being seen. I have on many occasions lain for 

 several nights in a cold, dank, and uncomfortable 

 ditch, in order to watch an expected trial, with the 



