NEWMARKET 31 



the race weeks." Such extortionate charges are far from 

 being confined to new potatoes and ash-plants. 



Here I have sounded the keynote to the greatest nuisance 

 and humbug there is in connection with the turf, and 

 given the chief reason why the Park meetings near London 

 are all such great successes. At these gatherings there is 

 no putting up of prices, except on the part of the railway 

 companies, but at every country race meeting in the king- 

 dom the racing man is a prey to exorbitant charges. He 

 is asked double and treble fare by his cabman, he often pays 

 twice what he should do at his hotel, and he is expected to 

 fee anyone and everyone while travelling to and from the 

 meeting. Guards and porters seem to look upon him as 

 their lawful prey ; and if by some trifling act they help to 

 make his journey comfortable, they expect to be well paid 

 for doing so. The boots and the waiter at the hotel where 

 he stays require two sets of tips — one, something that is 

 likely to win, the other a money compensation on leaving. 

 How well I know the inevitable boots at a racing inn ! 

 He never leaves you until you have told him what you 

 think will win the big race. If the horse wins, he meets 

 you with a long face as you come home, telling you that 

 you gave him so little encouragement that he was frightened 

 to back it. If it has been beaten, of course he backed it, 

 and his manner suggests that you should make good the 

 stake he has lost. 



When a countryman comes up to London for the Derby 

 week he finds that the tariff at the hotel he is in the habit 

 of using is the same as usual. The prices have not been 

 raised because the Derby is about to be run, and though the 

 establishment is probably filled from cellar to attic, every- 

 thing goes on quite smoothly, and our traveller is not asked 

 to pay above the regulation charge. In fact, barring his 

 journey to the Downs, and his stand ticket, he need incur no 

 extra expense beyond what is inevitable when staying away 

 from home ; and this applies to all the fixtures at Sandown, 

 Kempton, and the other Park meetings which are handy for 

 the Metropolis. Take the reverse side of the picture, and 

 imagine a casual Londoner purposing to attend the Septem- 



