164 CANADIAN TURF RECOLLECTIONS 



strenuous efforts of his rider ; whip and spur were ready 

 at the slightest indication of any faltering, and a good 

 two miles was covered before the horse was given a 

 breathing spell. When a halt was called, the Demon, as 

 we had named him, was dead beat. Not so his rider, he 

 was ready for a second test of endurance, but it was not 

 necessary ; the Demon was conquered and though nobody 

 else was anxious to try his quality he was, in the hands of 

 his master, Jack Hendrie, as tractable as a spaniel. 



Under his guidance, while he was Master of the To- 

 ronto Hunt Club, splendid sport was enjoyed. In fact,- 

 those were the Club's palmy days. There were some 

 crack riders in the Club then and with such a Master to 

 lead them it was a rare pleasure to see them in the field. 



Arthur Godson, contractor, still hale and hearty; 

 Eobert Bond, the big cab proprietor, apparently as vig- 

 orous as ever ; Gus Thomas, and Dr. Andrew Smith, still 

 conspicuous in our midst, were especially noteworthy 

 members. I have seen many hard riders in English 

 Shires, and this lot were good enough to hold their own 

 even in such choice company. Many good riders in those 

 days were also to be found amongst the following mem- 

 bers: Henry Godson (ex-collector of Inland Eevenue), 

 spare of form, but still erect and almost daily to be seen 

 on King street. Others, now deceased, were W. Copland, 

 J. M. MacFarlane, Charles Moore, Joseph Walker, Mr. 

 Hagel, Lewis Reford, John Leys, Walter S. Lee, T. Jones, 

 George Hastings and John Donaldson. Others there were 

 equally worthy of mention, but enough have been named 

 to show that the Toronto Hunt Club in the days of yore 

 was composed of sportsmen of high class. 



In addition to the civilians many of the officers of regi- 

 ments then stationed at Toronto used to take part. Con- 

 spicuous amongst them were Col. Jennings, Capt. Moore, 

 Capt. Higgins, Major Hubbard, Lieut. Spilling, after- 

 wards Colonel of the famous Thirteenth Hussars, and 

 many others whose names I have forgotten. 



