INTRODUCTION 



For many years I have had a wish to collect the 

 incidents of Tod Sloan's life. The opportunity never 

 seemed to arrive. However, with the strenuous times 

 of the Great War, and soon after Paris had been threatened 

 by a German occupation, I found my chance. 



There is a double purpose in writing Sloan'' s life. I 

 had heard him telling so many good stories about himself, 

 and about others, that I thought it would be a pity that 

 they should be lost to the present-day public and to future 

 generations. I was sure too that many phases of his 

 career would typify life preceding 1915, and that this book 

 might be as interesting in the years to come as it is to-day 

 to those who kfiow Sloan personally. 



Tod Sloan is one of the best-known individualities in 

 Paris, London, New York and other great cities. He 

 has been caricatured by the best- known artists, and written 

 about in newspapers, magazines and books. His career 

 has been such a varied one that even a single chapter of 

 his life could be elaborated without undue padding into 

 a most readable volume. My endeavour has been to get 

 Sloan to recount the story of his life in chronological order, 

 at the same time not missing little sidelights and stories 

 which cropped up as we went along, and which could be 

 inserted here and there without breaking off the story. 



There are certain things which I can say about Sloan 

 which he is too diffident to allude to himself except in the 

 barest fashion. Years ago in The Daily Express in a 

 series of articles I endeavoured to lead an appeal to the 

 stewards of the Jockey Club for the renewal of Sloan's 



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