NEWSPAPER CRITICISM 



American jockey being first rider to the King-to-be." 

 He added : " My little man, I am afraid you have 

 made a big mistake. I hope not though. Mr 

 Whitney and I will have to put up with a second call 

 on you." And then he told me that he would pay 

 three thousand guineas for that. 



Some of the English papers had a good deal to say 

 about this matter, one writer going so far as to say 

 that " the retainer bestowed upon Sloan caused great 

 astonishment on account of the exalted position of 

 the patron " ; and further went on : " Owing to the 

 Prince's great popularity as a sportsman people are 

 slow to criticise adversely anything his Royal Highness 

 does ; however, there can be no gainsaying that the 

 shelving of the most representative and best conducted 

 of English jockeys in favour of an American professional 

 has given rise to a very painful feeling ; perhaps the 

 Prince was not altogether responsible for engaging 

 Sloan." How circumstances led to that contract 

 not being carried out will be told in due course. 



• ••••••• 



The King often laughed over the story of my visit 

 to Lord William's place at Deepdene for the shooting. 

 I had taken down a new gun from a London maker 

 on which I paid a deposit of fifteen pounds, making 

 the bargain that if it suited me I would give him the 

 balance and that if it didn't I would pay a sum for the 

 use of it. 



We hadn't long started, and I took my first shot. 

 The gun burst ; showing at the break jagged pieces like 

 a saw. I know I had a very narrow escape of losing 

 two or three fingers. I could see that all the other 

 guests thought it was my fault, and that I was not used 

 to firearms. The truth was that I had handled them 

 all my life and perhaps I could have given points with 

 G 97 



