OF THE SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB 209 
ration to thirsty soldiers for their candle issues. Among his 
earliest ventures was the opening of a wine shop from which 
he stepped into the position of wholesale wine merchant. This 
latter business developed to such an extent that in his latest 
years his taxes amounted to five million dollars annually. 
An earnest student of breeding practice, his interest in the 
origin and source of British types was insatiable, and the results 
of his researches are recorded in the pamphlets and books he 
has published. Most of these were published from the press 
of Vinton & Co., agricultural publishers, a corporation in which 
he held much capital stock, and to whose London Livestock 
Journal he devoted some attention in his later years. 
The English Cart Horse, the Hackney and the Hunter were 
rescued from deterioration and perhaps oblivion through his 
good offices. He gathered a group of interested men and re- 
established the Shire Horse Stud Book of England. As earnest 
of his interest, he paid $4,300 for the stallion Spark at a crucial 
period in Shire market values. He was elected president of the 
Shire Horse Society and through his widespread interest suc- 
ceeded in having the Royal Commission on Horse Breeding 
established. In 1894 he paid $25,000 for the Hackney stallion 
Danegelt in order to prevent his exportation, and placed him 
in service at Elsenham stud. Although this horse lived but three 
seasons thereafter, his investment proved most profitable, since 
the Danegelt blood has dominated showyard pedigrees ever 
since. His equipment for harness horses was one of the most 
complete and original in the entire world, his arrangement of 
paddocks and his equipment of riding and driving schools being 
recognizedly superlative in Britain. 
Str WALTER was president of the Hackney Horse Society, the 
Hunter Improvement Society, the Polo Pony Society, the Shet- 
land Pony Society, the Essex Agricultural Society, and the 
Smithfield Club. He was the originator of the annual London 
