Hamlijtts JIUitttjjerie JHagajta. 
EDITED BY JOHN D. HAMLYN. 
No. 8.— Vol. 2. 
LONDON, DECEMBER, 1916. 
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* * * * 
By arrangement with Messrs. W. H. Smith 
& Son, 186, Strand, W.C, "Hamlyn's Menagerie 
Magazine" is on sale on the 16th of each month 
at the following Railway Stations : — 
Charing Cross (South Eastern and Chatham 
Railway). 
King's Cross (Great Northern Railway). 
Liverpool Street (Great Eastern Railway). 
St. Pancras (Midland Railway). 
Victoria (South Eastern and Chatham Rail- 
way). 
Waterloo (South Western Railway). 
OUR TRADE IN 1915-16. 
AN EXPLANATION. 
Perhaps a few remarks on the General Trade 
during the last two years of War, 1915 — 16, will 
interest my readers. 
I have never had such a year of worry and 
trouble for a period extending- over forty years 
as during 1916. 
At the commencement of the War, we were 
advised to carry on Business as Usual, so I 
decided to do so. 
In July, 1914>, our turnover was £900. In 
August, first month of the War, it dropped to £20 
— twenty pounds September, October and Nov- 
ember were about the same. A continuation of 
such business meant absolute ruin. I found. there 
was noi sale for foreign animals or birds in Great 
Britain. 
Having a large stock of small animals, cost- 
ing a considerable sum to keep, I offered them 
to a Rotterdam dealer. By return of post he ac- 
cepted the animals, provided I took canaries in 
payment, which he suggested hight find a ready 
sale in Great Britain. I had never dealt in carariesi 
before, and was rather dubious as toi whether 
there was a sale for these birds. I reasoned that 
canaries would certainly appeal to the general 
public and, as a sporting venture, I decided to 
take one thousand hens. It was my only chance. 
I found to my utter astonishment that the thou- 
sand birds were sold in two' days. The Rotter- 
dam dealer was willing to take every possible 
animal in exchange for canaries. 
And so the trade grew; it was nothing un- 
usual' to sell £2100 worth of canaries on a Satur- 
day morning. This exchange business continued 
up to July, 1916, since then the demand for the 
Dutch birds has practically ceased. 
I daresay quite twenty thousand canaries passed 
through my hands in twelve months. They saved 
the situation, for without this trade I should have 
been submerged and lost. 
I have given the above information because 
the trade — friend and foe — wondered why I 
entered into the canary business. 
