the swamps and jungles of India and Africa, and 
- South America, many of the natives have heard 
_ of the great white man in far off London town 
_ who givies big prices for the wild beasts which 
they trap. It may possibly occur to them to 
“wonder what he can possibly do with the elephants 
the gorillas, the hyaenas, and the snakes, which 
_ his agents buy from them. For, of course, they 
_ know nothing of the Zoological Gardens and the 
' noblemen’s parks which he keeps supplied with 
- the rarer animals and birds. But that does not 
_ prevent them from providing the strange cargoes 
_ which the big ships bring to London Docks for 
_ John D. Hamlyn. 
. 
es 
a. You would never guess to look at Mr. Ham- 
_ lyn that he is as much at home in the society of a 
_ gorilla or a kangaroo as you are with a fox ter- 
' fier. A broad shouldered man of medium height, 
and with good-humoured face, and hair—what 
_ there is left of it—turning grey, eyes kindly but 
_ very alert, that is an outline sketch of the wild- 
_ beast importer of 221, St. George’s Street, Wapp- 
_ ing. He isa cheery soul, fond of good company, 
_ and with a liking for municipal work. He was 
_ for many years a member of the Stepney Borough 
- Council, on which he represented the Tower 
" Ward. He was a regular attendant at the Coun- 
_ ceil meetings and was the chairman of one of its 
-_ most important committees, the General Pur- 
_ poses. He is very popular in the district where 
» he lives, and it was a great surprise when he went 
_ down at the amazing Labour inundation of last 
_ November along with many a good man. 
a I have always thought, however, that it is 
_ Poor Law work which chiefly interests him. He 
_ has long been a member of the Stepney Board of 
_ Guardians, and when he was acting chairman for 
_ a whole year through the absence of the chair- 
_ man, he mde such a favourable impression on his 
" colleagues that when the twelve months had ex- 
 pired they elected him as the official chairman for 
another year. One of Mr. Hamlyn’s character- 
"istics is his generous hospitality. A birthday or 
| some special anniversary has frequently been 
_ made the excuse for entertaining his colleagues 
_ to high tea, pigeon pie being a favourite delicacy 
at those convivial repasts. Of generous disposi- 
tion, his hand is always in his pocket at the call 
of charity, and no good cause ever fails to win a 
_fteésponse from him. When presiding at a Board 
» meeting Mr. Hamlyn is a benevolent autocrat, 
"teady to give every member an opportunity of 
expressing his viiews, but allowing no one to take 
) aliberty. His rulings, though fair, are invariably 
» definite, and are seldom questioned. He and the 
/0ld members are now in a minority on the Step- 
' ney Guardians, but he is held in respect by the 
Labour representatives now that they have got 
| Over their first suspicion of everything and every- 
Body not belonging to their own party. 
a: 
- 
HAMLYN’S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 63 
_ Of course, it is as a naturalist that Mr. Ham- 
lyn is best known, not in East London only, but 
in every quarter of the globe where an interest 
exists in the preservation of wild animals. Does 
a society, or a corporation, or a private collector, 
want to buy an elephant for £400, a zebra for 
£150, a baboon for £20, a 17ft. python for £50, 
or any of the rare birds which you read about in 
books, they have only to apply at 221, St. 
George’s Street and they get what they want. 
His pride in his animals and reptiles is scarcely 
less than in tht fact that his word is his bond. 
The price once fixed, there it is to take or leave, 
and if he is buying, he stands to his bid. 
I dare say if you could induce Mr. Hamlyn 
to tell you of some of his experiences you would 
find them as entertaining as a story book. His 
dealings with the great hunters of big game would 
sound like a romance. But all the same he is a ~ 
keen, hard headed business man whose sales for 
a single month recently amounted to £2,000. Mr. 
Hamlyn is quite frank about it all. He indulges 
in little confidences in his “‘ Menagerie Magazine,” 
which, somehow or other, he finds time to send 
out each month to scbscribers all over the world. 
A short while ago he published photographs show- 
ing himself in company with a pet gorilla which 
he named “John Daniel’’—after himself. This 
animal he so carefully trained that its intelligence 
was almost human, and I believe its owner was 
very fond and very proud of it. Mr. J. D. Ham- 
lyn stands as one of our most interesting public 
men and he fills a distinct niche of his own in 
East End liife.—‘“ East London Advertiser.” 
General Notes. 
By Joun D. Hamuyn. 
THAT the death is reported from Toro of Mr. R. 
F. Bell. It is well known (says the “Uganda 
Herald’) that Mr. Bell was a great hunter, and 
that many big trophies had fallen to his gun. 
Quite recently he had been buffalo shooting. A 
wounded animal charged the boy who was with 
him and who was being badly mauled, when 
Mr. Bell came to his rescue, and in practically 
saving the life of his boy received a nasty wound 
in his arm. It is feared that this encounter with 
the buffalo, combined with shock, probably 
brought about his death. Mr. Bell came to this 
country from South Africa, from which country 
he brought his fondness for big game shooting. 
Mr. Bell was also well known in British East 
Africa, and his many friends will regret to 
learn of his demise. To his bereaved widiow we 
extend our sympathy. 
