September 26, 19 14 
LAND AND W A T E R 
WE welcome the^appeal that has been made by an eminent 
soldier to Masters of Hounds not to stop hunting during 
the war. It was time such an appeal was made, for many 
prominent people — and among them at least one ex M.F.H. — 
have from the purest, though in our view the most mistaken, 
of motives urged the contrary. In their opinion a continuance 
of the sport while the great struggle between the powers is 
proceeding and so many thousands of our countrymen are 
fighting nobly in the cause of liberty for the nations is uncalled 
for--unseemIy. Unseemly it would be if the hunting it is 
proposed to carry on were of the " merrily we'll whoop and 
we'll holloa " nature ; but it is nothing of the sort. The 
Masters of Foxhounds Association, who considered the subject 
a month ago, came to the wise decision that it would be most 
prejudicial to the country in general if it were allowed to 
lapse altogether, though they fully recognised that " regular 
hunting," as it is known in normal times, would this season 
be impossible. They suggested that it should be carried on 
as a matter of expediency and not as a sport. Field-Marshal 
Sir Evelvn Wood, the last man in the world to advocate 
anything contrary to the interests of the Army or contrary 
to taste, so thoroughly agrees with this attitude adopted by 
the Masters of Foxhounds Association that he has made a 
direct appeal not to stop hunting. " It is a very important 
training for our officers," he remarks, " the very dash of our 
cavalry being attributable to hunting at home " ; and he 
knows the value of the hunting field even at the present time 
as a means of supply to the cavalry of the best jiossible horses 
for the purpose. By all means keep hunting going, he and 
many others agree ; but let there be no panoply or heedless 
merriment about it this winter, for such would certainly be 
out of taste. 
G 
ENF:K.\I- FREN'CH, who lias shown all his old mastery 
and wonderful military science in his command of the 
liritish Expeditionary Force during the past six weeks, 
gained undying fame in South .Africa by his brilliant work in 
command of the cavalry. And General French has always 
acknowledged his indebtedness to the hunting field for the 
experience which proved of such service to him in his career 
as a cavalry leader. He has been a hunting man all his life, 
like Sir Evelyn Wood, who hopes to be out with hounds 
prettv often this winter on the only horse the (iovcrnment 
has left him— a cast-off .\rmy one. Earl Roberts is a firm 
believer in the value of hunting and polo, so long as they do 
not interfere with a soldier's duties. The great Duke of 
Wellington, who kept a pack of hounds going during the 
Peninsular campaign, always declared that " I-Lngland will 
rue the day when her field sports are abandoned." Major- 
General Sir William Knox expressed the strongest views on 
the necessity of looking upon hunting as the last hope of our 
riding-horse' supply in the absence of the expensive one of 
breeding establisliments and declared : " There is no better 
school of training for \\mv officers of all arms than the 
hunting field." Major-General E. A. H. Alderson, himself a 
Master of Hounds thought so highly of the value of hunting 
that he wrote a book, " Fink and Scarlet," showing the 
inseparable connection between soldiering and the sport ; 
and there are other Masters of Hounds serving the country at 
this critical time who have left strict injunctions for their 
staffs to keep hunting going in a practical and businesslke 
way until their return. A better lead and example than that 
no one can wish for. 
pURTHEk well-known names of polo players have 
^ appeared in recent casualty lists, and furtlier stories 
come from the front of the particular dash and gallantry of 
well-known polo regiments, which seem to have played their 
part nobly in the work of the cavalry. One list of wounded 
officers contained the names of two members of the Inter 
regimental Cup winning team this \ear — Captain T. R. 
Badger and Mr. B. G. Nicholas, the 12th Lancers' No. 2 and 
No. 3. It is to be hoped that their injuries are not serious, 
but slight. The 12th Lancers, it will be remembered, showed 
extraordinary combination in their play this year. In- 
dividually, the officers named were tlie strongest members of 
the side, though Mr. E. H. Leatham was a capable " I." and 
Mr. R W. R. Wyndham-Ouin a reliable and steadily- 
improving back. But it was their remarkable team-work 
wliich carried them through all the rounds into the final, in 
which the\- beat the 1st Life Guards. Their record for the 
tournament speaks for itself — 38 goals for : lO against. And 
they capped it all subsequently by beating the Champion 
Cup winners, the full team of Old Cantabs, and then the 
Cavalry Club in securing the King's Coronation Cup. It 
was the first time since the institution of the latter tourna- 
ment that the " championship of champions " had been won 
by a regimental side, and both Captain Badger and Mr 
Nicholas had a big share in this success. In the same list of 
wounded appeared the names of Mr. L. H. Jefferson (the 
nth Hussars' No. i) and Major W. J. Lockett, of the same 
regiment ; and previously it was announced that Lieutenant- 
Colonel the Hon. G. H. Morris, of the Irish Guards, a keen 
and well-known polo player, was not only among the wounded 
officers, but also among those missing. 
The War and the Turf 
LAST week's discussion by the members of the Jockey 
Club as to propriety of continuing to hold race meetings 
during the war bids fair to become historic in the annals of 
the Turf. The meeting had been preceded by panic rumours 
in the sporting columns of at least one important newspaper 
to the effect that the Jockey Club had in contemplation the 
abandonment of the three autumn Newmarket meetings. 
Had this been true it would have meant the summary end 
of the flat-racing season. If the authorities of the Turf had 
abandoned the meetings for which they are primarily respon- 
sible, it can be taken for granted that race-course companies 
in general would have followed their lead. But we now know 
tiiat tlic members of the Jockey Club were never desirous of 
putting into practice the drastic measure falsely attributed 
to them. On the contrary, the Stewards went \ery carefully 
into the facts and the figures, and at the meeting at Derby 
House they were able to present a strong case for the con- 
tinuance of racing during the war. Thus it was resolved, 
without a dissentient voice among the Jockey Club members, 
that the racing fixtures at Newmarket and elsewhere should 
be carried out where the local conditions permit and where 
the feeling in the locality is not averse to the meeting being 
held. 
Autumn Handicap 
NOW that racing at Newmarket next month is practically 
assured there will be rapidly growing public interest in 
the prospects of the Cesarewitch and the Cambridgeshire, 
which are perhaps the most attractive of all the racing 
season's handicaps. Some good judges declared that the 
winner of the Cesarewitch was seen at Doncaster in John 
Amendall, who won the Rufford Abbey Handicap on the 
Town Moor in most convincing style. That h rse, 
unfortunateh-. died last week as the result ot a 
severe kick". Princess Dorrie is sure also to be 
well backed. The Oaks winner stays- well, and is by 
no means harshly treated in view of her smart achieve- 
ments this season.' One will await with interest the further 
performances of those good three-year-old colts Willbrook 
and Dairy Bridge, who filled the leading places in the Don- 
caster Cup. It 'is certain that both of them are well endowed 
with stamina, that quality which, above all others, is indis- 
pensable in a Cesarewitch winner. 
1015 
