THE LATE COLONEL NORTH.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9458, 2 July 1896, Page 2

THE LATE COLONEL NORTH.

[Br Or Who Kjtbw Hat.]

In every class of society and among all •orta and conditions of men "the Colonel," as otur mneh-moonied friend was familiarly called, was a great favoorite, and big sodden death at the offices o< the NHrate Railway Company has called forth an expression of vympatby which is as genoina aa it is universal. Truly he to have died in harness, for he was faUUlihg his datiee M chairman ot ooe o! bJi wumrOßi oom«

panics when he was seized with heart failure, from which he never recovered. Sprung from the people, Colonel North was, in every sense of the word, a self-made man, and he was never weary of pointing out the fact to his large acquaintance. There was not a particle of false pride about the Colonel, and although quite willing to be the guest of the aristocracy and to give noble lords the benefit of his vast commercial and financial experience, he never courted favour from personages. To one and all he was the same light-hearted, good-natured, generous-minded, sympathetic friend. High and low, rich and poor, all were alike to him, a friend was a friend, and a friend in distress only meant a closer tie of friendship. His hand was always in his pocket, and he never wearied of lending assistance to those who had fallen by the way. The class which brought back to him memories of his early youth he was over ready to befriend, and only in our last issue we gave some sketches of the guests at the annual dinner in connection with the Midland Railway Engine Drivers' and Firemen's Life Assurance Society, over which Colonel North presided. Very characteristic was the manner in which the Colonel on that occasion insisted upon curtailing the length of the speeches. Complaining of so much talking, he said, "I limited the speeches to three minutes. Now, we've had four speeches, and we've wasted a mortal hour. There are twenty-three speeches in this list, and it seems to mc that if we go on at this rate we shall be here till three o'clock in the morning." " And a good job, too,' observed ono of the guests. " Oh, yes, that's all very well," said the chairman, "but I'm a married man, and I've got a family to look after. Now, all you men who've got wives and families stand up, and have a drink with mc." They stood up, and after the next toast, lest the unmarried men should feel neglected, he asked them to stand up and drink also. Early in the evening the Colonel found, to his regret, that he could not invite the company to drink with him, inasmuch as the dinner ticket included wines. " Well, , he said, " If I can't stand yon drinks have some cigar 3." The cigars were duly handed round. " Now, don't let us have any nonsense," said the chairman. " If those cigars don't suit you, lot us have some more. I'm standing these! " Just then a waiter went round to imform him that up to that period .£4O worth of cigars had been, consumed. 1 When the hat was passed round for the fund the Colonel said he had just been to Warwick P*aces and lost .£SOO, but they might put him down for £50. These references give a very fait insight into the Colonel's character. IN PRIVATE MM. But Colonel North, although a thorough man of business, and not one who wore his heart on his sleeve, was easily touched at times, more especially at any illusion to the scenes of his early life. On one occasion he was present at a small party of intimate friends when one of the company present—a singer not altogether unknown—sang by request " The Village Blaoksmith." As the song proceeded, and the rich voice of the interpreter of those well-known words brought 'out the pathos of the writer, the tears began to roll down the cheeks of the great financier and at the close' of the song, rising from hie seat, he grasped his friend by the hand, and with eyes still bedimmed with tears, he said, " Yes, that's mc. I was a blacksmith once, you know." In his family circle he was adored, and few fathers were fonder of their children than the Colonel. But hia family circle was not confined to his own offspring. Around the breakfast table were gathered sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles, in fact— contrary to custom generally—" the more the merrier" seemed to be the Colonel's motto. He was always entertaining, and his residence atEltham is a perfect museum of pictures and pretty things. When the house was building he gave a ball at the Metropole, which attracted at the time.a great deal of attention owing to the lavish scale on whioh everything was done. In Wales, too, he is well-known, and the establishment of North's Navigation Collieries, if it did not make many fortunes, at any rate gave work to a large number of people. AS A SPORTSMAN. In sporting and dramatic circles Colonel North was perhaps best known, although to the investing public his name was always one to conjure with. As a politician, too, he would have been a great success in the olden days, when the speeches at the hustings carried the day; but in these days, when the game is in the hand of wire-pullers, the opanhearted Colonel had but little chance. Nevertheless, at Leeds (his native town), ha mes with a great reception, and had he only gone there sooner would have been certain of success. As it was, his genial manner and straightforward speaking won him plenty of admirers, while the working men were solid in hie favour. This is not the place to reproduce the anecdotes of his election campaign. How he kissed the wife of a supporter, and told the cricket and football players of his early prowess at those games; how his pockets had to be sewn up to prevent him from bringing himself under the Corrupt Practices Act are incidents which will long live in the memory of the Leeds electors ; and perhaps none veto more sorry to hear of his defeat than those who had voted on the other side. Withhia theatrical friends he was wont to let himself go, and many an actor and actress will mourn the loss of the Colonel. But of all theatres —to use the historic words of old Simon Ingot—he most affected the Criterion, and of all players, he most admired Charles Wyndhatn. Scarcely ever a first night passed at the Criterion without Colonel North bringing a large party, and few guests were more welcome on tha stage after the performance than he who now is gone from us for ever. Colonel North will long be remembered as a thorough sportsman. Keenly attached as he was to racing, he was much more than a mere racing man. He was a staunch supporter of football, rowing, running, | cricket, and ail outdoor games and sports, j To cricket he was especially partial, and unless an important race meeting was in progress, he very rarely missed being present at Lord's or tho Oval on a big match day. Though he has been for several years past a prominent figure on the Turf as an owner of thoroughbreds, coursing was more particularly his favourite sport. cooßsrso. Indeed, he made no secret of the fact that his heart was far more with his dogs than with his horses. He was devoted to his greyhounds, and his distress when Fullerton strayed from Eltham some two or three years ago was, until his old favourite could be found, very real. Colonel North first took up coursing in. 1887, soon after his return to settle in England: Hβ purchased a few dogs, and ran them in the North of England with indifferent success. Later on he made a more satisfactory purchase from Mr T. Dickson, who sold the Colonel a puppy called Duke McPherson for 250 guineas. Still luck was not yet going to turn the right way, for though Colonel North had fee qualified satisfaction of seeing his purchase run up to Mr Pilkington's Burnaby for the Waterloo Cap, it was somewhat of a disappointment that the Duke was second and not first. But the time of Colonel North , ! triumph at Altcar was soon to come, a triumph, moreover, unparalleled in the annals of coursing. On the disposal of the Short Flati Kennel at the great Barbican sale in December, 1888, he bid the sensational and unpredecented price of 850 guineas tor Fullerton, buying 'at the same time Muh Glendyne for 510 guineas, and Xroughend for 470 guinea*, beeidw

many others. The three victories of the late Lord Lurgan's celebrated dog Master McGrath, were for a long time set down as a record in coursingthat would never be upset, but Colonel North having once touched the lucky stone in purchasing the best dogs of the Short Flatt Kennel, soon eclipsed all previous achievements in this connection. In the first Waterloo after Fullerton had come into his possession, the two Short Flatt dogs divided the stake, and in each of the following three i seasons Fullerton was proclaimed the winner jof the Waterloo/ That, however, dogs cannot '■ run on for ever, and that there is truth in the proverb even ac applied to that "Youth will be served," was shown when, on his fifth attempt, the gallant old Eon of Greentick was beaten in the second round. RACISG. At race meetings his hospitality wO3 boundless, and every friend was welcomed at his luncheon table. Often have I been bis guest in his private room at Epsom, and seen the great race from his box. At other times I have sat round the perhaps too crowded table under the trees on the lawn at Goodwood. Here it may be mentioned that Colonel North was one of the first, if not the first, to introduce tables at Goodwood. I mean real tables, not boards placed upon blocks of wood about two feet high, bnt tables where it was possible to eat in comfort. If he was not always lucky himself he was always anxious that his friends should know what he did himself, and to him it was a very difficult task to keep stable secrets. His racing career may be said to have began with his acquaintance with Lord Randolph Churchill, and for a time Colonel North, Lord Dunraven, and Lord Randolph Churchill were closely connected in matters relating to the Turf.

As an owner of racehorses, Colonel North cannot be said to have been favoured by fortune. It was his ambition to own good horses, and though he was not one of the Turf magnates who eschew the attractions of the batting ring, it oonld never be said of him that he in any way ran his horses to make money. Daringthe whole time that he figured as an owner of horses, the animals running under his colours wero run openly and honestly, and it has never been recorded of him that he allowed personal monetary considerations to direct his turf policy. His horsea were run as much for the public as for himself. He liked to win, but he far preferred that his friends should profit by his success. His best horse 3 were Philomel by Philammon—Chrysalis, and Nunthorpe. The latter was a grand-looking animal by Speculum or Camballo—Matilda, bred in the North of England by Mr Lascellea. His two performances in the City and Suburban and Jubilee entitle him to a very high position on the roll of handicap horses that have done great things. Recently, Colonel North's racing luck had begun to show signs of taking an improved turn, principally, no doubt, owing to the fact that he had entrusted the management of his horses to Mr Robert Peok, than whom no one knows better how to estimate the capabilities of racing stock. Simoniau was a horse of some promise, but after winning the Brosklesby he did not do much, though he succeeded in winning the Liverpool Summer and Brighton Cups. Colorado, Lady Hermit, the nnlucky El Diablo, and Glwyd, are namo3 of horses owned at one time or another by Colonel Novth, that were more or less successful; but as mentioned before, his be3t two horsee were two o* his earliest purchases, the Irish-bred Thilomel and Nnnthorpe. Colonel North's horses wero originally trained by Bobert Sherwood at Newmarket. After Sherwood's death they were sent to C. Peok at Bussley, but latterly, that is, since the early part of the year, they have been under t the charge of W. Platt. ■ '

Coming so soon after the death of Baron Hirsch, Colonel North's loss to the Turf will be greatly felt. He wa3 a lavish supporter of the Turf; and though his association with the sport was a brief one, he has left behind him the recollection of a kind, honest, rugged, good nature, which will live long in the memories of racing men. It can safely be said of John North that he had no enemies and many friends. — Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News.