LONDON GOSSIP.

Evening Star, Issue 10369, 17 July 1897, Page 1

LONDON GOSSIP.

[Kuoji Our Special Correspondent.J London, May 21. SfOP.TING NOTES. Though it was only instituted in 1887,1 question whether to-day the calendar contains a handicap race which more keenly interests the metropolitan sportsmen than the “.Jubilee ’’ Stakes, run for over a mile course at the Kempton Park spring meeting. race was decided for the eleventh time on Saturday last before a record crowd, and happily under favorable atmospheric conditions., It was won by the first favorite, but for probably the first time on record the victory of the favorite was icceived with gcooop, cat • .■alls, and other manifestations of disapproval Though the entry for the entry for the Jubilee was a very big one the field on the fateful day mustered only fourteen strong. But what was lacking in quantity was atoned for in quality, for amongst the starters were half a dozen of tbs best handicap horses in training. First and foremost was the dual Jubilee winner, Mr Worton’s grand old chestnut Victor Wild. To this equine god of the multitude the handicapper allotted 9.9, a couple of pounds more than he carried to victory last year, and 191b in excess of the burden which Victor carried first past the post in 1895. Next in the list of weights was Kilcock, upon whose five-year-old back 9.0 was placed as against the feather of G. 12 which he carded into second place last year. Upon the 8 7 mark were Dinna Forget (5 yrs) and Balsarao (4 yrs) and to Labrador (4yrs) the weight given was 86. The weights apportion to the remainder were as follow : Red Heart (5 yrs) 8.1, Melange (4 yrs) 8.0, La Sagesse {5 yrs) 7 9, Mack Briggs 7 8, The Combard (5 yrs) 7.6, Clwyd (0 yrs) 75, Hebrou (6 yrs) 7 3. Rampion {4 yrs) 6.10, and Ardvourlie 6.2. The betting at the* start was 3 to 1 Clwyd, 4 to 1 Kilcock, 6 to 1 Melange, 8 to 1 Labrador, 100 to 8 The Lombard, 100 to 7 Rampion, and 100 to 6 Red Heart, these being all heavily supported. Against Balsarao and La bagesse the bool i s gave twenties freely, and Victor Wild had plenty of friends at five points longer odds. Ardvourlie and Hebron were oat at 33 to 1, and against Mack Briggs odds of 50 to 1 were shouted in vain. The start was delayed a little by The Lombard overpowering his jockey and tumbling over the rails. Apparently this little escapade injured neither horse nor man. The field got oft at the first attempt, Hebron and Clwyd getting slightly the best of .the start. The pace was warm from the outset, Hebron being forced along as fast as he could put feet to ground. The favorite kept well at his heels, and when fairly round the bend for home closed with the leader, Kilcock at the same time drawing up into third place, closely attended by Victor Wild. A quarter of a mile from home Clwyd headed Hebron, and as the latter fell away Kilcock and Victor Wild challenged the leader, and a desperate race home between the trio ensued. For a few strides it seemed that Victor Wild would pull oft the race for the third time, but the weight told, and the issue was then confined to Clwyd and Kilcook. Go the latter Watts made a final effort, but little Nat Robinson was equal to the occasion and so was Clwyd, aud the judge’s verdict was a neck in favor of Mr Calvert’s horse, Victor Wild being beaten a bare length by the winner. The time of the race was luiin 40sec, the fastest ever done in the Jubilee, the previous record being held by Orvieto, which won in 1893 in Imin 40 3-u3ec. The hoisting of Clwyd’s number was the signal for a cheer by' his backers, but their triumphant notes were quickly drowned by less pleasant sounds, and it is evident that the great body of sportsmen will not soon forgive Mr Calvert for scratching the Queen’s Prize winner (Bridegroom).

The unsavory scandal in connection with Mr Albert Calvert’s horses for the Jubilee Stakes culminated on Saturday, when, after Chvycl’s gallant victory, the Westralian Midas was greeted with-prolonged hoots and groans by the huge crowd at Kempton. Mr Calvert loudly declares he is being grossly misused and misunderstood. Perhaps so, but appearances are against him. His horse Bridegroom, as everyone knows, won the Queen’s Prize at Kempton in a trot, and in consequence became a tremendous favorite for the Jubilee Stakes. A large number of double-event bets are booked on the City and Suburban and Jubilee Stakes, and this year the popular selection was Balsamo and Bridegroom. Balsoma won the City which left the Ring upwards of £25,000 to the bad should Bridegroom secure the Jubilee, With this amount of money to cover, Mr Calvert’s horse ought, of course, to have become an even money chance. But instead he went as badly as possible in the market, the stable apparently declaring for the second string Clwyd. I will now let the ‘ Sporting Times ’ continue the story. Mr Corlett says Mr Calvert, in a letter to the ‘.Sportsman’ denying that he has laid any money against Bridegroom, whom, indeed, ho says he backed at the very astonishing odds of 25 to 1, adds that he had no hot about Clwyd until May 3. He does not, however, say what the hot was. We will, therefore, give him a chance of repairing this omission by asking him whether the bet in question was not the very extraordinary one of 100,000 to SCO. The date, it will be observed, was May 3, which was soon after the settling day for tl e City and Suburban. We understand that the number of double-event bets on Balsamo for the City and Suburban and Bridegroom for the Jubilee taken by the public was extraordinary, and even at the odds quoted it would have cost the bookmakers £15,000 at the very least to hedge. What would be the price of Bridegroom if all were aboveboard and there was £15,000 to go on him. It would bring him to even money, or odds on, and thus the leasts of bookmakers would he enormous. It was in this dilemma that they clubbed up a let of twenty monkeys, and it may be more, to induce Mi Calvert to run Clwyd, but what the conditions with regard to Bridegroom were we will leave our readers to conjecture. With regard to last Sunday's “trial,” one behind the scenes tells us that he was offered 100 to 1 against Bridegroom before the trial took place, the layer saying that he might have the bet no matter what the result of the trial was. Verb, .sap., especially as Allen rode Bridegroom. Bridegroom has been scratched, and his owner has prostituted sport to betting considerations. Mr Calvert says that he never laid a shilling against Bridegroom. There are other ways of killing a dog than by choking him with butter I CYCLIN'* J. Robert Hutchinson English, to whom belonged some little time back the proud title of champion cyclist of the world, died at North Shields the other day at the early age of thirty-four. It was nearly twenty years ago that deceased commenced his cycling career, and he was one of those who are successful from the start. Six years later he joined the professional ranks, and carried off championships in Wolverhampton, North Shields, and the United States. ' Colonials will remember the account of that horrible six days’ race which took place towards the close of last year in the United States, and as the result of which most of the riders went temporarily insane. It is pleasant reading in this connection to see that a Bill has been introduced into the Illinois Legislature which prohibits anyone engaging in a continuous six days’ bicycle race without resting six hours after every twelve hours’ consecutive riding, and makes it a misdemeanor for any individual or association of persons, either public or private, to run any building, track, or park for the purpose of conducting a continuous six days’ race.

Twenty-two cycle companies were floated in England in March, offering to the public

some £2,680,000 in shares. Tina is a very large sum, and it is hard to understand, as it is well known that, although the best* known makers can sell their machines i s fast as they can turn them out, most-of the new companies have got immense stocks, and are putting machines into the marktt at a price which is gradually and continuously falling. Of course the cycle shaio market is one of the great features of the Exchange now, and lately it has been in a condition which it were perhaps better to style as rather dull than call it a “slump.” Amongst the newest inventions in the cycle business are a new adjustable chain, into which links can be inserted without tools and without delay, and a brake, to which is attached on one side a small brush, so that when the brake is applied the brash comes in contact with the tyre and cleans it of dirt, thus preventing unnecessary damag*v An eminent physician, who wrote and talked much in favor of the bicycle for women when the exercise first became popular, says that now, after five years’furthe r study and observation on this subject, his opinion is unchanged.- He claims, however, the necessity for moderation is greater now than in the days of heavier wheels, because over-exertion on the featherweight models of to-day is so easy that many enthusiastic lady riders overdo it unknowingly. The decision has at last been given, after protracted litigation, by the- French Courts in the matter of the Welch-Dunlop patents in that country. On all points the decision* was against the Dunlop Company, and among other things it is probable that the capital subscribed by shareholders in tie French Dunlop Company will have to be returned.

Ever up to dale! A cycling corps has been formed in connection with the Salvation Army in the United States, and their banner mottoes are, as u-ual, appropriate. Amongst the most striking are the following : —“ Come to us all ye who have sideslipped ! Wc are scorching on to glory. ’* “We will puncture the Devil’s tyre.” Amateurs in France are waking up, os was proved last week, when several went for records, Ponscarme did the unpaced flying mile in 2min 13 3-oaec, as against 2min ISsec. He also did the kilometre (1,094 yards) in Imin 20 2-ssec, as against Imin 21 2 ssec.

At Berlin, in August next, a monster cycling tournament is being arranged. The main event is the Grand Prize of Berlin, a 2,000 metres scratch race, the winner of which will net the handsome sura of £4OO sterling, which is, I believe, the record prize for a cycling contest. The rest of the purses for the other events during the tournament, which is to last three days, is being collected by public subscriptions. No doubt the big event will draw the talent of the world in the racing line. Students of cycling form—and the craze has developed students of this description, just as we have students in horse racing find the “in-and-out” winning of the Italian cracks a little puzzling. It makes it absolutely impossible to say which, out of Eros, Pontecchi, Tomaseli, Singrossi, and Bixio (the great cracks) is the beat man. At one meeting Eros appears invincible, at another Pontecchi. A little later both these doughty champions are beaten with consummate ease by Bixio, who in turn falls an easy prey so Tomaseli. Then a sixth appears on the scene—none other than the redoubtable Lanfranchi, who promptly routs the lot. And so it goes on, and yet, when opposed to Continental riders of the calibre of Jaap Eden, Parlby, and Shaller, any one of the Italian cracks seems able to win. One does not wish to attribute any but the best motives, but still there results are curious.

It ia said that A. A. Zimmerman will race in Paris this year. He retired some years ago when at the height of his fame, and it seems a pity that he should contest with the champions of to-day, as his Australian tour of last year showed that he can hardly be considered the Zimmerman of old. He had done sufficient up to his retirement some years ago for his name to be carried down as one of the greatest, if not the very greatest, rider of the nineteenth century. J. Platt-Betts lowered his mile record at the professional meeting at the Crystal Palace on Saturday, May 15. With a flying start and good pacing he cut out the mile in lOOsec. The great performance of the afternoon was this rider’s five-mile “ go” with the intentions of lowering the three, four, and five-mile championships held by Linton. Belt? went “great guns” right from the start, and, being well attended by the Dunlop pacers, at two miles was Csec inside Chase’s previous best. From this distance he improved steadily, and at the finish eclipsed all previous performances by 11 l-ssec. His lime for the first and last mile was identical. Betts’s times were : One mile, Imin 49 4o3ec ; two miles, 3aiin 36 4-;j3ec; four miles, 7min ISsec; and five miles, 9min 4 4-ssec. He now holds ihe one to five-mile records (inclusive). The Paris-Bordeaux race—one of the big French cycling features of. the year—was won by Rivieire, who lowered last year’s record time by 40min, completing the 597 kilometres in 20h Somin 4Gsec. Cordang, the Dutch rider, was leading up to about 500 kilometres. The Wood-green track has been the first to establish a Brassard in England, this prize carrying an income of 10s a day*to tho fortunate holder. The first race will be run ofl at the professional meeting of the 29th of May. The competitors will be A. A. Chase and Baugh, the latter being tho French champion of last season, London, May 28. “ STONEHENI.E, LIMITED.” The company-promoting mania is really getting beyond a joke. A week or so ago we learned, with more or less dismay, that the famous Giant’s Causeway was to be turned into a limited liability affair, and now—shades of tho ancient Druids ! we hear that Stonehenge is to undergo a similar desecration. A syndicate has been formed to acquire this historic site, a light railway is to be run from Salisbury to Stonehenge, and Stonehenge is to be run as an antiquarian show on a commercial basis. Of course, the acquisition of this relic of the dim past by a company will not mean its injury in any way, but somehow a “ Stonehenge Syndicate ” seems out of place even in this terribly commercial age. a convict’s hid for a fortune. The arrest of the Liverpool solicitor Joseph Halles Yates, who was sentenced on Friday last to penal servitude for life for various cruel frauds, had the effect of putting an end to an ingenious if rascally scheme he had on hand to obtain from the Crown the vastly augmented fortune of Colonel Blake, an English military officer who died in 1819. Blake, whilst on duty in Ireland, eloped with and married a beautiful Irish peasant girl, and on his death left the bulk of his property to his wife, though to Mr Gladstone he bequeathed £IO,OOO. The widow died childless and intestate in 1876 in London, and as no heirs could be discovered the Crown stepped in and claimed the estates. These were at the.time worth considerably over £IOO,OOO. In 1891 a claim was made by several persona in conjunction, but they could not satisfy the courts that any of ‘them were entitled to the widow’s leavings. Yates heard of the matter, and at once set to work to get hold of the fortune. He went to Ireland, interviewed a host of people, and at last obtained an old- family Bible. On the fly leaf of this he wrote the history of the family in an ink specially prepared with a view to fading quickly. He also got hold of an old watch, on which he

ciused an inscription to be made representing that it had been presented by Mrs Blake to her nephew. Yates also had made several bogus coffin plates to further his nefarious plans. Finally, he prepared a case ami submitted it to counsel, .the opinion of the legal bigwig approached was favorable, and then Yates advertised in tie London papers for help to prosecute a Claim, and some hundreds of pounds were offered. But before the scoundrel could proceed further in the swindle some of his earlier malpractices came to light and he was arrested. He told the police of his big sjheme, and boasted that in a few months he would have had Colonel Blake’s fortune for himself. The boast, it seems, was to a certain extent justified, for the man had concocted a very fair case indeed, though it is hardly possible to believe that he could have ran the gauntlet of the courts successfully, MIXING NOTES. Though during the past week several small rifts have been visible in the black cloud of depression which has shadowed the mining market for so long, one would hardly have thought that the time had arrived for appeals to the public for subscriptions to nsw ventures. But several mining prospectuses have been issued this week, including that of the North Island (N.Z ) Prospecting Syndicate, Limited—a concern registered a month or more ago, with a capital of £50,000 in £1 shares. Of these 40,000 are now offered at par and 10,000 are appropriated to working capital, the subscription of which has been guaranteed. The primary purpose of bringing this company into being is to exploit the well-known “ Selwyn Estate” of the New /icaland lhames Valley Land Company. The promotor is Mr Howard C. Furkes, and in consideration of his having procured the contract and of the other obligations undertaken by him he is to be paid £40.000 in shares, or partly in cash and partly in shares, at the Board’s option. The directors are Messrs James J. Wallis (chairman Taitapu Estate), Edward Hart (chairman Dominion Mining and Development Agency), James Heeley, Lieutenant-colonel xL. A, Roe, and H. C. Parkes.

The Hauraki Associated Alines Company has been registered, with a capital of £IOO,OOO in 4s shares. Objects : To adopt and carry into effect an agreement expressed ta be made between the Hauraki Associated Gold Reefs and the liquidators thereof of the one part, and the present company of the other part, for the acquisition of certain mines and mining rights in New Zealand, and to develop and work the same in such manner as the company shall see fit. The number of directors is not to be more than five nor less than three. The subscribers arc to appoint the first. Qualification, £2OO. Remuneration, £l5O each per annum and £2OO for the chairman.