THE LATE NAT GOULD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17712, 25 August 1919, Page 8

THE LATE NAT GOULD

Born in Manchester in 1857, tho late ' Nat Gould was for a quarter of a century a journalist in Australia and Kngland. Ho was a great traveller while in this country (fays tho Sydney Daily Telegraph), and at vaiioim times was in this otaco, and in Queensland, Victoria, and Tasmania, A proliiic novelist, he produced 130 works, all enjoying a large measure of popularity amoivges thoeo interested in the wiles of tho 'lurf. And in Australia thafc designation includes a big proportion of tho com-, munity. In addition he produced aooree of short stories published in various journals and periodicals. Apart from the fact that he was great among Turf writers, the lato novelist was en exceedingly popular figure in the Turf world. Ono wlio was associated with him while on tho Brisbane Telegraph, where he wrote under the nom dc plnmo of "Vorax," tells of how on race days ho would come I to the office in tall hat and irook coat, immaculately groomed, and how tho crowd of Turf iollowers would crowd around him as on a large blackboard outsido the building ho wrote his tips for tho day. Amongst the newspaper men of the north, as elsewhere, he wae exceedingly popular. It is notable, too, that this retailer of the humorous and shady side of the Turf, as well as tho good, should have been the author of many charming Christmas stories, several of these were contributed to the Week, a venture run by the Brisbane Telegraph. Tho gentleman who re-calla tho picture of JN at Gould in Brisbane also tells of his wit. Uould, it may be remarked, was by way of being a. humorous moralist The man of to-day, then an office boy, collided with Nat when'passing from one room to another. Placing ii hand on the youngster's shoulder, Gould said. "Always keep to the right, my boy, and you'll never go wrong " Many sm>h stories could be told of him. Ihose with earlier recollections of Nat Gould will remember him when on tho start of tho Bathurst Times in the palmy days of racing in the West. Giants of tho .lurf raced here in his day; horses that are still remembered and spoken of with detriment to fome later-day stock. Gould, by tho way, was, apart from a Turf writer, a keen student of blood stock, and something of an authority in that regard. ' The late Mr Gould was in Australia from 1884 to 1895. In August of 1918 one son, Captain Gould, an officer of the K.F.C, was killed in action. He leaves two other' sons, and two daughters, in addition to his widow, formerly Miss Eazabcth. Medelino Ruska, an Australian. Latterly he had resided at Bedfont, Middlesex, and from latest accounts must have been engaged in literary work right up to near the end.