FAMOUS WATERLOO CUP WINNERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2250, 15 April 1897, Page 34

FAMOUS WATERLOO CUP WIN NERS.

To become Prime Minister is an excellent distinction in its way ; but 'f ycu ask a Northerner h's cb.»*?-and crowning ambition ho will tell you it is to win the Waterloo Cup. One of* the queerest thing* that ever happened in connection with the Cup was the victory of Brigadier several years ago. - The owner, Mr Foulkes, had given 25-t for a very scraggy and unpromising <-og, which made a ; wretched performance in all its trials. Brigadier's owner had nominated another dog to I represent him in the great course ; bat this 'one failed him. The picked dog met with an accident, and, to the huge amusement of the coursing world, Mr Foulkes entered his 25shilling failure in the place of the first. There was a rumour that tho accident to the picked dog had nfftctfd his brain. He had backed his choice to win £19 000. The day came, and the despised Brigad'er cut out all his rivals in c-Wn and well-run ciuraes, and won nearly £20.000 for his owner — a very fair return for , the original 255. There is a prevalent idea that the most famous greyhouud wan Fullerton. Bub the mighty Master M Grath puts even Fullerton in the chads. He won the Cup three times — once i less than Colonel North's dog ; but out of the ' 37 various courses that he took part in he only I kst one, winning prizes to the value of £1750 j tor his master. I Master M 'Grath onc9 came in for a bad accij dent in a Waterloo Cup course. While running ' against Lady Lyons the hare led the dogs across the River Alt, which was topped with rotten J ice. in a rotate of half-thaw. Tfce invincible , M'Gratb, b°ing a heavy dog, broke throu^n, ! and was barely rescued before his strength gave out. The cold shock, following on his strain- ' ing run, played terrible havoc with him, and ifc ■ w»s mouths before he was fit) to ppt »bnn> again. The smallest greyhound that ever won ths Waterloo Cup was Ouomassie. This little dog hailed from Yarmouth, and was to be Had for 53 if anybody cared to buy her. But no one came forward. Shortly afterwards her ownsr entered her for some important trial stakes, and the showed .su"h wonderful ability that sha was entered for th'j great Cup, and carried all before her. Great things were expected of the ! little dog after this, and the would probably hay« rivalled Master M 'Grath ; but she broke a small leg bone in training, aud never ran again. A very small mishap will ruin the finest greyhound in .the world. There is a strong element of luck in a course, for the hare may run in such a fashion as to favour one dog unduly. This is allowed for to some extent, but cannot be helped entirely. 1 Wild Mint, the worst dog that ever won the j Waterloo Cup, scored a lucky victory over a ! much better dog in this way. It sometimes happens, when two powerful and evenly-matched dogs are run against each other, that one will run himself to death. For j instance, the two famous hounds Greentick and | Nol»u in a Cup course once ran tie ck and neck for over 300vd8, when Greentick just shot aheid I and made the " turn " Nolan died shortly afterwards from the effects of the long strain. I Again, everybody has heard of Princess Digmar,' whose hare dropped dead after a long i course, and whose opponent also dropped dead i within a few yards of the hare. The famous ' Prkcefs alto lay down, and nearly gave up the { ghost, but recovered, and won two more courses, i winning the next Waterloo Cup. Although coursing ii generally a pastime ta test the pockets of the man of money, a very | queer incident happened to the contrary effect ] a few years ago. A pedigree greyhound wai given away as U3eless to a poor labourer of Southminster, a noted cour-ing centre. This dog was never trained in the orthodox manner, but, merely , ran about the streets like any mongrel cur, aud lived on what it could get. Its name was on bhe " book," however, and one ' day the labourer announced his intention oE i entering it for the Cowley Cup, one of the most important events in the county. Everybody j voted him insane. He was firm, however, and ' he scraped together the entrance fee with a good 1 deal of effort, and entered the dog. When the day arrived he turned up at the meeting, and , was pityingly derided on all sides. A booki maker contemptuously offered him 100 to 1 ' against his dog, and the labourer staked his last sovereign at those odds. The contest began — and the labourer's dog ~ran straight through the whole event and won the Cowley Cup, £50 in cash, and the £100 of his bet. He left the ground the richer by £150 and the most coveted cup in the South of England, be6ide3 refusing an offer of £100 dqwn for his dog. He then proceeded to win all the open stakes in the county with his trusty hound, which was eventually run over by a cart at Rochford. The , owner is now a fairly well-to-do landowner at Southminater.

The co3fc of labour for working the Union j Company's boats at the port of Napier is about £1200 per annum. John Fitzgerald and W. Wilson, who stand committed at Napier on a charge of murdering James M'lntosh, were on Monday arraigned on a charge of robbery with violence. As the evidence is exacUy similar to that in tho murder case the charge was temporarily withdrawn, the Crown prosecutor intimating that he would prefer an indictment against the accused in the Supreme Cjurt for robbery with violence in addition to thai of murdeSs