Our Contributors.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 453, 23 November 1880, Page 2

Our Contributors.

THE CHRISTCHURCH CARNIVAL.

By Our Vagabond RKroirrKii.—Continued.

Inside the saddling paddock and the enclosure in front of the grand stand— the " lawn" is, I believe, the correct term for it—tho scene was of course much more decorous and correct, not to say slower, than among the ignobile vulgus without. Here were to be found those magnates, the metallicians, who collectively form the ring, and who are endowed by the outsiders witli almost miraculous powers in the way of " getting at " horses and jockeys whose victories might prove in■oivenient to tho aforesaid corporation. Well, here they were, bawling themselves hoarse, and apparently finding very few to do business with, while their impassive rival, the totalisator, was quietly absorbing a good share of loose coin, and acknowledging the receipt of the same by a modest ting-ting of the bell, and click-click of some concealed springs and wheels. In the still more sacred precincts of the lawn was stationed the Eailway Band, which discoursed sweet strains at intervals. Here was to be found the very cream of the sporting world, including the wives, daughter**, and female friends of the said sporting world ; and these latter— well, if they were not resplendent, it's a pity ! Talk about Solomon in his glory, why, he couldn't have held ix candle to some of these charmers in the matter of gorgeous array. For the first time in my experience I fully recognised tho appropriateness of the term " loud " as •

applied to costume. Why, these ladies positively exhibited such pronounced tones and combinations in color, such contrasts, such bewildering kaleidiscopic effects, that in their presence ii was next door to impossible to hear the band play. through the crowd which pervaded the saddling paddock there were being led about in various costumes, and absence of costumes, the four-footed heroes of the turf. Their conductors were generally little, pinched-up specimens of humanity, enveloped for the most part in monkey-jackets, which reached to their heels. By dint of that patient observation and enquiry which is now a second nature in me, I. elicited the fact that these ancient and somewhat seedy individuals were nevertheless the same who, on the ringing of a certain bell, bloomed forth in all the colors of the rainbow, wearing the daintiest of silk jackets, and the nattiest of top-boots. Another illusion of my youth gone for ever. I always thought that a jockey was—and remained always—a boy. lie appeared periodically in dazzling raiment, and devoted his leisure hours to improving bis mind and following such practices as would counteract any tendency to obesity and thus enable him to ride in the next handicap at seven stone nothing.

Way there, way there ; here comes a triumphant procession. A race lias been run, and the placed horses are returning to proper quarters that their jockeys may weigh in. The whole is under the guardianship of an exalted official styled the " Cleik of the Course." This functionary is attired rcsplcndcntly in the pinkest of pink frock coats, and the whitest of buckskins and tops. In his right hand he bears a sceptre of authority in the shape of a hunting crop with a formidable lash, which renders him a terror to evil-doers (vagrant dogs especially). The glance of this potentate and the least possible motion of his (mblem of authority speedily clears a lane through the. excited throng, and the winner is majestically convoyed to the scales. I don't think it is written in tho lawbooks, but there is no doubt about the fact of a to: rifle punishment hanging over the bead of the impious wretch who should dare to lay so much as a little finger on the winning horse or jockey till this ceremony had been duly performed. I imagine penal servitude would be nothing to it. Tbe idea appears-to bo that something fsny a penny) might be fraudulently inserted on or about the person of the jockey, thus causing him to " weigh in" a pennyweight heavier than would otherwise be possible. 'N.B.—The observant reader will perceive a joke somewhere in the foregoing sentence.) How familiarity breeds—no, not contempt — but tends to lessen reverence. I positively heard the majestic individual in pink, armed as he was with such fearful authority, spoken of irreverently as '•Tom"Millet.

While loafing about the enclosure a familiar voice fell upon mine ear. It struck me that I had heard both the voice and the words before. '-I shall lay you a sovereign" exclaimed the voice,and turning to the spot whence the sound proceeded, I beheld Jack Bay tree. Like his prototype, he appeared flourishing, and like himself he displayed an imposing surface of white shirt front and buff waistcoat. After the usual greetings, and the equally usual commemoration of such a meeting, Jack confided to me the fact that he had " made a book," at the same time producing a portentous metallic memorandum book. As I never suspected my friend of being addicted to literary pursuits, I was somewhat surprised at this confession, until I learned that this effort of genius was a rei ord of sundry wagers, in short was a kind of betting ledger. Jack was eloquent as to the skill with which those delicate transactions had been conducted and endeavored to explain to me how much he " stcod to win." I am awfully dull at figures (used to play truant instead of sticking to the rule of three at school) and really could not make head or tail of Jack's intricate calculations. However, I could not help being infected by his exuberant spirits and when he informed me that if he had only seen me sooner ho could have " laid me on " to a good thing, in fact that I could " have landed a moral," I inwardly cursed mj evil genius that had delayed our meeting, not that I have the slightest idea of what a " moral" is ; I am afraid it is something out of my line, and Jack's too for that matter.

.But I was destined to hear something before the meeting was over that very materially mitigated my regret. _It appeared that Jack had shown his book to an expert in such matters, and that worthy educed from its pages the startling fact that instead •of " standing to win," he had placed himself in such a position that his losses could not be less than £20, and might reach £100. Memo. —Be cautious of " standing in in a good thing," and especially beware of '• morals."

And now I must draw these disjointed memoranda to a close. As to how Lure lured his friends into trouble, how the filly made a grand effort but could not wrest first honors from the big chestnut, how Stick-in-the-mud was out-paced from tho first, and Mr Ready's colors came to the front, are not all these things written in the special chronicles of such events ? Your readers must not expect accurate detail from a vagabond—that is, one who wanders about aimlessly. My object will have been attained if I have conveyed a few of the impressions produced on a rank outsider by the Great Cjiristcjiurch Carnival.