"OLD PAM," alias "THE DOWNING. STREET PET," (THE WELL-KNOWN JUDICIOUS BOTTLE HOLDER.) [From Punch.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, 12 May 1852, Page 4

"OLD PAM," alias "THE DOWNING. STREET PET," ( THE WELL-KNOWN JUDICIOUS BOTTLE HOLDER.) [From Punch.]

• jiln •Jreseriting'our- readers with a* portrait of this celebrated, sporting character, we have no intention of going into a detailed account of his' performances in the diplomatic ring. He may be strictly called " a veteran ;" tout he has been such a remarkable steady man, arid, thanks to this, is (Still so fresh, and in such good preservation, that no one would think of clapping on his head more than two-thirds of the sixty-seven years he -carries with so much pluck and liveliness. " Old Pam," as he is affectionately called by' the nobs of the fancy, with whom he is deser* vedly a great favourite, entered the ring in the good old milling times, when a fight was a fight, and no mistake. Boney, the bruiser, was still open to fight all the world, any weight* size, or odds, and Pam made his bow in St: Stephen's, the Tennis Court of those days, just after Boney 's great mill with "the Prussian," which came off in Austerlitz Fields, and on the event of which so much changed hands. Pam was trained in the sharp fast- hitting school of poor George Canning — that brilliant favourite of the Fancy. The .style of this school, though very showy, was rather deficient in " slogging " and punishing qualities, and Pam early showed considerable judgment in com> bining with -the .neat sharp countering of the Canning school, a good deal of the straightforward go-Sn and- win-style, wliich never fails to insure a man backers in England. It is not, however, as a fighting man; but as a second, ; and st'll more as a bottle holder, that Pam Is distinguished. He is great in arranging the preliminaries of a mill, though some have complained that there is a good deal of bounce about him, and that as a backer he is not to be trusted, being apt to desert his own man at the last moment, and hedge. It was no doubt a good deal owing to Pam's that the " Constantinople Slasher ",( whom Panvboth backed and acted bottle-holder to) gained his victory over "Old Egypt" in 1840; when " Little Thiers," who did the needful in the* same way for " Old Egypt," was such a loser, that he quite lost his temper in the field, and wanted to make >a match to fight Pam in the same ring. However, Pam never lost' his good humour with the little fellow, whose tendency to chaff was well known ; and nothing serious ever came of it. Pam was very busy in 1847, arranging the preliminaries of a mill between Johnny Bull and the late Lewis Phillips, on the occasion of the latter entering into a match with the " The Don," contrary to his engagement with Johnny. Many, however, thought that neither be nor Guizot, who acted as Phillips's " friend " on the occasion, ever 'meant fighting, and that neither one nor the other could Have made the necessary deposits, though they both talked big. Pam is always to be found in his own wellknown sporting crib in Downing- street, where most of the matches and fights to come, are negotiated. Recently there has been a good deal cf talk about an affair of unparalleled interest, to come off between two well-known heavy-weights, " Nick the Bear " and " Young Europe," in which both sides applied to Pam ; who has always hitherto been looked upon as a backer of the latter, and who, if he has any regard for his own character and that of his establishment, will certainly have nothing to say to Nick's backers who have always patronised ■a rivalliouse. We trust that whenever Pam appears as bottle holder, it will be on the right 'side, assured as we are, that this is the only way in which he can continue to merit the .support of his friends and the public. ' ' > We have nothing to say against him, unless lit be that he certainly is open to the charge trf occasionally 'bullying -men- -that* he" knows- can't stand up to 4 him, an&that when he wants to get 'up a mill, he is not always careful enough 'about the character of the man he backs. Thus, in, "Pacifico's" .fight with the '"'Greek," when 'Pam backed the Jew, 'it was jfelt by many that Pam did not deal quite 'fairly;land that though the battle money was paid .over to the Jew, the " Greek " would 'certainty ihave won, had Pam x gone quite upon "the isquare." , As a companion, Pam' is a great favourite — |great at chaff/ sings a good song, and is seen Ito great advantage at the harmonic ordinary iin St. Stephen's, Westminster, where 'he is the Ilife and soul of the table, and where in the isparring soirees, for which the house is so (Celebrated, "the Downing Street Pet," despite jhis seven and sixty summers,is«tillone of the quickest and neatest hands with the gloves ithat ever stepped oh a stage. His performance ion the occasion of his own 'benefit, last season, :was an example of perfect science ; his quickness in stopping 1 , his sharpness in-countering, .and,'abbve all, his style of getting away from' his man, were considered worthy of the "best days of the parliamentary ring.