The End of the "Jubilee Juggins."

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 310, 24 October 1888, Page 5

The End of the "Jubilee Juggins."

The inevitable end has come at last and the "Jubilee Juggins" been posted at Tatters all's. The ring did not give him much .quarter. Many men have passed settling day after settling day owing "thousands, and the bookies have not taken action. In Benzon's case they " gibbeted " him promptly for £1,400. This would not (it is fair to say) have been bo if the " Jubilee " himself had not been personally intensely unpopular. His loud swaggering ways, vicious gibes and unconcealed contempt for them made the ring hate him. They smile a curtly, flattered grossly, and affected to think him " a rare sharp," but all the while they were looking forward to the evil day that has now come, and promising themselves sweet revenge. Mostpeople were pretty well aware thatßenzon was ' 'stone broke" asf ar back as Sando wn. The leviathans at that meeting closed their books to him "on the nod," and he was driven to betting a few pounds "ready." At Goodwood the "Jubilee" did not put in an appearance, and after the Brighton Meeting, Mr Benzon was posted. According to all accounts, his bones have been picked perfectly clean. Rather more than two years ago he became of age and inherited £500,000, the whole of which sum has now gone. This too, though the young fool had by no means bad luck. Mr Fry declared that Benzon's turf transactions alone would not cave left him £20,000 to the bad. He made for example several big coups this spring. Minting, Ayrshire and Seabreeze between them won him close upon £50,000, and he also cleared a large sum in Paris. The last time I saw Benzon was in the gallery popularly known as the Polls' Promenade at* the Empire Theatre. He wa3 staggering about vacuously drunk, and booking childish bets with anyone who would speak to him. The man's ruling passion was a hankering for notoriety, and "it regulated all he did. Naturally the Avorst class of fasb youngsters gathered round him. Several kindly elderly men tried long ago to give him advice and put the break on a bit, but it was not the least use. He flouted rather than thanked them. Benzon'sprimeambition,curiously enough, was to be thought a "dead shai'p." He had all his Jewish ancestors' cunning without (fortunately) any of their brains, or else his passing across the turf firmament would have been lengthier and more mischievous. I regret to learn that the young Ausiralian who dropped £20,000 in bets during I the England v. Australia cricket match, has since been distinguishing himself a la Benzon at Kempton. Worse still, he is a frequent Tr isil or at Seaton's Field Club, probably the most dangerous " hell " in London. Benzon lost more money there than anywhere else. Whilst the Marquis of Queensberry has been distinguishing himself in Australia his relatives over here have not been idle. Lord James Douglas, you may remember I told you, was recently imprisoned for some time for pestering a young lady, a ward in Chancery, withunwelcomeattentions. Much sympathy was felt for Lord James owing to a general impression that the girl's relatives rather than the girl herself objected to the match. Judge then the surprise of society when it learnt the other day that the lovelorn nobleman had suddenly espoused Mrs Hennessy, a young, charming and wealthy widow, with a comfortable estate in the midlands, and all the worldly goods that an ardent sportsman could desire. Curiously enough, too, the ward in Chancery was an heiress. Meanwhile the Marquis's stalwartbrother-in-law, Sir Beaumont Dixie, has been converted to Roman Catholicism by his wife. Lady Florence Dixie turned serious boon after that remarkabloadventure of hers with dynamiters. Society, somewhat sceptical perhaps, gave her the cold shoulder then for a time, and her ladyship resented it. She talked much of the hollowness and frivolity of the world, and eventually Bought priestly counrfel. To people who kneAV " Dandy Beau" and "Frisky Flo" in their salad days there is something irresistibly comical in the notionof their turning serious. One thing is certain, they will both do it thoroughly. Sir Beaumont Dixie was at one time the Prince of Plungers. A society paper resuscitates the story of his betting Steel £500 he lit his cigar with a wax match one windy, rainy afternoon on Newmarket Heath when there was no shelter available. " Got a match ?" quoth the baronet, with a big cigar in his mouth. "Only this one," responded Steel, extracting a limp wax vesta from the recesses of a damp waistcoat pocket. "I'm afraid it ain't much good." "Bet you a monkey I light my cigar with it," said Sir s ' Beau " lightly. "Done," replied Sti el quickly, thinking he'd gob a soft " thing " on. But he hadn't. Without the faintest apparent care the baronet struck the match and successfully lit the cigax\ Since then Steel has always carried fusees. The modern plunger does not seem to have either the dash or gentlemanly feeling of the lights of other days. To compare a gassy windbag like Benzon or a snob like Lord John Kennedy (who knocked a man down the other day for addressing him as " Mister ") with such gallant boys as the last Marquis of Hastings or '• Beau " Dixie in his prime, would be bacrilege. They belong to different orders.