SPORTING.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1542, 23 May 1882, Page 4

SPORTING.

.A \l - >1 t «riV»l JITTf I .'.MI The Earl of Wilton, a very old and much esteemed patron-, of the, turf, died in March last in his 83rd -year, he having , beeu.boVu in 1799. „The depeosed , nobleman was the second son, of the; first ! Marquis of Westminster,, the .owner 'and breeder of Touchstone, Launcelot, and many other celebrities, aiid from wlipm he dptibtlesi? inherited /that 1 We'of 'horses and of 'bre'ediiig which continued- with him 'until his dying' hoiir. In early, life he was the' best 'gdntleman rider of' the day, and numberless are the victories lie achieved under the name of "Mr ' Clarke," riding his own horses or those of his friends at Heaton Park; Oroxton Park, &c, while he was for many years the amateur jockey identified with the great Whitewell stable, when the/horses belonging to the Marquis of Westminster and the Earl of Chesterfield were trained by " the Wizard " on Malton's grassy dopes. To recount all his doings iii the pigskin, or place on record the names of all the horses he bred and the race's he won by them, would fill many a page, and Tve shave here only space to mention that although year' aftev year lie ran horses tor all the " classic " races, he only succeeded iri -winning .the St. Leger with Wenlock, who it may be remembered finished fourth for the Derby for which, in 1836, his Lordship's horse Gladiator ran second to Bay Middleton. Among the many good horses bred by the deceased peer was See Saw, with whom he won the Hunt Cup at Ascot, and the Cambridgeshire Stakes at ! Newmarket. His brilliant horsemanship as a gentleman jockey was attested by the best judges in the old days of Heaton Park, at Goodwood, and at Croxton Park, when " Mr Clarke " steered the winner of the Grandly Handicap on no fewer than seven occasions. Fine hands, nerve, and judgment of pace were qualifications that caused Lord Wilton to take the highest rank amongst the amatenr race riders of | his time, and some of his best ''finishes" will linger for ever in the memory of those who saw them and understood their merit. Some high-class horses were amongst the many that carried him, chief of them being Touchstone, on whom he had the mount at Heaton Park in 1835, when the famous brown was the winner of a piece of gold plate presented by Count Matuschcvitz. This was added to a sweepstakes of 30 soys each, and rim for on a mile and a-hnlf course, the beaten horses being the famous (Jatherina, who scored 79 victories during her long and arduous career, Languish and Trim. The Household Brigade Cup, at Sandon Park, was won by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales' Fairplay. Rumor has it, says "Rapier." that the retaining fee paid by Mr J. R. Keeno to Tom Cannon for the first call on his services during the coming season is the handsome amount of £2000. The usual fees for successful and unsuccessful iace&, trials, &c, are, of course, not included. I happen to know that the famous jockey some time since declined an offer from the Duke of Westminster, who was anxious to give £1000 for the first call on Tom Cannon, and, unless I am much mistaken, Mr Keene closed at double that liberal offer. Considering the sums that are to bo won on the turf, no price can be too much for the services of a hoiseman whose ability and character are alike of the highest. Tom Cannon's assistance will be particularly valuable to Mr Keono's stable for the reason that sonic valuable two-year-olds aic expected ; for the knack of getting the most out of a two-year-old by the gentlest and tendere&t handling is this jockey's special secret. More young horses than most people suppose are spoilt by being roughly treated every week in the racing season. Maud S. appears to be not only the swiftest of trotting horses, but likewise the most amiable, and her trainer, W. \V. Blair, whose opinions of her have lately been published, speaks of her "much as he might speak of a favorite child. Her record is 2min lO^sec, but he believes she could do her mile in ssec. less, and '■ faster would not surprise me," he declared. Her stride has been measured, and is found to extend to 12Aft. Blue Gowx.

Is Florida there are 19,763 white people who cannot write their names. A sonhambumst at Denver, U.S. is locked in the city jail nightly at his own request. Tine clergymen of the Church of England in Australia and New Zealand number neaily 600. Tifkuk are now more than 700,000 niembeis of the Baptist churches in the United States who are of African descent. TiiiTtTY-three millions of new bricks are estimated to have been used in Melbourne last year in the erection of new buildings. A r.r.otiAß was recently arrested at Milan for importuning pedestrians. Two thousand pounds were found sewn up in liis coat lining. Ovjjrjoy at the return of his son from Afghanistan, after an absence of fifteen years, caused the death of an old man in London i ecently. A German shoemaker, having made a pair of boots for a gentleman of Avhose financial integrity he had considerable doubt, made the following reply to him when he called for the articles : ' Der poot isli not quite done, but der beel isli made out.' A little fellow lately asked his patents to take him to church with them. They said he must wait until he was older. ' Well,' Avas his shrewed suggestion in response, ' you'd better take me now, for when I get bigger I may not want to go.' Ix the Canadian provinces there are 01 Congregational churches, with 51 pastors and 5635 members. Their church property ia valued at £100, 000. The raw iron production of the German Empire, including Luxembourg, in November last year amounted to 262,369 tons, as agajnst 1 92, 5ii4 tons in the same month in 1880 i while from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30, 2,500,349 tons of raw iron, exclusive of one or two inferior sorts, were produced. A correspondent of the London Statist &hows that a pound of jbea, sold in China, for less than four cents, costs the consumer in London 50 cents. A paper, watch is being exhibited by a Dresden watchmaker. The parts are so made as to permit of the movement being fully seen. A French paper watch had 1 been token for a model. • The paper is prepared in such a manner as to render the watch as serviceable as those in 'general ? use-. • .:■■.. ? v The idea of a grand Slavonic confederacy, under, the .proteqtijoniof Russia, still has charms for the Russian mind. The ' Slavs number , some 00,000,000>i 65,000,000 of whom are Russian and Poles, 3^500,000 Bulgarians, antl 4j500,000 and Moravians. There • are about "to ■ h& established in,? France five technical schools for cabinetmaking, building industries, 'feciehtfic instruments, ;dotnestic economy for girls, land industrial chemistry. 1 The flatter? school is of particular importance, for hitherto the French * mWuracturers of chemical products have been obliged, to employ^foreigners'' 'to direct'the 1 'scientific! '"departments of their : eHteTnprises7 Li ' '«" ,^ '» Risvv DB'SoMEkviLiirof tfiaflg&\*/wW* 'for "several years has'cbncln'cted evangelistic ' I servibe'am ll varioua parts ''bl'AtWfyMftp intends tq visit Genn#fy"i again! <E fr^in*' ujng luslftbours at •$ rankfoat.