CHAPTER LXVII
HOW THEY GOT UP THE 'GRAND ARISTOCRATIC STEEPLE-CHASE'
There is no saying what advantages railway communication may confer upon a
country. But for the Granddiddle Junction, ----shire never would have had a
steeple-chase--an 'Aristocratic,' at least--for it is observable that the
more snobbish a thing is, the more certain they are to call it
aristocratic. When it is too bad for anything, they call it 'Grand.' Well,
as we said before, but for the Granddiddle Junction, ----shire would never
have had a 'Grand Aristocratic Steeple-Chase.' A few friends or farmers
might have got up a quiet thing among themselves, but it would never have
seen a regular trade transaction, with its swell mob, sham captains, and
all the paraphernalia of odd laying, 'secret tips,' and market rigging. Who
will deny the benefit that must accrue to any locality by the infusion of
all the loose fish of the kingdom?
Formerly the prize-fights were the perquisite of the publicans. They it was
who arranged for Shaggy Tom to pound Harry Billy's nob upon So-and-so's
land, the preference being given to the locality that subscribed the most
money to the fight.
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