The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-11 00:00:00

THE SOILED DOVE CONTROVERSY.

The following correspondence has taken place between
the members of the Victoria Club and Admiral Rous
apropos of this cause cilebre

To THE HON. ADMIRAL Rots.

Sir,—On behalf of members of the Victoria Club who
are also members of Tattersall's, and who feel aggrieved at
the recent decision of Tattersall's committee on the Soiled
Dove case, we beg respectfully to address you on the sub-
ject. Knowing that you have had long experience, and
that you have ever shown an earnest desire to settle such
matters equitably, we should feel obliged by your giving
us your advice as to the best means to be adopted for
bringing the case before a higher tribunal.
(Signed) WILLIAM III:LTON.
JOHN STEPHENSON.

13, Berkeley-square, May 9.

Gentlemen,—ln acknowledging your letter of the Bth, I
tnu..t observe that during the 46 years I have been a mem-
ber of the Jockey Club, I know of no incident so fatal to
the interests of the turf as the recent decision of three
members of Tattersall's Committee. I need not say that.
06 17th Rule of Racing and 2d Rule of the Betting Code
aro strictly applicable to the Soiled Dave case ; it puts
her in a vice, and no legal ingenuity can- extricate her.
The gentlemen who decided against the bets being paid
misunderstood the first rule, which is solely applicable
to h rses dead in law, or to the Eliner case, where the
bets were declared off, because the Jockey Club decided
that, as she was improperly named, she could not start;
but if she had started the bets must have been paid.

To apply the operation of the lit Rule to Soiled Dove
was out of the question. She won four races. If, after
her third victory, she had met with an accident and been
destroyed, or if she had been sent to a colony, the three
established facts could not have been disputed. instead of
no possibility to win, there would have been no possibility
to lose.

From the time the Jockey Club was established the
chief object of its legislation was to discourage fraud. I
grieve to say that the decision of these three gentlemen
will give every impetus to it. They have determined that
the backers of Soiled Dove are not to pay their debts, but
the second horses, now registered as winners, will, of
course, receive their bets in full. Thus, a fieldsman who
stands £2,000 against Soiled Dove, and £2,000 against
Reigning Beauty in the Match, will eventually pay £2,000
to the latter party, and receive nothing from the other
side. lie suffers equally in all the sweepstakes which
Soiled Dove has won. This is a curious travesty of the
first rule in favour of fraud. The backer of a fraudulent
horse may win to any amount, and tho committee throw
their shield over him, and will notallow him to lose. The
fieldsman must lose ; he can by no possibility win. By this
theory a man may back a four year old for the Derby to
win £200,000 ; if he is detected he is to pay nothing. We
may thus look forward to a great increase of Bloodstones,
Leanders, and Running Reins.
To return to the subject of your letter. As the de-
cision of the committee is so palpably unjust and illegal, I
should advise the Victoria Club to propose to the members
of Tattersall's committee to submit the case to the old
members of the Jockey Club, and to pledge themselves to
abide by their verdict.—l atn, gentlemen, very truly
11. I. Rous.

yours,
John Stephenson, Esq,
William Hulton, Esq.

THE FENIANPRISONERS.—We understand that
Mr. Knox, the well-known metroleditan magistrate, and
Mr. George Pollock, of St. George's Hospital, have been
intrusted by the Home Secretary with a special commis-
sion to examine into the condition of the Fenian pri-
soners at Woking, Pontouville, Portland, Ste., with the
view to determine and report to the authorities whether
the treatment of the prisoners has been unduly harsh,
whether their health has suffered or is likely to suffer,
and whether any change or relaxation of the discipline is
necessary.— British Medical Journal.
PRESENTATION TO A SHIP'S CAPTAIN.—On Thurs-
day, at LiVerpeol, Uapt. tearpenter, of the ship James Hull,
was presented with a silver medal and a diploma from the
King of Holland, and also with the Royal Society's medal
and diploma, for gallant services rendered to the Dutch
ship Afina in the North Sea last yeark
'TIE " STAR" NEWSPAPER.—RaIf the interest in
the Star newspaper is vested in " the National Newspaper
League ;" which body laid out some few years since
£17,000 in its purchase. At the general meeting on
Wednesday, at ltadley's Hotel, it was announced to some
30 representatives of ab3ut6,ooo shareholders that no divi-
dend would be forthcoming this year. The R3V. J. Burns
declared it would be the greatesi, joy of his life if the Star
had a circulation equal to that of the Standard. Various
Dissenting ministers criticized the turf news and general
conduct of the paper, to which Mr. Dymond replied ; and,
it having been agreed not to issue a report, the meeting
closed with a vote of thanks to Mr. Edmond Beaks (who
was present), for his tiothuchiug advocacy of the rights of
the people. —South London Press.
INDIAN AFFAIRS. —The Cmninissioner of Indian
Affairs has received a telegram from Blevet Brigadier-
General Alfred Sully, President of the C.lmmission ap-
pointed to investigate the late massacre at Fort Phil Kear-
ney, dated C.iiiforuia Crossing, 25 miles east of Fort
Sedgwick, April 20th, in which it is stated that after great
difficulty they ha I succeeded in getting the Ogadala and
Brute bands of Sioux in fur a talk, representing 330 lodges,
and had hid a satisfactory arraugement with them, and
General Sully thinks it can safely 'be said they have pre-
vented over 700 warriors from joining the war party. The
Commission would leave Fort Sedgwick for Fort Laramie
in three or four days, and hope to 1)3 successful in prevent-
ing many more Sioux from joining the hostile
from
hThereostile hass io buexe,uniu whichch
ltrouble
ei the,u road toitacruaittni tee: and
expenses of the Commission.
g
eaa hair fs
toana
rtkie of high
INTERESTING Fact.—the following- sin
tie case of restoration of the hu worthyular-a:ld
oafuotbhseenr--
obser-
vation, more particularl; as it relates
y. Mr. A.
and universal repute during the last
half cent
qlf centur
uite bald for
Hermann, of Queen-,treat. Sabo, ha-
sroemweveirlaty
buthad
wtriitebdo
ay: rainOyll
enetip tetVrocnesu
lt. for theHe
was then induced to try the effect of "nowt Tads' lifacdssar
applying it for about LOtlnsvOonathkas
the.oa
Oil," and after daily
much to his gratification, bad his hair quite restored, and
now possesses a beautiful head of
nreugilY for itself to re oire comment.