Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-03-10
THE TOUT.
AnR1ice's Opinion of the Ever.
present Individual.

There is a class of gentlemen who
are ever-present oD the turf and in
resorts where turf matters are the
subject of conversation to whom the
sporting public are tribe of suckers,
the plucking of which never wearies.
| refer to that omnipresent and
cheeky individual, the racing tout.
He is generally gentleman in the
last stage Of respectable decomposi-
ton as regards his attire, with a
horsey look about his clean shaved
face, and an appearance OF having at
some time or other loitered about
stable, perhaps as groom or stable
boy, and is ever ready to impart to
an interested spectator the fact that
Stiffun is a dead sure thing for the
race about to be run. Should the
person to whom he confides this
interesting intelligence wish further
confirmation of the point, he will i'm
part to him as a great secret that the
owner, being an intimate friend of
his, had informed him that morning
that the horse could not possibly
lose, and if the strangers faith
in his tip is still weak, he
will further add that Lightweight, the
famous jockey who has the mount on
Stiffun, Is like a second brother to
himself the tout and had privately
advised him to invest his last dollar
on the horses chance. If the gentle
man into whose ear he pours this val
liable information skeptically wonders
how it is that man with such singu-
lar knowledge should find himself
broke, Mr.. Tout has always ON hand
tale to explain away this seeming
anomaly. Either he has invested his
last dollar on moral certainty in the
previous race and Mclaughlin was
caught mapping, or he tried on the
previous evening to beat four aces
with king full. Be the excuse what
it may, Mr.. Tout is all there when
he has to show down on the explana-
ton question. But supposing Mr..
Greenhorn takes his tip and invests
twenty on his advice, which happens
nine cases out Of ten. There is moth
ing in which a tout is so ready and
willing to oblige as to when it comes
to investing money for another person
on the result of a race. If, which is
generally the case, the horse MIR. Tout
predicts will win has little or no
chance, he puts the "twenty" in his
own pocket and remains a calm, but
interested spectator of the struggle
,,h; ;,l, {bo ,,oblo M; ", al ~, , I-oe Gov tLr
twelfth place in a field of sixteen.
The race over he will approach his
victim, proud of the consciousness of
having done his duty to himself and
family, and promises better luck next
time. OF course he has thousand
excuses for the ignoble display made
by the steed of his choice, but this is
only prelude to advising another in
vestment on one which is a dead
cinch, with the like results, until his
victim is tired of his incorrectness or
is sucked dry. Should Mr.. Green
horn, by an over exacting attention
to the investment of his money, make
it absolutely necessary for Mr.. Tout
to part with the coin it is long odds
that the latter gentleman will find
it impossible to obtain more
than even money against the
horse even if it stands at 10 to l in
the bookmakers' lists. In that case
MIR. Tout is quite as anxious as his
client that the horse should win, and
immense is the rejoicing between the
pair when the good thing does come
off. 1t is not always, however, that
Mr.. Greenhorn will entrust his money
to a stranger to invest for him and
it behoves Mr.. Tout to give as correct
a tip as possible, since any good re-
suits to himself in the way OF an
horonarium depend entirely OH the
success of his prediction. In the
event of their success, the modesty OF
their demands is equalled only by their
pleasing manners, and as a general
rule it is better for Mr.. Greenhorn
to lose always, than to win two out OF
about ten investments and have to set
tie with his genial adviser l had lit
tie experience in this matter myself,
which l had firmly impressed on my
mind. 1t was at the Newmarket
Spring Meeting, in 1880, and being
a guileless sort of looking young
ster, | was speedily spotted
by one Of these gentlemen as
his lawful prey. The next race
was a two-year old plate, over the
Rous course, distance furlongs, and
whilst looking over the card wonder
ing what to back, 1 was accosted by
one-eyed individual, who l afterwards
found out went by the euphonius
name OF Teddy Sheen. He called me
aside, and in a mysterious whisper
lnfogmed me that it was dead sure
thing for Beaulieu,a "a horse belonging to
Tom Jennings, and ridden by G.
Wood. Would l back it? He had
not got any money himself, but if I
would back it would do him an i'm
mense favor, ETC., etc. Acting on his
advice put twenty pounds on at two
to one. To my joy, Beaulieu won,
but my satisfaction was considerably
lessened when, after drawing my
money and offering five to my good
looking informant, he firmly but pc.
litely refused to accept less than
twenty. AS he was very deaf himself
and spoke in loud accents accordingly,
supposing everybody else to be the
same, and as, moreover, what he did
say reflected verv emphatically on my
generosity, and in no measured terms,
at that, 1 thought it better
to escape the crowd attracted
by his remarks, by settling on his
own terms, and glad was to get rid
Of him. This same gentleman pur-
sued me with his attentions on Sc eyeral
subsequent occasions, but ever after
wards l fought shy of his company
and that of gentlemen of hisilk. Some
Of these men take pains to acquire in
formation of value to their clients, but
as rule they are a lazy lot of loafers,
whose presence on the turf is neither
Of use or ornament to that institution,
and the only wonder to me is that they
are treated with such leniencv by