Punch: Punch (21.1851)

244 PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

A HORRIBLE BUSINESS.

Vaster Batcher. "Did you take Old Major Dumbledore's Ribs to No. 12?"

Boy. " Yes, Sir."

Master Butcher. "Then, cut Miss Wiggles's Shoulder and Neck, and haug Mr.

THE TYRANTS OF THE CAB-STAND.

A powerful sensation has been created in
the Metropolis by the announcement of a panic
having seized upon a would-be public benefactor,
who, having announced his intention to start
some cabs at sixpence a mile, was for some time
deterred by the threats of a selfish whipocracy,
consisting of men of that particular rank, known
as the cab-rank. We must confess we always
thought there was a degree of unnecessary
nervousness in the mind of that man who could
be intimidated by the idea that, his horses would
be maimed in their stables, his drivers murdered
in the public streets, and his innocent fares mas-
sacred in the midst of a sixpenny drive in the
Metropolitan thoroughfares.

We do not anticipate any further mischief
from the establishment of sixpenny cabs, than
an increased interchange of that " chaff" which
forms the circulating medium of the intellectual
resources of the cab-driving community. We are
aware that anything new in the shape of a public
conveyance turns every opposition vehicle into a
vehicle of abuse; but we must be prepared to
stand a few personal allusions, for the sake of a
beneficial change, until it ceases to be a novelty
—when even a cabman wili grow tired of making
insulting comments. As the Protectionist party
has nearly dwindled away, we might suggest a
reinforcement by a coalition with the Protec-
tionist cabmen, which would at least introduce
the element of vigour that is so much required.

A Pleasant Neighbour.

Among the new publications recently adver-
tised in France is " The Criminal History of
the English Government, from its Massacre of
the Irish to its Poisoning of the Chinese!' This
must be an entertaining volume, and would, at
all events, possess one charm for the English
reader—the charm of novelty.

Foodle's Legs till they're quite tender!" [ the letter.

One who Will Swallow anything.

Since the performance of the Boa Constrictor
in swallowing the blanket, Mr. Ferrand has
written it a letter full of compliments, saying " he
has had great pleasure in enrolling it as a
member of the Wool-League." The _ poor
reptile has not been well since the receipt of

" OLD PAM," ALIAS " THE DOWNING
STREET PET,"
(the well-known judicious bottle-holder.)

In presenting our readers with a portrait of this celebrated sporting
character, we have no intention of going into a detailed account of
his performances m the Diplomatic ring.

He may be strictly called "a veteran;" but he has been such a
remarkably steady man, and, thanks to this, is still so fresh and in such
good preservation, that no one would think of clappin°- on his head
more than two-thirds of the sixty-seven years he carries with so much
pluck and liveliness.

" Old Pam," as he is affectionately called by the nobs of the Fancy,
Willi whom he is deservedly a great favourite, entered the ring in the
C'S ™ilmS times> when a fight was a fight, and no mistake.
ZZtl the,b™,ser was sWl op^ to tight all the world, any weight, size,
or odds, and Pam made his bow in St. Stephen's, the Tennis Court of
™™>tT> jua aIH?0???? SreatmiU Wllh "the Prussian," which
changedtVandf ' and °n the CVent °f which so much

r?^J*\^?lledu[n .the shai"p fast-hitting school of poor George
T "r^f bnlllaQt tavourite of the Fancy. The stvle of this
scliool,, though very showy, was rather deficient in "slowlnit" and
punishing qualities, and Pam earlv showed considerable judgment in

combining with the neat sharp countering of the Canning school, a
good deal of the straight-forward go-in-and-win-style, which never fails to
insure a man backers in England.

It is not, however, as a fighting man, but as a second, and still more
as a bottle-holder, that Pam is distinguished. He is great in arranging
the preliminaries of a mill, though some have complained that there is
a good deal of bounce about him, and that as a backer he is not to be
trusted, being apt to desert his own man at the last moment, and hedge.
It was no doubt a good deal owing to Pam's services that the " Constan-
tinople Slasher" (whomPam both backed and acted as bottle-holder to)
gained his victory over "Old Egypt" in 1840; when "Little Thiers," who
did the needful in the same way for " Old Egypt," was such a loser, that
he quite lost his temper in the field, and wanted to make a match to
fight Pam in the same ring. However, Pam never lost his good-
humour with the little fellow, whose tendency to chaff was well known;
and nothing serious ever came of it.

Pam was very busy in 1847, arranging the preliminaries of a mill
between Johnny Bull and ,the late Lewis Phillips, on the occasion
of the latter entering into a match with " The Don," contrary to his
engagement with Johnny. Many, however, thought that neither he
nor Guizot, who acted as Phillips's "friend" on the occasion, ever
mr-aut fighting, and that neither one nor the other could have made the
necessary deposits, though they both talked big.

Pam is always to be found in his own well-known sporting crib m
Downing Street, where most of the matches and fights to come are
negotiated. Recently there has been a good deal of talk about an