The Sun.
London, England, 1870-10-27 00:00:00

A RACING ESTABLISHMENT.

An article in All the Year Round describes a visit which
the writer made to Whitewall, the residence of that famous
Yorkshire trainer, John Scott. Whitewall is situated
on the brow of a hill, a substantial, pretty house,
white as its name implies, with a raw of smaller
houses attached to it, all of the same colour,
with green doors. These are the offices or residences
of persons belonging to the establishment. The large
folding gates through which you enter the stable-yard are
in the middle of this row, and the whole block of buildings
stands by itself, looking down upon the suburbs of Norton.
This is the trainer's portrait Mr: Scott might stand
for a picture of the sporting squire of the old school; with his
silvery white hair, shaven cheeks, neatly-folded neckcloth,
white-skirted frock-coat, drab breeches and gaiters, he looks
the Englishmen all over—the kind of man whom William
Farrell shewed us on the stage, whom Wilkie and Webster

shewed us on canvas, but Wliose generation has passed
away, and whose like we shall never see again. In his
seventy-sixth year, he is yet hale and hearty, and, with
the exception of a slight deafness, chews none of the dis-
comforts of old age ; while in his frank, hearty manner
there is a touch of genuine courtesy, such as might be ex-
pected from a man who, for upwards of half a cen-
tury, has been on terms of confidential and familiar inter-
course with such noblemen as those by whom
the Turf used to be supported." The writer went to the
place where the horses are trained. Langton Wold is, as
its name imports, an open tract of moorland, from which
a panoramic view of some thirty miles can be obtained.
The turf is short, smooth, and elastic, and
the ground a gentle undulation of hill and
dale, which is favourably regarded as calculated
to extend the stride. and improve the wind of
the animals. Extending right across the moor is a
tan gallop, of nearly two miles in length, with a circular
track at the far end, by continuing in which any requisite
distance cam be attained. Returning to the stables,
the writer notices that on each door are one or two
portraits of racers, previous occupants of the
stables, piinted on a metal plate, and framed by a
thin little shoe, or " dancing pump," as it is called,
in which the horses run, a record of his or her
performances being appended underneath. The boxes
themselves are models of neatness and order. One mag-
nificent animal, standing over sixteen hands high, splendid
in his girth and muscle, stood in his loose box. On the
top of a corn bin, in a corner of the box, lay a perfectly
beautiful French cat, and the horse is never happier than
when his feline companion is nestled on his back or gam-
bolling around him.

The splendid display of the Aurora Borealis on
Monday night was an exceptional treat for Londoners,
but it was impossible to view the blood-red clouds of light
rolling across the sky without the unpleasant thought
asserting itself of the hard winter which these signs in the
heavens are said to portend. Everything appears to
promise what wo call "an old-fashioned winter." The
oaks are full of acorns, and the hawthorns crowded with
great bunches of berries—the provision made by nature
against a hard time—and we have just passed through the
hot, dry summer which is supposed to be the forerunner
of a long cold winter.