Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1871-06-14
DERBYnAEMFNaLINn-
Correspondence OF New York Herald.
"On the Road" and on Epson Downs,


dust. Thus equipped and garnished
with sundry pocket pistols as de
fence, not so much against possible
y Dick Turpin Ofthe highway as against
extOFtionate victuallers on the course,
John Bull sets forth with rueful eOun-
Itenanee as if on a pilgrimage to the
saline purgHtOry OF Epson, rather
than to a great national festival.
At an early hour we take the South
western turnpike. By rail there is
no chance. On Derby Day the swell
mob always has procession Of the
trains, and although you may have
left in your dressing case at home
your watch and such money as may
not be needed for expenses, or such
small wagers as you have resolved to
restrict yourself to, you do not care
for the company Of Whiteehapel,
whose humOr it is to fiatten your hat
over your eyes or supply you for your
| appearance on the course with q pair
OF eyes gratutiously blackened.
We are on the road, then, in mad
procession Of carriages, private and
hired and public Of fstages, Of 'busses,
Of vans, Of carts, from the aristOcratie
six-in-hand, with a noble marquis
handling the ribbons, and delicately
and skilfully touching with his lash
the flank of the of leader; to the
donkey cart, with motive power equal
to a medium dog, and freight Of six
! select teOstermongers. Dust we can
not see, we can hardly breathe for it.
! It keeps US from discovering from
which nObby turnout came the well
{ H I g.E r. 4
the hat Of our Jehu and sent it over
the ditch. 1t darkens the lovely
English landscape, turns the haw-
thorn hedges and their perfumed bios
SONS into dreary earthWOrk; lies like
volcanic ashes on the turf for a hun
dred yards away; fills the lungs to
suffocation; irritates our eyes; vexes
our tempers.
LO, the long eavacade is suddenly
arrested. The matter? A 'buss is
upset; a score Of pilgrims are more
or less damaged; OF the wheel Ia off 8
| cOstermongeris family coach and the
family has been violently projected
/ into the hedge. Who eares2 The
debris are cleared, and on goes the fly
| ing procession. A little less dus5;
we have struck sand our weary nags
drag heavily through it. Hurrah
the grand stand, with its standard
and streameTs, comes into sight over
the plain. We are on EpsOn Downs,
greatly favored we have a place for
our turnout with the ring, and having
quarrelled for il with beery Britons,
and experienced much blasphemy in
gaining il, we have leisure and COM
pOsure 70 brush of the upper strata Of
dust from coat and hat, and look
about US.
The horizon is, it must be owned,
narrow. Between rs and the winning
post is 3 family carriage, filed with
a remarkably tall family Of Yorkshire
folks, the very women six feet in their
slippers-I mean lineal feet Of course
and every woman bearing a proper
tionate umbrella If we wish to see
what we are expected to describe we
must make our way to the grand
stand. This Is vast wooden, riekety
structure, far less respectable and no
larger than an average American barn,
and it is already filed. The front
seats, reserved for the families Of
milors and gentlemen Of the Jockey
Club, are overfioWing with the bluest
blood OF the three kingdoms. At the
outer door Policeman Y tells us, to-
wit-five or six hundred gentlemen,
OF whom your reporter Is One-that
the last inch overhead is occupied, q
statement confirmed by the down.
coming host. Through much suffer-
ing and persPiratiOn, nevertheless, we
press onward until forcibly elected,
50 to speak, into the upper air, where,
though much fattened and altogether
exhausted, we can at least breathe
and see.
And what sight! All England is
here. Who can doubt It? Royalty
and nobility are close under our noses /;
the crash and flutter Of aristoeracy
about Us. We care nothing for these
things, but gaze amazedly at the pic
ture before US. A natural amphithe-
atre, q mile perhaps in diameter.
The slope Is alive with dense masses
Of humanity. Estimates Of the crowds
always err. Are we wrong in think
ing there are one hundred thousand
people under our eyes? See the
thousand acres taken up as biTOuae
for horses and "traps." See yOnder
gypsy camp-fortune telling is the
order of the day. Hear-fOr you can
not choose but hear-the clamor Of
wretehes selling you the "card" or
programme Of the race. Hear, also,
those other respectable genus who
stun YOU with offers OF the correct
tip of the Derby" or those other spec
tators who stand ready to give or take
ruinOus odds on every event Of the
day. That man N a white hat and
duster, speaking with the Marquis Of
Gaunt, is a Cabinet Minister; they
have their betting looks in hand,
having lust recorded their wager.
The gentleman a little beyond in light
great coat and tapping his obtrusively
white teeth with the other ivory Of
his cane, is the semitic gentleman
who only q few nights ago maddened
his present eOllOquitOr, the devOut
First Lord Of the Treasury. by keen
and pitiless sarcasms. NOnder Is His
Royal Highness the Prince Of Wales,
a thought heaviersthan when we re-
Gently met him at the great Exhibi-
tiOn-literally q broad contrast with
the STRIPPING who, making the grand
tour Of the New World only the other
day, won with his unfailing good tenn
per 50 many golden regards and left
behind 50 many pleasant memories.
Beau Brummel's "fat friend,D the
first gentleman of Europe, could hard
ly have carried a pound more of adj
pose than does this his grand-nephew.
There are, indeed, nOtabilities all
around US; talk, ehaff, nonsense are
discordantly with the
solemn language Of betting, and re-
ligion and politics.
When the more discOrdant clangOr /.
Of bell and the cry Of "Clear the |
track :" prelude the coming of a |
double platoon Of "peelers," trun-
cheon in hand, who sweeps the rabble /
Of peers and people beyond the ropes /
and leave the ground clear for the 4
meagre and unpromising array Of |
destined to dispute the hon |
DTS Of the day, everybody diligently .
eOnsults his card to identify the eolOrs /
Of the jockey and identify the own
srs and ascertain the latest odds.
cranes over to see them
return again and again from false
starts to resume. At last they are of.
Excitement is almost unendurabls
The favOrite is clearly out OF the race
before the first 800 yards are traversed.
The dark blue, scarlet and yellow
crowd steadily towards the front.
Nervous betters, who went it long on
the favorite, are eagerly hedging"
he horses are at Tattenham Corner,
nomeward bound; dark blue, who