New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-06-15
RACING IN EUROPE.
THE DERBY.


PLEASURES OF AN ESCAPE FROM LONDON on JUNE
MoRNING-FIRsr IMPRESSIONS OF A FOREIGNER
"A VAIN SEARCH FOR MISSING FRIENDS TIE
BEST PLACE TO SEE THE RACE.
fyRoM THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT or THE TRIBUNE
LONDON, June But for an invitation 10 lunch
with pleasant party l am not sure that / should
have gone to the Derby this year II il of those
things to which novelty gives more charm than
even the gigantic grotesqueness of the spectacle
The racing is a matter of real interest Tn good
many thousands and of curiosity to great many
more For the rest it is the biggest picnic In the
world. and you do it you do Niagara or the MAN.
moth Cave. With this difference, that a
picnic means something to eat, and nice
people to talk with, so that you may
20 to O considerable number OF picmcs
before we begin suspect that they are WEAKNESS
to the flesh. There is young Lady in America who
will remember Derby party of which she formed
one some years ago-s young unmarried Lady and
young married lady to take care Of her, and num-
Der of men of both kinds to take care of the two.
They saw-we saw, Imay say-the Derby IN the most
delightful way, going day before to visit at
friends who lives near Epson, anddriving to the
Downs early in the morning We went IN car
rage that would shut when wandering minstrels
and troublesome gypsies came about rs. We wera
close to the rails and Just opposite the grand stand
with every opportunity for critical study OK
horses and horse-racing, with an equally
good view of the multitude in mass and no
small part of it in detail We escaped the long drive
from town and the longer one back, and the hot,
crowded, dusty journey by rail. We got back TO .
quiet country house in time for dinner at g. and We
voted unanimously that the Derby would not be
worth doing again in any less agreeable fashion.
was to meet of that same party yesterday, with
alterations and additions, and as could not go down
to Banstead in advance / resigned myself TO thu
journey by rail the morning Of the race. The dis
comforts of it have been diminished by better man
agement. Judging by Yesterdays experience, there
is reason why anybody even ladies, may not GO
in that way as some do. The Prince of Wales anf'
the Duke of Edinburgh went by rail, IN special
train, to be sure, and over q clear track.
Derby or no Derby the escape from London on ~
June morning is thing to rejoice over. You muse
have air to breathe once in while real ar instead
of that semi-fuid, sticky mixture Of smoke. ant
SCOT. and fog, and steaming vapors from the nver.
and understandable exhalatons from everywhere else.
that you take into your lungs in London. On EPSON
Downs lifted high above the villages about open ON
every side far You see, and with scarcely a.
house on theleve of the horizon you feel five years
younger than when you quilted Victoria Station
an hour before. 1t is model day; WARM
but not too warm fresh breeze blowing.
clouds enough to relieve your eyes occasionally
from the glare There had been rain enough
in the night to lay the DUST for dust there 10 some
times on the Downs where but a thin heritage COW
ers the underlying chalk, and few inches OF sob
above. had an American friend with me, whom
was to introduce to his first Derby. and TO tho
luncheon party. Probably l am the worst
guide man could have if he cares about racing.
but my friend cared as little about it "A |, and Z
found his notions about betting comprised IN tho
-l~oIx, Il et<dt tn
get from him variety of first impressions with
original and entertaining remarks which shOul6
privately note down in my memory, and
reproduce in this letter But il was not
long before | found that l.. was rather
more interested In the luncheon party than
in any of the general featuresiof 1.-THE Derby To
which strove TO direct his attention. He was, in
fact the precise opposite of c.. with whom | oDco
went for c. was absorbed in the MINISTRIES, tho
gypses, the games, the tricks the betting mig, tho
groups in carriages and the groups on foot, and .
thousand other things that never could get him to
admit that he was hungry. / had great hopes OF l..
from his conduct on the way down. de took q
proper interest in everything he did not in the least
mind travelling third-class at double the hrstclass
fare but understood it TO be the proper thing, and
liked it, He made no complaint of being overcrowded.
nor could get the least sympathy from him when
monstrously fat woman, putting and perspir1ng, was
thrust at the last moment into the few inches oe
vacant space at my side and spread herself over
He was not impatient over the continual stops OK
the fast train by which travelled. Clapham,
and Wandsworth, and Mitcham Junction seemed TO
him full of interest. and when We halted ten min
utes in the middle of deep cutting between two
chalk cliffs he occupied himself with geological
injuries He drank in deep dranghts of the de-
Icious country air-so much of it as he could get
through a window by nine. To the hrst
gypey woman-dirty, hideous, and l50-who way
laid him on arrival. he gave sixpenee amp
his blessing. IL with difficulty l could
prevent his stopping to try his skill with the sham
pigeon-shooting apparatus which he presently en~
countered He would have chat with poicemans
and begged Bobby TO tell him whether he thoughs
the crowd as great as Last year. All the way
from the station to the Grand Stand be was per-
petualy turning round to admire the distant views
which, indeed, was well worth admiring, and tho
curious effect of the struggling scattered thoc sands
hurrying along to the same goal-and getting dizzy
as he looked. The cocoanuts growing out of poles
growing out of baskets he at first believed to be the
natural product Of the chalk, wondered Why the
policen allowed those lunates to be throwing
Clubs at them, and demanded Of me- u
had seen them growing there before.
began to regret that I had not brought short
hand writer with me, for said to myself: II L.
goes ON in this way at the threshold what will ha
mot say when be has passed the Stands and the
Course and the HILL the Betting Ring the Booths
the rife tents the Hottentot Venus and the MonsteA
from the Middle Of Africa discovered by Dr. Living
stone and brought over by Mr.. Stanley. and pur-s
chased from that enterprnng traveller at vast cost
by the present propretori Shall take him to tho
Paddock at the expense of ten shilngs 70 see the
horses saddied. or to the roof Of the Grand Stand