St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-08-18
tia Recorde

IStt u fhecOFU.
To the Sporting Editor of the Globe.
Please answer through your paper the follow
ing question, viz: Did Maud make record of
2:O9A, and II so, is it considered record!
j. 7. McC.
1t is the understanding of the GLOBE that
the 2:09s4, made by Maud s at Cleveland,
August 2, 1884, is record and will be so re
corded. All the sporting papers have SO
considered the result of the race, and it is
only within few days that the matter has
been questioned. The race was for a valu-
able consideration, viz: 800. Capt. Stone
who had the control and management of
Maud at the time she made the heat, and
who was VIGOROUSLY acting for Mr.. Wander
bilt, the owner ofthe mare, notified the judges
of the race that Maud S would start to
beat 2:11T for the decision of a
bet of 800. AS there is a good deal of
curiosity about this matter, we present below
the inside facts of the case. as stated by one
of the editors of the Turf, Field and Farm,
who was on the ground when the race oc-
CURED. He says:
The question has been raised that the
2:09M of Maud S. at Cleveland should not
be allowed to pass into the record, and the
writer of this article has been charged with
giving bad advice on the subject. Previous
to the appearance of Maud s. on the track
Mr. w. Ell. Wilson made a bet with Mr.. 0. A.
Hickok that 10 would be beaten, and the
money was lodged in our hands. One of the
stipulations was that Bair should weigh in
and should state in advance that it was his
intention TO send the mare a fast mile.
While the track was being scraped Mr.. Will
son came to US and claimed that the bet was
off, adding that Bair had authorized him to
say to the stakeholder that he should not at
tempt to beat the 2:10 of jay Eye See. Mr..
Hickok objected to having the bet declared
off, ON the ground that Bair had weighed as
if with the object of making a public race
against time. Mr.. Wilson then asked us if
the wager would make the performance a
record in case 2:10 were beaten. We re-
piled, no, unless the judges were informed
in advance by some one authorized to speak
in her behalf that it was the intention to
start Maud S. for the decision of the wager.
Capt. Stone, who sat by our side, at once got
up and walked across to the judges stand and
notified President Edwards and his asso-
ciates that Maud S. would start to beat 2:11I
for the decision of bet of $780, Because
no public announcement was made of this
fact from the judges stand previous
to the word go, it is claimed
by the critics who strain at points that the
2:09M of Maud S. cannot be placed in the
record. We admit that it would have been
better to have announced that the mare was
going to beat 2:11H for wager, but con-
tend that the absence of such announcement
does not destroy the technical value of the
performance. The judges were men Of high
social position, and it is not to be presumed
that they would misrepresent the case to
please Mr.. Vanderbilt or to displease the
owner of Jay Eye See. They were made the
custodans of an important fact previous to
the start, and this fact underwent no change
in being withheld from the public. The
judges are fully empowered to determine all
questions of fact, and they are not called
upon to instantly communicate every fact
within their possession to the public.
They are required to keep in
writing an official record of
their proceedings, and this record is open to
public inspection. Protests filed with the
judges are entered in the record, but it is
not necessary to read them in voice which
all can hear from the stand. We hold fast
to the opinion that we gave good advice at
Cleveland that Captain Stone took the nee
essary steps under the rule when he notified
the judges Of tie object in view, and that
the 2:09M has lawfully passed into the
record. One party argues that, all other con-
siderations aside, the fact that an admission
fee was charged ut the gate fixes the record
upon Maud S. We beg to disagree. If
Maud S. had been advertised to beat 2:11L,
and if the people had paid their money at
the gate in expectation Of seeing her make
the attempt, there would be
no room for argument on this point.
She would then have trotted for admission
free and her victory over time would have
gone into the record. But the truth of the
matter is that not dollar was paid at the
gate on the strength of an announcement
that she would attempt to equal or surpass
the 2:10 of Jay-Eye-Sce. If the Cleveland
club could have so advertised it would have
added thousands of dollars to the treasury.
Capt Stone, acting for Mr.. Vanderbilt, pos
tively declined to allow the club to announce
that the mare would be driven against time
The people were not misled; they did not pay
to see Maud S. trot and in the absence of a
statement to the contrary, the gate admission
clause cannot be twisted so as to apply to