St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-11-11
TONED DOWN.
How Men Who Follow Races
Dress Up Nowadays.


''There's a big difference between
racing crowds nowadays and those of
eight or ten years ago." said the OBJ
servant clerk of an uptown hotel last
night, says the Washington Star.
by racing crowds l mean the
people who regularly follow the
races bOOkmakerS, hOrSe-OWnerS, jock
eys. trainers and the contingent of out
side bettefs. which is growing larger
and larger every season. In the old
time these people were as tough look
ing crowd, both in dress and features,
as you would care to be caught in.
Those who had anY,pretentiOnS to style
at all wore the loudeSt kind of clothes,
but like the caricatures of gamblers you
still see occasionally in the illustrated
papers. Their trousers were usually of
immense check or plaid figures: their
coats and vests bound with wide braid,
and their ties of the most flariDg colors.
they were pretty sure to have immense
diamonds in their ties and two OF three
more scattered down their shirt front,
and their fingers were half concealed
beneath the big diamond OF seal ring
they wore. Then there was strut to
them that was unmistakable, and, If
their mustacheS hadn't been made of
the regulation gambler-black by nature,
art corrected the mistake. But it was
only the big guns who put OH such style
as this, and the majority of the race fol-
lowers wore SlOuch hats, no collars,
anything at all in the way OF coats and
trousers, and made it q point always to
have a good deal of their beloved turf
on their shoes. But now see the differ
ence. Most of the crowd in the lobby
here is made up of racing men. They
are all decently dressed, only a few
overdreSsed, and a good many of
them are thoroughly well dressed.
That is, they have just about what
gentlemen of good taste consider the
proper thing nowadays. There isn't
flashing diamond in the crowd. hardly,
and their manners are quiet and gentle
manly. OF course, perhaps later on In
the evening good many of them may
grow noisier, but get crowd of men
together anywhere and they are bound
to drink little and have their fun.
"Then look at the Jockeys" the clerk
continued, after bit. "a few years
ago they put up anywhere, and were
generally looked upon much as we now
look upon stable boys and touts. Now
adays the jockeys put up at the best
hotels 1--WE have number of them here),
get princely salaries, have their private
Wallets to groom them and look after
their wardrobe, and altogether are per-
sons of consideration and importance,
whom men OF good standing are not
ashamed to know and to be seen
with"
"What's brought about this big change
in the character of the turf crowd?'' the
Star reporter inquired.
''Well. to put it in nutShell," he an.
swered, 'syou might say that a few
years ago racing had good deal of the
characteristics of what is called a 'fake;'
now it is well organized and recognized
profession. In the old time most of the
men who followed the races made money
for three months of the year and the
rest of the time knocked around the big
cities, making their living in ways that
were only known to themselves. They
had no stables and no incentives to
keeping themselves respectable. Now
racing is going on IN different parts of
the country almost from January to
December, and there is always
chance for an industrious turtle
to turn an honest penny. You would
be astonished, too, to know how many
young fellows there are. with little
money, of good families and standing
in society in New York and other large
cities, who regularly follow the. races,
and make handsome living by it.
"There's quiet. weli-bef1aved young
fellow in the billiard room there who is
an example. / know his elder brothers