Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-11-01
PEOPLE WHO FOLLOW RACES.
How they have Dressed Up and Toned
Down Of Late Years.

Down Of Late Years.
'Thsre's big difference between racing
crowds nowadays and those Of eight or ten
years ago," said the observant clerk Of an up
town hotel last night by racing crowds I
mean the people who regularly follow the
races-book-makers, horse-owners, jockeys,
trainers and the contingent Of outside betters;
which Is growing larger and larger every
season. In the old time these people were as
tough . looking crowd, both in dress and
features, - you would care to be caught in.
Those who had any pretensions to style at all
wore the loudest kind Of clothes, but like the
caricatures Of gamblers you still see occasion
ally 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 Haring colors. They
v ere pretty sure to have immense diamonds In
their ties and two or three more scattered down
their shirt front, and their fingers were half
concealed beneath the big diamond or seal ring
they wore. Then there was . strut to
them that was unmistakable, and if their mus
taches hadn't been made of the regulation
gambler-blac by nature, art corrected the mis-
such style as this; and the majority of the race
followers wore SLOUGH hats, no collars, anything
ct all in the way OF coats and trousers, and
made it point always to have a good deal Of
their beloved turf on their shoes. But now see
the difference. Most of the crowd in the lobby
here is made up Of racing men. They are all
decently dressed, only 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
in the crowd, hardly, and their manners are
quiet and gentlemanly. OF course, perhaps,
later on in the evening a good many Of them
may grow nOiser, but get crowd of men to-
gether anywhere and they are bound to drink
Q little and have their fun.
THE JOCKEYS.
'Then look at the Jockeys" the clerk con-
tinued, 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. Nowadays the jockeys put up at the best
hotels 1--WE have q number Of them here) get
princely salaries, have their private Wallets to
groom them and look after their wardrobe, and
altogether are persons Of consideration and i'm
portance, whom men Of good standing are not
ashamed to know and to be seen with"
whats brought about this big change in the
character Of the turf crowd?' The STAR reporter
inquired.
you might say that a few years ago racing had
. good deal Of the characteristics of what is
SoiIco q LANE, now IL Is OTSdIllZtu
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, maxi
ing their living in ways that were only known to
themselves. They had no stables and no incen-
tives to keeping themselves respectable. Now
racing is going on in different parts of the
country almost from January to December, and
there Is always a chance for an industrious
turtle to turn an honest penny. You would be
astonished, too, to know how many young fell
lows 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 a handsome living by it.
AN ILLUSTRATION.
"There's quiet, well-behaved young fellow
I know his elder brothers in New York well.
They are frst-rate people, and that boy is a
college graduate. He is q little wild, of course,
five years, of course, it is hard to say. He has
followed the races for two years now. You will
see him at Sheepshead, Brooklyn, Jerome,
Monmouth, and, in fact, on every prominent
track in the country. He always dresses well
and doesn't show any signs of dissipation. I
really don't think he is dissipated. Now he is
q type Of large class of young fellows in New
York city who play the races all the time on a
sort Of system. They know the Jockeys train
ers, owners and stable-boys, watch the horses
steadily and carefully, and in that way are in
pretty good position to know how things are
likely to go. OF course they 60 dead wrong
often, but as they make it point not to plunge,
they avoid getting in SO deep that they can't
get out again. Yes, I tell you, racing has got
to be great business, and few people realize
how many thousands of men-and women for