Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-07-28

of the country. The extraordinary prices that
have been paid for trotters recently assures us
that the wealthy classes of the country are be-
coming more and more directly Identified with
trotting and pacing. Wealth is a great mag
net and depend upon it that as long as such
enormous sums continue to be invested In the
sport SO long will it remain among
the foremost sports in the land.
1t is not necessary here to discuss the respect
i've merits of Irotting and running. We all have
our preferences but ! think there are few
sporting men who will fail to admire trotting
races such as will take place in the Grand Cir
cult If the weather Is favorable the circuits
success seems assured. However. there is one
thing that must be killed at all hazards; that is
crookedness. The free-for-all trot at Detroit
indicates that there is indeed great danger OF
dishonesty and fraud creeping into the princi-
pal races The performance of Gene Smith on
Wednesday against Rosalne Wilkes was of the
most suspicious character, and the judges did
well to declare all bets of on one of the heats
BuG there ought to be the most stringent PEN
alties imposed for crookedness. There has for
years been to a great extent laxity In dealing
with prominent horsemen who have been
charged with crooked work on the trotting
track. There has always been dread that the
loss of their patronage would mar the success
of the respective meetings. That can NO longer.
however, be an excuse as there are plenty of
good horses and honest men in the country to-
day. BoIh on the trotting and running tracks
the example of the English Jockey Club ought
to be followed, and all dishonest men, of what
ever class, ruled OF.
Our Crfcketers Abroad.
Last week had few words of praise to say
regarding the American crickerers now in En-
gland. ! have few more to say this week,
although they suffered a sweeping defeat by
the Nj. e. C. gentlemen. That defeat, in my
estimation, showed thar they are cricketers
They faced some of the best Amateurs in En-
gland and had to encounter styles of bowling
which they had not been accustomed to in this
country, yet they scored 235 in an inning. This
is certainly good work for, comparatively
speaking, tyros to perform in the land of
cricket The bowling did them against the NJ.
Z. c. lot; mean it made their defeat such an
apparent hollow one. However, 1t is not be ex-
pected that they would have come near any
thing like winning, even had they mastered the
bowling more than they did. A team headed
with such batsmen as w. G. Grace is not
likely to be outbatted by the Philadelphia gen.
tlcmen. However, the Philadelphia delegation
needs all the credit possible. They have DEM
onstraJed the fact that we have cricket
players in this country, and the
will win more matches than they will lose. 1
don't by any means anticipate the time when
America will be ahead of the Britishers in
cricket playing. The latter will certainly for
generations to come be the national game of
England, no matter how many baseball teams
visit that country. At this juncture am re-
minded of all the enthusiastic talk about how
the visit of the Spalding ball teams to England
was going to popularize our national game
there and force cricket into the background.
At the time of this talk l pointed out the ab-
surdity of any such predictions or antic1pa-
uons, and think that everybody interested In
the matter will now think that was right.
$50
Among the Pugilists.
Now that the leading lights in the pugilistic
world have adjourned from the arena for
while and put down their hands. or fists, ,mauleys
or anything they may be called, talking has be-
come the order of the day. or course, after
man has either battered and bruised another
into helpless man. or been the victim himself,
it is his prerogative to talk. and we may or may
not listen to him. Sullivan now wears the
wreath of glory, whatever it may be worth, and
when he opens his mouth on exalted position,
it may be that no dog need bark. John
l. undoubtedly occupies very enyiable
position that II months ago not one of his
admirers ever thought he would occupy. He
is now the acknowledged champion puglllst OF
the world and has received the Sc, QUO in stakes
and the diamond belt. He may now be safely
termed capitalist. and were he as shrewd as
some pugilists have known, he would invest
from the prize ring. He has perfect right TO
do this and there certainly would be no cow
ardi % in doing it. Sullivan, like every other
man cannot always be prize hghter, and It Is
at any stage he thinks best for himself The
path of prize fighter is an uncertain one, and
the hero of to-day may be the vanquished to-
morrow. Men as great as Sullivan have discov
cred this ere now. However, the champion, as
we all know, lacks the stability of mind to
definitely follow out any line of policy.
His mind is not a strong one, as
evidenced in the way he received
the diamond belt. Probably no child would
talk more unreasonably and foolishly than did
Sullivan when presented with the emblem of
the championship. HIS statements to the effect
that he would take the dog collar" and
distribute it's diamonds among his friends and
utilize the balance of the belt in some ridic-
ulous way were at least the essence of ingrati-
tude. Sullivan was not by any means COM
PEELED to take the belt: but its existence is the
re-establishment of custom that used to be
one of the finest features of the old-time prize
ring. The belt is an excellent one, and l be-
lieve was first presented to the pugilistic world
with the most honest intentions. OF course
the donor expected some advertisement to ac-
crue from il, but when man spends s, 500 or
1000 he deserves little notoriety gratis. 1t is
pity that Sullivan did not receive the cham
piouship emblem with good grace. Had he
done so he might have convinced many
people that he was more of a gentleman than
he really is. The latest from John LIS victim,
John Joseph Kllrain, better known as Kilrain,
is that he has been out on a "howling spree"
Mr.. Kilrain and little Murphy were simply
empty1ng hackloads of red paint all over Bal
timore few nights ago. The defeated
pugilist was evidently enjoying superfuity of
realm right and left on Baltimores streets.
Memories of defeat were either not thought of
or they were present SO potently as to cause
the vanQuished hero to despise the world and
everything in it, except '-howling" hack
ride. The escapade was ended by Kilrain being
locked in a room OF a hotel and Murphy being
escorted to the police station by two officers.
Surely the prominent pugilIsts of to-day are
bright and particular stars when it comes down
to social enjoyment PRNGLE.