Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-17

gllsn people In anything ike their DeSt
forms. Such affairs as that at Alexandra
Park are ridiculous burlesques on good
American trotting meeting, and surely that
is no reasonable way OF trying to introduce
what may well be termed new sport into
q country already full of old and popular
ones. 1venture to say that If trotting races
could be witnessed in England Just as many
of us have seen them on good tracks in the
United States there would be little doubt Of
their success here.
During the park races 1 had conversa-
tion with f. Csthcart, the Secretary of the
English Trotting Union, and he did not at
all seem hopeful about the future. He inti-
mated that the venture had been dlscour-
aging, and trusted that matters would
improve. He defended the cheat" arrange
ment, and was kind enough 10 tell me that
Americans were somewhat inclined to adopt
that plan. Of course. was NOT aware of
that, and doubtless Mr. Cathcart believes
that what he said was true He ventured
the opinion that people get tired Of watch
ing the same horses trotting together for 8,
and sometimes heats, and claimed that
dividing the horses into heats, and having
final heat, az was done at Alexandra Park,
the better way, as it allowed the public to
see q new combination of horses every
time, and it did not give drivers the oppor-
tunity to pull" that is given In the Amer
lean system. 1 did not deem it necessary to
enter into detailed argument with Mr..
Cathcart on the question, but merely re-
minded him that the very fact of there being
six or seven heats in an American race
showed, as . rule, that the contest was
greatly in doubt at every stage, and that
feature causes excitement and interest 1
also remarked that, under the cheat" sys-
tenn a good horse, by making q little mis-
take, might be defeated in its heat, and
therefore lose all chance in the race. As
for pulling repeat that drivers disposed to
act dishonesty will do so under any system,
and their chances for doing 80 are even
more numerous under the crude English
system than under the system of the United
States. Under the former system horse
need only be second in a heat to get into
the final, and if that is not very strong in
ducement to make the drivers careless as to
whether they get first or second in prelim-
inarv heat don't know what would be an
inducement.
But the truth is that very crude methods
have to be adopted here in order to induce
owners of so-called trotting horses to enter
their stock in the races. Trotting races in
England are not patronized by the wealthy
classes. They may be here and there
uSt
but the few patrons the sport has are not
caste enough to cause national confidence in
it. One Of the leading sporting papers of
the country lntimated as much the day after
the Alexandra Park races On the day of
the races in question there were no running
races, and vet there were not a half-dozen
good patrons of the turf present What
seems to be desired, according to my way of
thinking, is that the sport be put upon that
basis that has made it popular and success
full in America. There are now more than
200 trotting horses registered In England,
but the class must not only be improved but
there must be a sensible system of racing
introduced, by which every encouragement
will be given to owners to rear good horses,
regardless of their size. In other words,
'classes" instead of miscellaneous handi-
Gaping must be adopted.
VIII Fight 1t Out.
Since last wrote anything about the Ma
ton Baseball League, Of Great Britain,
there has been little or no change in the |
situation here. The promoters of the ven
ture are still determined to struggle through |
the season, and they will not have much |
longer to struggle as the football season will |
not be very long in coming, and then down
goes the other ball, as the artists of the |
latter are mostly football players. The
weat her has been finer and that has been a |
little more encouraging to the players, but |
as far as I know, it has not improved the |
attendance very much. The sporting press
only notice the Leagues contest once week |
and that means the public doesn't care any, |
thing about it. Notices, and good ones, of |
the contests are written free and forwarded
10 the press, but there is mot room" for
them. During the past week the Preston
team has been doing well, and at time of
writing is at the heels of the Birmingham
team. This, of course, is very desirable, as
il will, perhaps, cause more interest in the
contest. Stoke has added another victory
10 its list, which makes a grand total of two
Tor the season 80 far. Stoke and Pittsburg
IN. L. might make an interesting "set to-"
At present the four clubs here stand as fol-
ows: Derby, won Is, lost 8; Birmingham,
Won II, lost s; Preston, won II, lost 8; Stoke,
Won 2, lost II.
Before leaving this subject I must not for
,et to mention that serious trouble is crop
,ing out among the clubs. In a previous
etter stated that the clubs had agreed not
o use American pitchers. For a week or so
his arrangement has been carried out, but
he Derby club has been having the worst
f the arrangement and consequently has
rampled the agreement under foot. Two
ays ago this caused lively scene at Pres
on. The Derbyites tackled the Prestouians,
ut insisted in putting Reidenbach, the
American, in the box. The Prestonians OBJ
eeted to this, and they were ordered by
heir managers not to strike at any balls
itched by Reidenbach. There was an ex-
iting game, and as result, the Derby
cam won as it liked. OF course the game
Tas protested. and what the result viii be
cannot tell. Certainly the agreement
ught to be abided by as far as the moral
regarding 1t is concerned, but L
uestion very much the wisdom and the right
f rigidly enforcing an agreement made by
hcials of clubs in an of-hand way.
What I mean to say is that play
ng rules to be absolutely binding must be
dopted by the League and in strict accord
nee with official procedure. don't think
hat either the suggestion Of Mr.. Hart, Mr..
,etts or anybody else should be enforced as
aw when the suggestions have not been
ormulated into definite rules BY the League.
Aud there is no rule absolutely prohibiting
americans going into the box. Doubtless
ir. Legs, the proprietor of the Derby team,
5 q very ambitious man, but he has spent
lis money freely on his team and he is
cry anxious to see it finish first in the race.
Aiter getting together what may be called
ere good team be will naturally feel 1t
cry hard lines if he is not allowed to place
is men to the best advantage. he has
erfect right to say to the other teams:
There are plenty of pitchers as good as
,ine; 90 and hire them" This they won't
o, and as they are having the worst OF the
ontest it may be policy on their part to
ave as few good men as possible. 1t is a
ad idea, indeed, to discard good pitchers
he better policy would be to dispense with