The record-union., 1894-03-10

L
Jamaica Bay ............. 1858 .....'...,...
Total. 31777 2,se5, 1872
The question of consolidation is to be
left for the voters in these places to de-
| eide. Not each place answers for itself,
but the majority of all for the whole. II
| the votes are affirmative, New York will
be the second city in the world in popula-
ton. London will be first, with 4, ,23l ,431.
Paris, now second, with 2, AZ, ,957, will be
third, and then in order will come Can
| ton, Berlin, Chicago, Toxic. Vienna and
Philadelphia. These are all that reach
| the million.
| Sentiment will determine many votes,
! but politics will probably decide. AS for
the sentiment, it is rather thin, for these
places now form an organic whole.
Financially, mentally. in feeling and in
! power New York is already all of these,
and Jersey City and several other Jersey
towns besides. All the energy, industry
and accomplishments of the vicinity Of
the metropolis flow into, reach upon and
are OF the enormous life of the great city.
| The change will be chiefly legal. But
! politically 1t will be an important meas
ure. The Democrats have killed three
successive bills for the same object. They
Will oppose the conSummation of this one
at the polls. Brooklyn, under the rule of
|
pendage. SO are all the little refined
villages. The outlook for the extension
Of New York is as good as is that for Re-
! publican rule in the places named.
1t is too late to say much of the dog
show. The managers said it was finan-
cially the most successful ever held in
this country, and the experts described it
as the best they had studied. L should
say, however, that ii was a bit weak in
/ Fi,1 aI RI
breed for beauty and outward perfection
OF type, rather than for practical qualities,
and was most satisfactory in the evidence
it gave that the pet dog is to big dog for
a while. In inquiries made about breed
ing l learned that attention is CEN
| tered chiefly on producing certain
markings, measurements, proportions,
qualities of coat, etc. OF course these
may be outward expressions of inward
capabilities, but the point that interested
me was the unconsciousness or forgetful
ness in the breeders of the relationship
between the two. They selected the
marks and not the qualities which orig
inally made the marks valued.
Such shows are got up to interest the
outside public" and to sell dogs-to i'm
prove the canine market. This is a
worthy enough purpose, but it is not
not the only one, and especially with dog
fanciers it ought MOTTO appear in their ex-
hibitS so exclusively. To improve the
breed of dog is to keep in mind the fuDc-
tion of the variety and to develop the
traits most peculiar and useful III the
kind. Experts are apt to take the pre-
vailing view of the kennel, and that eX-
plains the general praise Of the bench
show. But where men keep dogs for use
in the sports, as they do iii California,
that would not be great show which ex-
hiUited such disprOpOrtionate number
of pet varieties over the hunters as was
the case in Madison Square Garden this
year.
1t is only halfway consolation then,
to observe that the pets were beauties and
big. There were magnificent specimens
on show, and the degenerate, sickly dogs
that women have petted and loved so
long were slowed away Up IN the gallery.
Even the piteous Yelping and nervous,
shivering chills of the poor little things"
did not keep the women away from the
the benches Of the real, grown-up dogs.
If the necessity of winning over the
outside public has hurt the canine world,
it has helped the equine more than
enough to balance the good and evil. The
Turf Club, incorporated week before last,
sprang out of the financial losses that fol-
lowed public disgust with demorallzed
racing system. The new jockey club has
excellent purposes and may serve to save
one of the noblest of sports. 70 save it
is the purpose Of James r. Keene and his
associates, and they rightly contend that
the worst that can be said against horse
racing is that it tends to generate vices
and abuses that are unsportmanlike.
l don't know in what shape the ac-
counts of the long contest over racing
matters have reached the West, but
writers here have dealt so much with the
personal side of the fight, that / may as
sumo the same aspect has been presented
elsewhere. If that is so, it will be inter-
esting to horsemen, and particularly
horse-owners, to know that the troubles
in the Turf Club originated primarily in
the dissatisfaction of the best element Of
hOrse-oWners here. Race-track abuses
had taken the soul out of the sport and
only the love of the horse kept things
going. This discomfort is of old standing
and dates from the time when Michael f.
Dwyer, his brother, and their clique got
control of the oldsboard and abused their
power for their selfish ends.
When Arthur Z. Bowers of the ITib-
atIle and Tracy Bronson were ruled off
the Monmouth Park track last summer,
it was because they spoke openly of the
dishonest racing. Bronson got out an
Injunction and continued to describe and
criticise the races. Bowers submitted.
But both men began crusade and they
quickly were in the lead of a strong
movement for reform. Respectable
horsemen soon stood out and assumed
the direction of the reorganization, and
though the resistance Of the Coney
Island Club and of the Dwyers and 9TH
ers raised a cloud of dust it was evident
early that the better sentiment was in
the lead. All the tracks had lost money,
and though this was partly due to the
panic and general financial depression,
the disgraceful condition of racing was
heavily responsible. Every ybody recog-
niZed that some kind of change had to
be made, and the richest horse-owners,
with the great stables, naturally could
fix the terms.
The first meeting of the discontented
horsemen was early il January. 1t was
called TO protest against the reduction of
purses, but before the season was over
the meeting changed its character COM
pletely. A proposition was made to
abolish the Board of Control. Then an
other was made to put racing in the East
in charge of a jockey club, to be organized
on the same lines as the jockey club in
England. Several meetings followed and
James r. Keene was made Chairman of
committee to arrange with the several
tracks.
Obstacles met in this direction are suf-
ficient to make one cautious about be-
lieving in the ultimate triumph OF sports
mansnlp. 1hey were met with IN un-
expected quarters and not only among
the lower element. Terms had to be
made and have to be kept secret. If
Keene and his associates sacrificed any,
thing at all, they have sold every thing.
His Board of Stewards now are framing
the rules of racing for 1894. In their pres
ent form they give the stewards the
power to appoint one starter, one handi-
capper, one clerk of scales for all the
fhair CONTROL. and all tho
Judges are to be named by them. Some
- thnSo faat11ras may ha nhannad But