The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1895-08-16

The second annual race meet or the
Mankato Scorchers, at the city park
Thursday afternoon, was a glowing
success in every way, in the racing,
the attendance, and financially.
About 1,5OO people were present, and
the grand stand was overf1owing and
the crowds lined the fence enclosing
the track for long distance oneither
side. The receipts were more than
the expenses, and the prizes were
awarded promptly. There was no
dissatisfaction on the part of any OF
the riders.
The wind went down and the con-
ditions were perfect for racing. Inc
track was in splendid shape, except
that the lower side rod in width was
too wet to be traversed, and this
made all the distances longer and the
time little greater than would have
otherwise been the case.
The first event was the half mile
novice, and the contestants were
Chas. G. Meyer and Chas. Schwartz,
of this city, J. A. Wistensohn, OF
Minneapolis, Lee Gates, OF Window,
and Gerald Duryea, of st. James.
Duryea won in 1:274, Meyer second,
and Wirtensohn third. Schwarts
tire came off at the end of the first
quarter, which threw him out of the
contest.
The second event was the half mile
open, and as there were so many en-
tries, it was run in two heats, the
three first in each to be qualified for
the final. In the first heat the con-
otestants were Ed. Brett and Aft.
Sweet, of this city, Guy Van CARSON
of Winnebago City, A. G. Mertens, of
st. Paul, Peter Ostlund, of Minneapo.
lis, and G.. J. Grimes, of Window.
lOstlund, Sweet and Mertens were sue
cessful, time 1:173. In the second
heat the contestants were Wilbur
1ayIr, Flt6 Walker G1d join Weis,
of this city, J. A. Hanson, of Mime
neapolis, Chas. Hofer, of st. Paul and
w. r. Hibbs, of Sioux City. Hofer,
Hibbs and Hanson were successful,
time 1:213.E Hofer won the final in
1:OS4, OStlund second, Sweet third.
The time limit was LILO, and the riders
were paced.
The third event was the half mile
handicap, and the contestants were
Sweet, Taylor, Walker, Meyer, Brett,
Weis, Hanson, Ostlund, Wistensohn,
Mertens, Van Carson, Hibbs, Grimes,
Gates, Duryea, Thad E. Nash, of
Woodstock, w. E. Borland, of Ma
della, James Morrison and E. @. Leon
art, of Window. The latter was
thrown from his wheel on the home
stretch but was unhurt and picked
himself up and rode in. This race
was won by Brett, 80 yards handicap,
i'm 1904, Walker tsecond, so yards,
Duryea third, 80 yards, and Morrison
fourth.
The fourth event was the one mile
open, and was run in two half mile
heats. In the firstwere Sweet, Walker,
Ostlund, Nash and Mertens. Ost-
lund, Mertens and Sweet came in
ahead, time 1:21. The second heat
was run by Taylor, Hanson, Hofer and
Van Carson, and Hanson, Van Carson
Hofer won, time 1914. The final was
won by Mertens, time 2:214, Ostlund
second, Hofer third. This is the fast
est mile ever run on the Mankato
track in competition.
The fifth and last event was the
five mile handicap, contested by Tay-
Tor, Walker, Hanson, Ostlund, Mer-
tens, Borland, Hibbs, Grimes, Nor
rison, Leonart, Duryea, and Ray
Hall. This was won by Morrison, $50
yards, time 1903, Duryea second, 525
yards, Mertens third, scratch, time
1925, Taylor fourth, $50 yards, Ost-
lund fifth, scratch, Hibbs sixth, 300
yards. An attempt.was made to break
the state record, but this failed by
just one minute. Three miles was
made in 7:21.
Between the third and fourth
events, Mertens made an exhibition
mile in an effort to lower the state
record. This record was 2:15 3-5, made
by Burney Bird, 'of St. Paul, on the
Mankato track last year. On the
first effort the pace makers failed to
pick up Mertens in good shape and
he gave it up on the first half, which
he had made in LOS 3-5. Then he
tried it again. with flying start and
paced, and succeeded in lowering the
record nearly two seconds, the official
time beings2:134. The first half was
made in 1:07 rs. The state record for
the mile was established yesterday,
according to the rules of the L. A. w.
Faster miles have on several occa-
siOns been ridden in the state, but
every time with unofficial time keep
ers, on Sunday, or with some other
necessary condition lacking Mer-
tens effort was fine one, and drew