The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-07-22
ONE YANKEE TELLS
ABOUT THE DERBY
Quite the Most Important Event Ia the
British Calendar.
IS THE CELEBRATED DERBY DAY

OiHISu SotSuoots
Is THE CELEBRATED DERBY DAY
Elwyn A. Barron, the Versatile Lon.
don Correspondent Of the Chicago
Times.Herald, Gives a Polished
Description Of His First View Of
This MOmentOus Affair.
Next to the crown the most important
thing In English esteem Is the Derby;
and when for the first time In CONSIDER
ably more than a century the prize Is
borne off by.a Prince of Wales, and that
prince extremely popular with all class
es, you may imagine that the degree OF
utilization Is nothing less than in eX-
celsis. For my part ] had never Wit
Eessed anything equal, in point OF en- .
thusiastic demonstration, to that scene
OF joyous commotion and excitement
when 1t became known to the vast null
titudc the Persimmon had passed the
post Il winner.
Derby day OH EPSON Downs they
were known as Banstead Downs in the
days OF the inimitable Pepys) is always
the thing Of the year; but the conditions
and experiences of yesterday made 1t
one of the red-letter events of a life
time. ] count it blessed bit of fortune
to have been present, and l owe II to
our good friend, the admirable Willard,
that the most favorable circumstances
attended me. Mr.. Willard had tele-
graphed up from Banstead, one Of the
loveliest spots in England. Come down
and We'll drive to the races. Dinner
and a bed to follow" an invitation that
only madness would gambol from. Ban
stead being happily and sweetly re-
moved from that curse of rural ro-
nance, the railway, he met me with his
trap at Sutton. the way by which the
great tide of pleasure-seekers rolls
down from London in every sort of
Conveyance" from the swell four-in-
hand to the humble donkey-cart of the
coster, to witness the Darby.
AN EXTRAORDINARY SIGHT.
We pulled out from the road on a
hilltop and became spectators of the
Heterogeneous pageant. An eNtraor-
dinary sight. indeed, is the tide of ve-
hicularate humanity that overfioods the
road to the Derby. The like Of 1t Is to
be seen nowhere else in the world.
Everything on wheels is conscripted for
service on this imperial anniversary
and everything that passes Is heaped
and crowded with an unaccustomed
load OF eager holiday makers--for once
the uncouth occupants of the strangely
decked butchers cart, or the groaning
prehistoric chaise. or the covered van,
jogging along under the dust and sha-
dow OF the royal coach in common pro-
cesslon. A wagonette is filled with the
artisans of some establishments, who
have spread newspapers over their
knees and are beguiling the tediousness
of the long ride with cards; a brake
speeds along with two horns blowing;
Immediately following is a wagon that
has on the box with the driver a lusty
pair of lungs discoursing prodigious
music through a cornet: almost invis-
BILE among the throng of four wheeled
affairs Is shabby wheeled, bar
row-like cart, on which four persons are
seated, dragged reluctantly by a dimin-
utive donkey that might well have been
put in the drivers pocket; other wagon
loads cheered by cornet or bugle; here
"a cart-load of stout voiced fellows
shouting a coster chorus; omnibuses
with four horses chartered for the day
their tops crowded with merry parties
fashionable equiDages. with crests on
the panels. and postillions; a group OF
equestrians. ladies' and gentlemen; the
inevitable bicycle contingent; her grace
hn lttrbocy nd no, lnualx, M, c
in white-and making way little fol
the prancing steeds the cart in which
AIRY and 'Arriet are swelling II like
East End haristocrats.
And 50, higgledy- piggledy. high and
low, rich and poor, prince and beggar
coach and carriage, and bus and trap
and cart, and pedestrian in a grand
fantastic procession Of unassOrted dem
ocracy wind their picturesque way
through town and village and hamlet
along paved highways and through
stretches Of tree powered, hedge guard
ed, flower-decked country lanes, over
sweeps of downs. with the green way
side commons tempting one to leap
down for roll among the billowing
daises-and SO OH to those splendid
wide-reaChing downs where the Derby
Is run, on the turf, over a course shaped
like horseshoe. a mile and halt
about.
THE IMMENSE THRONG.
As there Is no charge of admission
to the course (excepting. indeed. to the
Enclosures about the grand stand, witt
its stalls, private boxes. clubhouse. etc.
to enter which you must pay ~ there
Is no restraint upon popular patronage
and there Is no possible way to ascer-
tain the number of people in attend
ance. But surveying the grounds from
a commanding point at the top of the
grand stand, seeing the hill In the center
OF the horseshoe black with people and
the dense mass along both sides of the
track from Tattenham corner to the
finish, distance Of five furlongs. be-
eides those in the grand stand and
on the rear slope, 1t seemed to me the
throng was even more numerous than
that upon which / looked down that
memorable Chicago Day" in '93. Per.
sons who are familiar only with Amer.
lean race tracks and the scenes which
there distinguish the chief events OF
meetings can have no adequate idea
Of the spectacle at EPSON Downs or
Derby day. 1t is like getting to O
huge fair.
AS you drive up you seem to be com.
Ing upon the encampment of an army
Thousands Of tents. of various sizes
and in every shade of sradation. from
approximate white to the CRIME of age
and use, give the impression that al
advancing host has pitched its camp fol
brief sojourn. This idea is heightened
by the number of horses. their harnes:
still on their backs. munching thei
feed in open inclosure of rope or can