Evening journal., 1896-09-30
OUR JUpGEs IN PARTICULAR.

from the time lndJ the OuLlaWe1
race tracks were put in operation in
Cecil county, the Evening Journal has
contended that public confidence was
being abused and public decency out
ragged by the members OF the associa-
tion, by the book-makers, and by the
owners Of horses.
We now wish to call the attention of
the public in general and our judges
in particular, to the following dispatch
sent to the Philadelphia Record by its
representative at the Iron Hill race
track:
Gloucester in its palmiest days never
tolerated the bare-faced jobbery that is
witnessed daily at Iron Hill The Of
ficials OF the track have been appar-
emily blind to the most inconsistent
running Of the horses, and the general
public, on whom the success of the
meeting depends, has been fleeced un-
der the very noses of those who should
protect them.
On Wednesday Of last week a spasm
Of virtue convulsed the officials OF the
Keystone Racing Association, which is
now conducting running meeting
here. John Underwood was indeh-
nitely suspended for the in-and-out
running Of the horse Brooklyn. AS
long as the public alone got the worst
of it, nothing was done, but when the
book-maSers, who pay for the priv
ilege OF gambling, are trimmed for a
substantial amount, and they threaten
to quit unless something is done to
protect them, the officials suddenly
uyo1ro nm and ona n.upof. &c cttot,opdnI
and another receives a stereotyped
warning
1t is called racing, but there is no
racing about it, It is no exaggeration
to say that eight winners out OF every
ten are "shooed in" either by having
every horse fixed" behind them, or
by outclassing their field to such an
extent that the purse is simply gift.
The spectacle OF a horse starting one
day in ordinary company and finish
/ ing last, and on the next day in su-
perior company, winning in gallop, Is
of almost daily occurrence. The track
is overrun with that obnoxious class Of
individuals known as "touts," who
prey on the trusting public with i'm
| punity.
Since Wednesday last there has been
| no improvement whatever, except that
| the johbers are careful not to raise the
ire of the book-makers again, being
evidently satisfied that as long as the
pencilers do not complain, they will
not be molested.
The gentlemen OF whom the Key
stone Racing Association is composed
are all men of wealth, and 1t is GER
tainly hard to explain why they will
allow themselves to be made a party
to such barefaced crOokedness Under
| present conditions it will not require
legislation to kill horse racing in Mary
| land. Il will die natural death. IL
seems q pity that those who should
have the interest OF the sport at neart,
instead OF doing everything in their
power TO improve it, are allowing 1t to
drop lower and lower every day.
Here we have it from a newspaper
man who is also. in all probability, q
sporting man. He knows the ins anc
outs OF the pool-selling, the stables
and the riding. He declares that "Glou
cester in its palmiest days never toler
ated such barefaced jobbery."
Now we put il to Chief Justice Lor'
and his associates on the bencl
whether, as members OF the judiciar!
and citizens of Delaware, they can af
ford to add to this mass of jobbery
license for the speak-easy at the Iroi
Hill track
The three men who forfeited thei
bail in the Court of General Session
yesterday were the agents, and not tn
principals, in the clubhouse outrag
upon the law and decency OF Delawar,
The spirit which prompted ther
to break the law still lnger
at Iron Hill, and will con
tinue to do so until the judge
Of Delaware emphatically declare tina
not only will they not license such
notorious place, but that they will pur
ish, to the full extent OF the law, a
, persons who are found guilty of viola
tion OF the license laws of the state