The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-01-12
FREE POLO GAMES
IN THE CITY PARK
The Burlingame Club to
Secure a Public Field
Here.
Commissioners Favor the Idea
and Exciting Matches Will
Result
Teams May Come From the East and
North-Burlingame Teams
Going South.

San Francisco is to have a public polo
grounds in Golden Gete Park.
The Burlingame club, through the eff
forts of its president, Mr.. Grant, has re-
ceived from the Park Commissioners the
promise of the necessary plat of ground
to be converted into a polo field. The
Park Commissioners are agreeable to the
project.
The idea is 10 have the field ready for
use in April upon the occasion of the
Golden Gate Carnival. Efforts are to be
made to have some prominent Eastern
polo team come out here at that time to
play the Burlingame club. Foxhall
Keene, son of Jim keene, the formerly
well-known California pioneer, is asso-
ciated with one of the big Eastern teams.
He especially will be asked TO visit this
coast with his fellow-playe rs. The trip is
an expensive one, fos the special car for
the ponies alone would cost $1,000.
1.-The Park Commissioners have signified
their intention to put stretch of ground
in condition." said Joe Tobin of the Bur-
lingame Club yesterday. "a polo field re-
wide by about 200 yards long.
1.-THE proposed polo field would be near
the Olympic grounds and just within the
park. There is good stretch of ground
there that is not being used for anything.
All that would have to be done to make it
a polo field would be to put little earth
on it in some places and then turn the
water on it occasionally so that it would
look green. The polo field at Burlingame
requires practically no attention.
The Burlingame polo team, composed
of Walter Hobart, Lawrence McCreary,
Richard Tobin and Charles Baldwin, is
going down to Los Angeles to play at
least two games on Washington's birth
day of that week that are to be given over
to some sort of fiesta at Los Angeles. One
game will be with the polo team of the
Riverside Club that ranked first on the
coast until defeated by Burlingame last
year. The other will be with the Santa
Monica polo team. The Burlingame team
will take fifteen ponies along for the
games. A special horsecar will be char
tered for the trip.
A story had gained circulation to the eff
feet that polo ponies were being killed
and sailed down at Burlingame as choice
food for the recently imported fox
hounds, as sort of esthetic diet calcu-
lated TO put fresh life and spirit into the
dogs of the chase. But Joe Tobin yester-
day Indignantly denied that there had
been the least foundation for this canard
on the fads of swelldom. He explained
that the foxhounds are fed only upon pre-
pared biscuits manufactured especially
for the purpose, and dealt out by the i'm
ported English kennel master who has
charge of the dogs. These dogs do not
get our meat at all.
He also declared that there are more
polo ponies at Burlingame now than ever
before. There are fully seventy-fve. Mr..
McGreary, brother of the present Bur-
lingame polo-player, did when last here
buy up about ten of the California ponies
and take them to England with him, but
none others have been disposed of. And
Mr.. McCreary has been very successful
with those little horses OF the California
mustang stock. Here good polo pony
can be bought for about $40. An excep-
tionally good one may bring SIS. Joe
Tobin paid that amount for his best pony.
In England. according to Mr.. Tobin,
polo pony is worth from $500 to $500, and
some of the best ones with great reputa-
tions, because of their riders, have
brought as much as $500 and $4,000 apiece.
In the East good polo pony cannot be
had under about $3.50 Those that Walter
Hobart bought in tue East and exhibited
in the recent horse show. cost something
like $3.50 each. They were the best to be
had.
But the polo men themselves assert that
the little California horse is on par with
anything anywhere as a polo pony. If he
be quick TO start and quick to turn and
not over IA hands in hes in height, he
has the essential qualifications for good
polo pony. but must have little speed
alen