Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-08-24


the human race. The Bible intimntcs
that man is better than Il sheep, and |
suppose he is better than n horse. though.
like Jobs stallion, his neck be clothed
with thunder. Horse races in olden times
were under the ban OF Christian people.
and in our day the same institution has
come up under fictitious names And IL
In called summer meeting" almost
suggestive of positive religious exercises.
And it is called an agricultural fair"
suggestive of everything that is improv-
ing in the art of farming, but under
these deceptive titles are the same cheat
ing, and the same betting, and the same
drunkenness, and the same vagabonda ge,
and the same abomination that were to
be found under the old horse racing sys-
ten.
! never knew man yet who could give
himself to the pleasures of the turf for
long reach Of time and not be battered In
morals. They nook up their spanking
team and put on their sporting cap and
light their cigar and take the reins and
dash down on the road to perditon, The
great day at Saratoga and Brighton
Beach and Cape May and nearly all the
other watering places is the day of the
races. The hotels are thronged every
kind Of cquipage is taken up at an almost
fabulous price, and there are many re-
spectacle people mingling with Jockeys
and gamblers and libertines and foul
mouthcd men and hasby women. The
bartender stirs up the brandy smash.
The bets RIM high. The grecnhorns, sup
posing all is fair, put in their money soon
enough to lose it. Three weeks before the
race takes place the struggle is decided,
and the men in the secret know on which
stecd TO bet their money. The men on
the horses riding around long ago ar
ranged who shall win. Leaning from the
stand or from the carriages are men and
women so absorbed IN the struggle of
bone and muscle and mettle that they
make n grand harvest for the pickpock-
cts, who carry off the pocketbooks and
the portemOnnaies. Men looking on see
only a string OF horses with their riders
flying around the ring. But there is
many n man or that stand whose honor
and domestic happiness and fortune
white name, white foot, white fanfare
in the ring, racing with inebriety and
with fraud and with profanity and with
run--black neck, black foot black flank.
Neck and neck go the Leaders in that
moral Epson. White horse of honor:
black horse Of ruin. Death says. Il will
bet on the black horse Spectator says,
81 will bet on the white horse The
white horse of honor a little way ahead.
The black horse of ruin, Satan mounted,
all the time gaining on him. Spectator
breathless. They put on the lash, dig in
the spurs There! They are past the
stand. Sure. Just as l expected. The
black horse Of ruin has won the race, and
all the galleries of darkness "huzZa.
huzza" and the devils come in to pick
up their wagers. All, my friends, have
nothing 10 do with horse racing dissipa-
tons this summer.
AGAINST Horse Racing.
Long ago the English government got
through looking to the turf for the dra-
COON and the light cavalry horse. They
found out that the turf depreciates the
stock, and it is worse yet for men.
Thomas Hughes, the member Of parlia-
ment and the author known all the world
over. hearing that new turf enterprise
was being started in this country, wrote
a letter in which he said, "Ileavcn help
you, then; for of all the cankcrs of our
old civilization there is nothing in this
country approaching In unblushing mean
ness. in rascaity holding its head high,
to this belauded institution OF the Brit
ish turf" Another famous sportsman
writes. How many fine domains have
been shared among these hosts of ra-
pacious sharks during the last two hum
dred years; and unless the system be al
tered, how many more arc doomed to fall
into the same gulf" With the bull fights
of Spain and the bear baitings of the pit
may the Lord God annihilate the in
famous and accused horse racing Of
England and America,
| go further and speak of another temp
tation that hovers over the watering
place. and that is the temptation to sacri-
fee physical strength. The modern Be
thesda, just like this Bethesda of the
text, was Intended to recuperate the
physical health; and yet how many come
from the watering places their health alb
solutely destroyed. City simpletons boast
ing Of having imbibed 20 glasses of Con-
gress water before breakfast. Families,
accustomed to 20 to bed Mt 10 o'clock at
night, gossiping until l or 2 o'clock in
the morning. Dyspeptics, usually very
cautious about their health mingling ice
creams and lemons and lobster salads
and cocoaunts until the gastric juices lift
up all their voices Of lamentation and
protest. Delicate women and hrainless
young men dancing themselves into verti-
20 and catalcpsy. Thousands Of mon
and women coming back from our wa
tering places in the autumn with the
foundations laid for ailments that will
last them all their life long. You know
as well as | do that this Is the simple
truth. In the summer you say to your