The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-05

| like my own from all over the country II you
want my opinion Of the Speedway viii ius' say
this. II is the finest driveway i'll tho world, and
before many years II will be the most famous one
we'll"
Apart from the Importance Of the Speedway as
pleasure ground for the horsomcn and the public,
IL has proved to be Of incstimable bcneht from a
commercial point Of view 70 the trotiing .h"ts s
Speedway was opened there was not suitable
road OH Manhattan Island for driving a valuable
horse at speed. With the closing OF Fleetwood
Park. horsemen were deprived OF the last place
where they could breeze their trolers, and there
was no longer any incentive for New Workers TO
own ,Ssm unless IKE nj IL
they kept their flyers at their country places where
soft earth roads were al hand; pncnma,c sleed-
ing wagon was almost curiosity. The boarding
stables were all but empty, and those who still
kept their road horses drove them only at long
intervals. Now the stables are hllcd, the roadites
are out every pleasant afternoon, many OF them
keeping tbrco four horses In order TO have one
at razor edge all the time, Pneumatic speed
Ing wagons are TO be counted by the hund i on
Speedway Park. Anybody In touch with the dnv-
ing fraternity can name hundred OF more uotteIs
ard PAGERS with fast records that have been sold
within year and half for from $500 to 5000,
10 be driven on the Speedway Horscmen estimate
that the number Of road riders has been multiplied
many fold since the Speedway was completed in
July 1893. TO reporter Of THE SuN, Col. +.
\. Lawrence said the other day. up at Speedway
p "New York never before had one quarter the
the number or road riders that are driving fast
trot,crs today.. l used to shoot partridgcs ON
gan TO drive trottcrs when there was a soft earth
road bsgnnnE at C9rg%rss T ,.S on The CDR.
straight out u Bloomingdale and Manhattan.
vile. I have seen the Bloomingdale, ROAD
S SnH speeding rrnnds at ss bes but not
Of them could hold a candle TO the new Speedway
as II Is this fall II Is better than any OF them
free from cross streets IL Is of the most pic
turcsquc and beautiful dhvewnys | ever saw,
and You can see more high.class road horses
John j. Quinn. who has lived In close touch
with the road drivers ever since Commodore Van
dcfbilts day, had this 10 say concerning the in
The 81 ening Of the Speedway has Just sim
ply rcynluhoni2cd the ir3iting horse interest In
New York. Here is an illustration Two years
ngo my boardcrs used 10 come around to the stable
about once q week on an hvcrafc. Some OF them
jrs;!! wanted :" see whether their ,ro'terS were
still alive. They seldom drove. They would
81, around the Office, talk about old times on the
road, look gum and bcwall the fact that there
all | used 10 hear from them in those days was:
John, cnn you find buyer for my horse lc =
OF mouse to me amy more. want To sell him These
same men come hero every afternoon now, and
they keep us hopping to grt their trotters hooked
mp. They've changed their tune since the Speed
way WINS opened. II isn't John, can't you find
John, do You know where can get good one
a real crack:anck that can trim that new horse
better than they've done for ten years Six new
horses have come here this week. can't find
box stalls enough TO accommodate all the Speed
Capt {. ii. Mcdonald relates an incident which
illustrates the elect Of the Speedway ON the board
ing stables
Il can show you a boarding stable up in Harlem
that Was built III 1898" said he u n reporter II
llE SrN, at cost Yi over $4,000 suppose It
is the most complete plant 81 the kind in New York
or elsewhere We'll. the people who opened tlust
about $4,000, and then borrowed az much more;
lost that, and, finally, had a. give IL up Another
man borrowed 5000 from bank ON Fifth avenue
and tried To- make II GO, but he got swampcd. The
bank lost every dollar Of the loan, and then the
stable stood vacant for a long time II was sold
OFT under mortgage about two years ago and
brought less than - cents on the dollar To dav
It IL worth good deal more than 1t cost It's
u"ns ui road hors, ever cp, under one roof We
Counted up thirty ihG o,hcT day with records 81
l'rncc Alcr 3SS'. E>ccl 5io..; Roy Wike;,
@ ;s s tSF. fa s, G%Ed WSno5 SGs r.
Ed s.i,', >ibbs 9, 49,; XGva wilscs, Z no.;
horses would be IN this stable II We hadn't any
SprcdwaN' mother thing. more than one half
81 those have mentioned were brought here from
out Of town ~ prrs,.lv for Speedway driving Md
ih"s" thn' erc owned here have been bough, for
TIA" sam" puriSee within year. don't believe a
single horse IN the list was owned IN New YORK the
dny the Speedway Was opened And this is Just
one stable when YOU come 10 figure up the
another hy all the ont Of town horScncn who
bring their tro''rrs here 10 drive IN the Speedway
hS i @ I rT nr .s's sso :, 6 n"y We Scn n
bumps, .O3i., and his other horses here Ia
spring And thcv say he paid 1900 for his new
road mare Lucille, 2vHi., Just 10 have ,rut'cr
that Was good enough 10 take q shv OF Cohwchs
on the speedway. That sort oi thing ~ \ benefit
L. horse breeders all over the country tell rntr
when you come Ia Look into the intlucnc" of the
Speedway on the trr,iing horse interests it's a
good deal more than Local alfair"
here from Trrrc Iautr with the horses ~ Mr. Mar.
riSon. we can sec the effect II the New York
SPEEDWAY out our way very plainly, II hrs Just
and has made a new demand for tTuit"rs aud
PAGERS of that sort II is thing Of national i'm
portanCr from the horse breeders point ~ view
There ism breeder in tho country. in my opinion
whose hurS' stock has not increased in value
since the Speedway was completed and opened.
any race tack In the country
ThOs" Who know the story 81 the new Empire
the inIp"ruS given I" he lrntting interest here
about bv he opening u the Speedway is indirectly
responsible fur the budding, and rquipaen;
have Pronounced the finest plant Of It's kind in
the world
The recent troitnG meeting at the now track
furnished a straw showing the influence uf he
Speedway On the market for trotting horses Dur,
ing the four days Of the meeting four horses thu,
ian road riders 10 b" retired from the turf and
driven for pleasure on IN" Speedway. For Swift
2'lb's; irhndywlnc 22o' ~ Vera fpAuIct and
oscar. 22Oat some hing like NJ. 900 was paid.
According Ia report offers were made al the same
meeting Tor half DOZEN other good ones thu,
the roa ltcs failed to gel.
lhu>, who are at II ioss TO understand the en-
thusnSm Of men like Mr. Billings and others
who huV high priced horses that are capable 81
earning thousands OF dollars on the turf and
Keep them solely for pleasure driving many tad
information in the story ~ an incident which
occurred the other dHY AT the Speedway cub
Michael Reid the lorid faced. white haired, clean
shavcn Harlem contractor who - Familiarity
known on the road as Father Reid, gave dinner
10 twenty or more Of his Speedway friends by way
| 81 christening his new rad horse, Farmer Melville
G. BuynOn, owner II the game little troticr liruu
hide, lb',, was among the guests OF Mi Reid
.Ntcr Farmer and his owner had been properly
toHStcd and John Quinn had entertained the party
with ,Shamus O'Bricn" and "MahoneS's nyna
mite Cat" and the diners were about (" depart
/ Mr. liOyntun b"Ckonrd n newspaper man into
another room, and said:
" never met you before today, but haven
forgotten what you wrote about that little grey
mare NJ mine when she beat Newcastle down tho
r,1d last spring, and | want To thank you
want you 10 know, too, that BTunhildc iS one al
my family There ism money enough in this
town IN biv her No, sir nobody will ever So" her
in the shafts "i hucksicr's wagon. When she
gets old, I'm going to send her down to the IN IN
in Maine and let her take II easy while she lives
And there's plncc all picked out to bury hcl