The age-herald., 1901-08-15
Saratoga a Blaze of Glory.

Tn the season of beauty there is a picturesque charm, a poetic glamor be- longing to the little city at the foothills of the Adirondacks that is irresistibly at- tractive to the more refined and decorous elements of American society. Strive as they all do, no other summer resort has been able to forge the mystic chains that Saratoga letters ultra-fashionable Ameri- ca with. That the thrilling experiences of thoroughbred racing in It's highest form as exhibited at the lovely race course at Saratoga have exercised magic iniiu- ence in perfecting that empress of pleas ure cities In it's unique and unriValed character simple glance at its history will confirm and explain. A few years ago 1t was at the zenith of it's success yet in one short season 1t fell from It's pin nacle of fame to almost the very depths of the list, and left only its great hotels its gorgeous bathrooms, it's multiform gaieties and diversions as silent memories of the grand social panorama that an- nually, gathered together theaproudest ana most exclusive clements of our American aristoeracy. The queenliest brides or our great Republic cherish Saratoga and what they saw there in their bridal days among their sweetest memories and most | exuuisite traditions. Money-base, sorolo | money--secured control of the racing priv leges and entered into racing combina- tion with some of the foulest race tracks in America The sport of kings became no longer sport at all. but base con spiracy to defraud the wealthy patrons | of the queen watering place of the earth. In a few short summer months, instead | of the private boxes being occupleu pF the wives and daughters of the belmonts' Whitneys Sanfords and Jacksons, naun.- ing insolence, low-necked women propor- tioned on ample lines, fiocked to the | prominent places and thrust theii ui wholesome presence into that renheo l bright atmosphere; instead of the princeiy l eouipages bearing the wives and children | of the Oelriches, the Iselins, Vanoerpiits | Shannons and Morgans in the inneiu anu around the clubhouse grounds, these us reputable characters were atti'uuiiia,1 ing in the high places where sentio dames and tender children had often laughed and shouted and clappeo 'nei5 l hands in Rlee when the cherry anu | hlacl,', or the maroon and scarlet or inc ''blue and gold flashed by the granu stand winner of the classic saratoga Cup or the Alabama stakes. Well, the money changers soon found that there were some | things beyond the price Of money anu | co,,ld not he obtained wit hmoney. l tru- lv believe that soon or later every money changer on this earth comes to the day when he boldly demands his pound or flesh History seems not to teach nim one iota of that grand moral warning that Shakespeare presents in the unsa- very habilaments of Shyiock to the grasp | hing disciples of those whom the master chastised In the temple. Saratoga, With it's unrivaled natural beauty, its stately elms, It's miraculous baths, sparkling wa ters. its lovers lanes and rustic bridges, its peerless multiplicity of attractions TOT the best families in America, went down in an hour and became hiddeous thing that Mrs. Tonton would not touch with | a pair of tongues. If the dance du ventre the hula hula or the brutal coochee had | been established in front of the grand | club house it would not have crushed the respectable life out of Saratoga Springs as completely as did these money-chang- CTS, these gamblers and tricksters and piferers who vanly believed that dollars and cents were matters that respectabil- ity considered when the proprieties and decorum and gentility of society were af- fronted by the antagonisms that rendered society and it's austere mandates nec- essity to civilization. My lady. more in sorrow than anger, picked up her dainty
 
 the scenes she loved so well from her sil- ken-laced number twos.
 AS 1 informed you few weeks ago, a number of wealthy gentlemen secured control of the thoroughbred racing inter- ests at Saratoga and it was reopened last Monday with all the glitter and glare of its pristine splendor. It was an suspicious a monstrous occasion, not only as the most brilliant society event of 1884, but an occasion of vast material import to the thoroughbred industry throughout the United States. The North and East were largely represented by distinguish ed families identified with It's past glory, and from the West came many of its most cultivated people. The Mackeys, Wander bits, Belmonts, Iselins Lawsons, Forbes and many others from New York and Bos- ton; the Grandisons Stones Palmers, Heards and Talberts from the West; the Sanfords, McDowels, Popes, Overtons and Douglasses from Kentucky and Ten. nessee Townsends and Scales from Mis- sissippi Dr. and Mrs. Stone of New Or lenas, MT. May Overton of Nashville MT and Mrs. Galloway of Louisville and many other Southerners of social power and distinction were mentioned by the New York daily papers as gracing the happ, occasion of recrowning the queen of wa tering places with their presence.
 The feature of the opening day was the ten thousand dollar Saratoga handicap which surpassed all the important handi. caps of the Metropolitan circuit in entries and from the pure and simple racing out. look, Eleven of the very best horses ir