Omaha daily bee., 1902-10-26
NEW YORK'S FINE SPEEDWAY
Magnificent Free Equestrian Circus Fur
nished by a Modern City,
RACING UNDER MOST PERFECT CONDITION
Weekly Spectacle wherein wealth
and Prominence and Nerve show
Themselves and Delight
the Multitude.

Iuperial Rome gave its populace bread
and circuses"-New York town, more than
imperial. as yet provides only the circuses.
But II is more than an open question IL
Rome ever spent as much upon its amphi-
theater as New York has put into the
Speedway and its approaches.
Directly, the Speedway is an outgrowth
of p~anic-the sad days following '93. In
directly. 1t is the response to a rising de-
mand. The city has bred and fostered a
swiftly growing class Of rich reinsmen,
either survivors or spiritual descendants
Of the old Bloomingdale road brigade.
With their many thousands invested in fast
horsefesh, there was general and increas-
ing discomfort over having to go a Sab
bath days journey to find any place where
the flyers could step their best-and, Incl
centally. outstep each other.
The first plan that was offered raised a
roar Of indignation. The gentlemen drivers
had 1t in mind to take a stretch down the
west side OF Central park. Lively protests
from all sorts and conditions Of folk in
clined them to go further-with the result
bf faring better. The Speedway as an ac-
complished fact interferes with nobody.
Contrariwise, it turns to the excellent use
of diversion a strip of unsightly waste.
Incidentally. the turning put many dollars
Into honest, horny hands that otherwise
would have been empty, or rhlled by CALLING
charity. Altogether the course is we'll
worth its cost. IL for no more than an OBJ
ject lesson as to how the fanciful desires of
rich men supply the necessities OF poor
ones.
Surprises for sIghtseers.
Manhattan's face is. full Of choice topo-
graphical surprises. Not one Of them can
compare fully with the Speedway site. The
course easily is among the most picturesque
in the world. That, however, is less amaz-
ing than Its adaptation to the ends of spec
tacle. Rome's Coliseum was less majestic
than the rocks that frown from above It all
along one side; no canal in all Venice can
show more vagrant charm of waters than
eparkles up from the breast OF the Harlem.
Now 1t is ali sullen gray, now Of a jealous
green opacity, now limpid as a rain washed
morning sky, now fun OF softly tapping
satiny ripples. streaked with oily wakes OF
swiftly passing craft.
The water show, indeed, draws some part
of the crowd-not so great a moiety as the
road show, but still worth reckoning
Speedway builders took account OF it
wherefore the waterside walk is twice oil
thrice the amplitude of that underneath the
fAOShot anu Dtstl pltullLulAg LnTOuBuOuI Will
Hight, easily movable benches.
The driveway proper begins somewhat be.
fore the beginnlng-at the commencement
of st. Nicholas avenue, on the uppermost
verge OF Central park. 1t is something like
two miles from the park verge to the head
of the Speedway at 155tb street-thus there
Is a parade course about four miles long
Still st. Nicholas avenue is not the sole
nor even the favorite, ,ronte of Speedway
drivers who live roundabout the park OF
below it. Upper. Seventh avenue and the
viaduct spanning tho Harlem valley at the
bead Of the Speedway are chosen somewhat
I%oftener. Another for those who like long
drives and coming into the middle Of things
IS the new Boulevard Lafayette, which has
been cut in the edge of the Hudson river
hillside and makes into the course proper
through Dyckman street, which is its uppei
boundary. Then, too, there are the subur-
ban roads and their contingent folk from
White Plains. Mt. Vernon, Yonkers, ever
so many places, who have the chance o.
some pretty speeding on their own account
along the parkways that are spreading al
about through the region where New Yorl
town is still. in large part, country.
All Roads Lead to Speedway.
All roads, indeed, lead to the Speedwa!
even Brooklyn and Jersey folk wande
IN sometimes, although they have fin,
driveways of their own. Howsoever gath
cred. the show OF horses and horsemen 1
we'll worth seeing. A great many peopl
evidently are Of that mind. for upon an,
Sunday which promises good footing 1000
are likely to gather and stand at gaze
Special events, match races, matinees, tn
annual read drivers parade, bring ou
from $4,000 to $4,000 spectators. The know
ing ones and the sports cluster as thick a
bees about the half-mile post, which is tn
finish mark in the brushes. II there l
betting, it is strictly private, or rattle
individual. although, no doubt, good none
often changes hands on the result of tn
events. Indeed, tips are given and re
ceived quite as eagerly and as solemn
as on the full-iedged courses. But tn
mass Of those on the road and the side
walks arc there to see and to be seer
rather than from sordid hopes Of prof
pr losSp
The mounted police who enforce tn