The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-04-21

of olden Times Viyidly shown in the
 Presentation of the Play.
 Horse-racing and betting on horse races are not strictly a modern pas-
 time or excitement Long ago, in the
 dim dawn of civilization the same eager enthusiasm to see noble steeds
 strive with each other in contests of speed characterized even the Greek he- roes who fought before the walls of troy Homer, who has sung in his fa- mous epic of the Illiad of their war like exploit, has also conmemorated for the lovers of horse races of to-day the ancient Greek delight in the races of their charloteers. All the famous war riors who besieged the capitol of Priam lndulged themselves during the many years that their armies laid in camp on the seashore without the citadel with chariot races along the beach.
 Homer described the reckless daring of the charioteerS as they stood braVely
 balanced in their swaying cars, jump ing lightly upon their two wheels and long axle across the shelving shore and the stretching land t the point where
 two white stones and the stump of a tree marked the dangerous turning
 goal. The perils of this goal are de- scrtbed in the verses of Homer and the fate which met the more daring who took too short curve or who crowded too close with the knave of the axle &r fha Jxrhn rf olo oE
 and even then-we still read in the an- tique Greek poem of old Homer--the Greek heroes shouted in their excite
 ment words of encouragement to their
 special favorites in the race, and laid royal Wagers on the results of victory and defeat. Betting seems to be in-
 stinct in the mind of man, and there would appear to be no more provoca- tive inspiration for it's exercise than the spectacle of closely contested race of chariots in the olden time, or of jockey-ridden favorites of the turf to- day at Brighton Beach, Sheepshcad Bay or Saratoga.
 In General Lew Wallace's romance of Ben Hur' the tremendous betting that precedes the famous chariot race at the Circus at Antioch between Ben Hur and his Roman rival, Messala, seems to be almost increditably heavy. The rec ordS of ancient times clearly reveal, however, that such enormous laying of odds and risking of whole fortunes upon the outcome of single race was by no means the exception to the rule, but almost the rule itself The sensa- tional chariot race between Ben Hur, the young Jewish Prince, and his dar- ing, If wicked rival, presents, indeed, 8 single illustration of the excessive ex- treme to which the Romans carried their thirst for the fierce pleasures of the race-course with its bloody disas- ters to horses and drivers and with it's accompanying extravaganza of high betting Genereal Lew Wallace must concerning the Circus Maximus of Rome, it's drivers, its stables, it's lobby and it's grand spectacular course, in or der to have drawn such a notable pic- ture of chariot race. The race in "Ben Hur" Is a supreme example of the entire type. thrilling the imagina- tion of its modern readers in way to put them into a sympathy quite akin with the feelings of the wrought up multitude of spectators who watched the races in the ancient days of Rome. There were seats for three hundred and eighty-five thousand people in the cir cling cavea Crows of marble benches) in the circus at the time of the Emperor Traian, and hundreds of thousands more stood on the slopes without this gigantic circus and beheld this exciting scene. The circus itself was magnifl- cent in marble and bronze and Oriental coiorings, and many a princely fortune was at stake on the outcome of the va~ rious races. Therefore, it is not untrue to the Roman habit when the play-go- ers at the elaborate Klaw and Erlanger production of Ben Hur" have their nerves first thrilled up to the fever point of expectation by the fierce scene that serves as a prelude to the won- derful stage spectacle of the chariot race itself This spectacle, unsur- passed as a mechanical marvel of real ism, when it was first placed upon the stage by that enterprlsing firm who thus marked an epoch in the advance of scenic possibilities, has been go re- improved even over it's aston ishing original effectiveness that now 1t reaches the acme of exciting reality. Nor can one, after witnessing the tri- umphant play spectacle, fail to realize in more vivid manner than ever what tremendous hold the race exerted over the Romans of the days of the Caesars, and how they came to indulge at last in the bloodiest of riots over their wagers,
 It is not surprising to learn that even in ancient Roman days all the tricks of modern turf and paddock were re- sorted to. he heavy betting-called by the Romans "Sponsio" to the brfbing of riders and the "hocussing' of horses. The emperor himself passed much of his time in the racing stables and Is even said to have poisoned the riders who were rivals of his own chafaoteers in races on which he had bet 4p imperial sum. Stable factions became decidedly riotous under the empire and blood-shed was common thing. The drivers themselves, al- though slaves as a rule, were made much of, owing to their importance in the winning of their sums for their pa irons, and their rewards were quite princely In one race alone, it is re- corded; that one vistorious rider re- ceived no less than fifty purses of gold, and it was not unusual for a driver to