The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-08-11
Sole Object is to Elevate the
 Thoroughbred
THE PESSIMIST REMARKS
Had Been Laborlng Under Deluson That People Went to Track Be- cause They Wanted to Win
 Money-sees Mistake
From the New York Tribune.

cpally to win money by betting. You see, I had never been to the race track. I went the other day, and now 1 know that 1t is not because they are bent on anassing wealth quickly that the thou sands go daily to the races rain or shine. It is because they wish to do all they can to improve the race horse. They give up their time and money, noble benefac- tors of the equine and human races that they are, so that the thoroughbred may become m even more superb animal in folin and speed than he Is. As Bernard Shaw tells of the artist in Man and superman,' nothing stands in the way, no sacrifice Is too great for them to make to do their part in the Inspiring and up- lifting task of improving the breed of race horses. Family, friends, business, all count as naught when 1t comes to im- proving the breed of the race horse.
 Tt was a hot day, the day I went to the Belmont Park track Thousands were crowded into trains. and they sat and stood, packed as closely as sardines with the sweat pouring down their faces, and their eyes glued to pages of the news papers containing what I learned they called 'dope;' this is advance information about the races and the horses that were to race. l was inclined to be pessimistic and say to myself: I wonder if these same people would undergo the same dis comfort. go to the same trouble and bear t all so cheerfully if they were doing honest work that would be of some bene- fit to mankind?' But you see I didn't know then that 1t was just because they were doing their share toward the uplifting of the thoroughbred and, through him, of humanity, that they suffered so much without complaint
 Chair of "Dope."
 "The conversation on all sides of me was about odds, past performances and jockeys, and the knowledge displayed of these, going to show constant and earn est study was to me marvellous It im- pressed me so that thought, Why should 1t not be well to have a chair of dope in our leading universities? and led me for the first time to think that after all there might be something more than the mere sordid love of gain about the race track.
 "On arriving at the track all the men bolted for the betting ring as if Beelzebub was after them I went, too, and there my eyes were opened as to the real pur- poses of the betting. On stools sat men whom they called bookmakers These, l learned next to the owners of the horses and the race track, were those who were the most interested in improving the breed of the race horse. They cared naught for mere money and were so rich that they rode in automobiles and lived on the fat of the land. These bookmakers, I learn ed, sat up late at night, studying racing lore and acquiring information about horses. men who owned them and jockeys fJa Arr anH vii edge they bet any one who cared to bet with them that a certain horse would or would not win a race or finish second or third. Without the bookmakers the thoroughbred could not be improved, for If there was no betting the thorough bred would not be raced, and there would be no chance to see defects which could be improved.
 "So, there before my eyes, I could see the improvement of the thoroughbred going on Men pushed and showed each other and literally tore the clothes from each others backs in their efforts to help improve the thoroughbred. The man who bet $5 that a certain horse would win certain race, knowing that if the horse won the bookmaker would give him $10O for his $5, was not betting because he wanted to win $100. He was above such vulgar desire He was simply giving $5 toward the improvement of the breed of the thoroughbred. If the bookmaker was so pleased with his efforts that he the bookmaker) rewarded the better with $10O, that was simply a side issue.
 In the Grandstand.
 q went to the grand stand. and there saw all sorts and conditions of men and women Hustling about were men whom I learned were called betting commits sioners. These men, like the bookmakers who employed them, were close students and showed plainly the effects of hard study. If person interested in improving the breed of the thoroughbred wished to make a contribution to the bookmakers for that purpose this commissioner would collect the money. He would even tell the person the horse toward the improvement of whose breeding he had best contribute The contributors were many. They in- eluded washerwomen, deimonde. mothers of families and maiden ladies. They came from every walk in life, and one and all they talked of nothing but odds. horses and jockeys But they talked in such a way that I realized that their sole interest was In improving the breed of the thoroughbred.
 "But if, in all these prelminaries, the ruling motive of those around me had been apparent, its strength overwhelmed me when the first race was actually run. As the horses neared the finish line men
 
 jockeys and horses. Come on, you Hot Toddyr they would cry, Come on. you Miern One horse fell and broke his leg. While he was being shot men and women around me called him a eur and a dog I learned that they had contributed sever al hundred dollars to bookmaker to im- prove the breed of this horse. It was not because that they regretted their contri- button would buy an automobile for the bookmaker. It was because that horse, in falling and breaking his leg when he had a good chance to win the race and win for them double their contribution to the bookmaker, had failed to demonstrate any improvement in his breeding The shouts of joy which greeted the winner ot the race I ascertained, were caused not by the fact that those who had contribu- ted toward his improvement had won large sums of money thereby, but because he had demonstrated by defeating another horse that there had been a marked im- provement in the breeding of thorough breds.
 "So it ran until all the races were over, each being a repetition of the first. As l saw repeated on the homeward way the scenes of the track-bound train and heard the race-goers tell how much their win nings and losings had helped to improve the breed of the thoroughbred. the enor- nifty of my mistake came home to me. l had been unjust alike to race-goers and bookmakers.
 "I saw at that track only two persons who were there to get money. They were two Sisters of Mercy. who stood motion ieea on either side of a pillar with out