Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-09
KEEPING THEM POSTED

"All of this talk lately about the inveR-
ton of some scheme whereby the spec
tators at ball games can be informed. by
signals of the umpire or an electrically
manipulated indicating board. whether the
umpire has called ball or strike re-
minds me that the exploiters OF the big
races don't appear to take much pains to
give the people patronizing them any idea
of what is actually going on" observed
the man with the raveled stogie.
Now, take the racing game. How many
people at race track ever know where
the horse they have played is In a race at
any stage of IT, except the finish? About
one In 500, should say. That's about the
proportion of people who go to race tracks
with field glasses-One in 500. And it isn't
any cinch that all of the people with field
glasses always follow the race intelligently.
They can't be expected to know all of the
colors. and are bound to get them mixed
up. I've often asked fellows with field
glasses focused on the horses to tell me
what horse was out in front. and they
couldn't tell me, merely because they didn't
know. They only had an eye through the
glasses for the horse they were playing
themselves. and for none of the others.
Standing in the grand stand or on the
concrete space or lawn in front OF the
stand, not one man in hundred can
watch the progress of race with any
real UNDERSTANDING OF what Is coming OH.
Maybe he can see the colors of the horse
he Is himself playing If he has a keen
pair Of eyes, but most generally he can't.
All hands crowd forward and crane their
are Off, but, as I say, very few of them
actually see the relative positions Of the
horses at the various stages of the journey.
All that most people who visit race tracks
see is the finish-the few bounds right at
the end of the race, and, even then, a
great many of them, not thoroughly ia
miliar with the colors, can't really tell the
order In which the horses have finished un-
til the numbers are posted.
On strafghtaway courses, of which
there are many in New York, even the
fellows with the glasses have great diff
ficulty in following the progress of a race,
perts who know all Of the colors and have
been at the game for years. are able TO
pick out the flying horses as they sweep
down these straightaway tracks.
when race is on at Benning, for in
stance, every man is asking his neighbor.
from the instant the They're OFF, cry
goes. Who's in 'front.' and Where's So
and-So? and What's that mutt out in front
colors anywhere near the front?' and all
that sort Of thing. Most of them turn
away completely disguised with their I'M
availing efforts to find out anything about
the progress of the race while it is on, and
simply await dumbly the time when the
horses get to the sixteenth pole, when they
hope by the exercise of good deal of
sharpness of vision. or by overhearing the
comments of some knowing ones to find
out something about the running.
ut Is really an invisible game. racing as
it is now carried on, to all intents and pur
poses. so far as the vast majority of race
track visitors are concerned.
why. then. shouldn't some scheme be
put in operation to remedy this condition
of things?
at would be almost absurdly easy. at
hot rlnar, - -
fellow with bull voice could manipulate
huge megaphone from the judges stand
or from any position directly in front of the
grand stand. Alongside of this chap could
be one of the experts who is familiar with
all of the colors. and he could tip the mega
phone man off to the relative positions
of. the first three horses in the race at
every stage of it from beginning to end,
just the race is called off in pool rooms
The plan may sound undignified and all
that, but I'm laying Il good hat that about
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS of the people who
visit Benning would appreciate such an ar
rangement. a hull heap. all the same. 1t
would do away with the necessity for one
to prod his neighbors and ask fool ques-
tiOns about the running that the neighbor
doesn't know any more about than the
prodder, and 1t would give everybody q
chance to know just where their bets stand
and how they stand from beginning to fin
ish. Cabbage at the three-quarters by
length and going easy, Carrots second by
d iidtl-leASlH anu curling up. SmOkerlnO
third'-thats, the way they do 1t in pool
rooms. and you'll find many a keen rae
Ing man who has been with the game most
Of his life who will tell you that he infinite
ly prefers to play the horses in a well-set-
up poolroom than at a race track on ac-
count of the superior comfort Of it and be-
cause when it is announced that the horses
are off in race he knows that he is going
to get better description of the race than
he could possibly get even If he were at
the track.
Its the nifty scheme. and 1 think the
track people ought to see 1T. Regards to
Sim Walton. Please write"