The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-01-20
Ry j. S. a. A1AcnoNALD.

NEW ORLEANS. LA. Jan. l9.-Like the
soldiers of fortune are to be pitied when
they strike along the shoals of ill-luck
here in New Orleans, hundreds of miles
/ away from friends and succor In the
| North. From distance the wlll-o'-the-
! Wisp life OF the professional race track
| follower is tinged with the glowing color
| of romance, but now really different 1t all
/ is when one gets close to the game. II Is
! Impossible to come to New Orleans during
! the second part of the long Winter
campaign without realizing how extremely
! hard is the lot OF the race track nc'er-do-
well. Years ago the average Creole citizen
met with a warm heart the entreatles OF
the man who, having gone broke on the
ponies. was obliged 10 seek assistance.
Then came q scourge of mposters until
nowadays, the unfortunate professional
who falls upon lean days sometimes act
ually staryes to death unless the charity
of one of his kind can be availed. OF course
| this is a circumstance not confined 10 this
! city. for it is just as hard to strike on
| ones feet in San Francisco or anywhere
| else when onco you go down for n fall.
| When the Winter campaign opens up dur
| ing Thanksgiving week the great, hordes
I Of owners, trainers, Jockeys bookmakers,
| clerks, touts, tipstcrs and bobtail hangers
! on come 10 town fairly well staked How
ever. they soon find the sporting season
! an expensive one, each day wearing down
/ the little bank roll. until u series of losing
| bets lands the average one of them on the
I reef of Norman's Woe. Then ensues a
| wild, frenzed scramble for a daily eX-
| istcnce until the balmy breath of early
| March days betokens the welcome NOM
cnt of departure for richer and more
| familiar pastures at Washington, and
along the line at Memphis and Nashville.
AS the days Of the latter half of the
winter arrive the unfortunates grow des-
| perate. Then the city newspapers arc
brimful of sensational police stories.-a
race track man fallen by the wayside
generally playing the principal role in
the little drama. Some or the best
stories and richest experiences related by
! turf folks have TO do with the broken
| guys here in New Orleans of winter,
This winter the crop is a bit more
luxuriant than usual, for the hotel clerks
say the all-night loungers in the lobbies
were never before so numerous, while a
live one" with money in his clothes is
| generally beset by his friends, as soon as
he leaves the City Park or Fair Ground
! gates. with the fury of a famished wolf
pack tearing to shreds the fallen traveller.
+, Since the opening of the season back in
| November hundreds and hundreds of men
and women. who came to town flush Of
pocket then, have gambled off their
money and must now do the best they
may until the exodus to the summer
/ fields. And what they do and who they
+ do Is story which can be told only In
chapters
Z, Talking to member of the Down and
Out Club" the other night, he said to me-:
do you know there are 1000 broken fell
lows in town this present minute? TO get
a meal day is more than the average
one expects; to grab two is a bit of luck
and to enjoy three straight is positive lux
ury. You know 'Famishing Flynn? Well
he introduced q gang of the fellows to a
joint up on Rampant Street The proprie-
tor used to be n bum himself, and is now
well-to-do. He sees no one so short on a
meal and warm place to kill out the
long. weary nights. At first two or three
guys would drop around. Now there are
twenty The saloon man takes a personal
interest in each one. IIe gets to know
their names, and wishes up as to Just
how they came to be buns and l don't
believe he would object If twenty more
made his place n temporary home. At
midnight he puts on soup for us fell
lows, and after we've all got around q
bowl or two, why, he comes into the cir
Gle and discusses the entries for the next
day and argues with us rs If we We're
going to bet $1,000 on n good thing. But,
say-it is real charity, and II any of the
fellows do we'll after hiking away from
here in the spring. you can bet the old
soup thrower won't be overlooked any
| One of the. curious sights of the New
| Workers is that of Billy Grayan, the
od-time Gravescnd horse owner and
bookmaker (ho was a power years ago
on the Maspeth, l.. j. olectriczlight
course), hawking tips on Canal Street
| to the crowds taking cars for the race
track, "Biddy' Cornish, who made $780,
, 600 in the gct-rich-quick BOOM is here
this winter as he was three winters ago
, when he held out in a suite Mt the ST.
EtCharles. "Biddy" Is a modest rubber
: for $50 n month in Nose Goldblatt's
stable out at the fair grounds. Then
: none of tho sports from Washington D.
, c., or Baltimore, Md, here on tho ground
) but will find smile wreathing up their
faces as they contemplate the vicissl-
tlldes of little "E'reddle" isa dapper little
man who year ago was satisfied and
happy at SIS q week in the Treasury
, Department at the Capitol. One day at
, Pimlico he parlayed $40 note into q
, small fortune Nothing would do but
III Scnarff tries uoolSmalling q few days
later at Rennings with the newly nc-
CURED pankroll. Ills luck stayed With