Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-10
land, and they were so numerous tina
they didn't interest one.
Applause for Winners.

The races were conducted very much
| like ours at home. and in the last
one, as is usually the case. the horses
were ridden by their owners. There was
| field of sixteen, which caused a great
deal Of confusion and delay at the start
| ing post. and helter-skelter scramble
along the track. Some of the gentlemen
riders didn't come in at all: others were
| distanced, and the winners were greeted
with tremendous applause by their
| friends and acquaintance, although very
little enthusiasm was shown over the or
receive demonstration such as we con-
slider essential in the United States.
| Mr.. Croker had two entries and should
| have won the second race. but Lucius
| Lyme. his Kentucky Jockey, as the papers
| declared the following morning. went to
sleep. He led the field easily all the way
around and was cantering toward the
wire without any show OF speed when
took and overlapped him by a nose. AS
Cookers horse was the favorite. with
long odds, considerable Indignation was
expressed. He could have won the race
without an effort-or at least that Is what
| the men who lost their money on him
| say.
| Mr.. Croker has introduced some Ameri-
can novelties. Distances are SO short in
Ireland and the race courses are so
numerous and near together that the
| along the regular highway from one to
the other; but Mr. Croker has built a
| handsome car, fitted out with all the mod
| ern American conveniences with Sleep
ing hunks for his grooms and wardrobes
| for them to hang their liveries in. He
| moves his racers from course to course
| in that way. The car is handsomely
| painted with his colors, which are blue
and gold.
Everybody Bets.
Everybody bets on the races over here.
There Is no prohibitory law like that
which Gov. Hughes has recently. secured
with great difficulty from the legislature
| of New York, and that which Congress
! enacted at the late session for the pro-
| motion of peace and probity in the Dis
trict of Columbia. Any one who has
studied the subject is well aware that
| the bOOkmakers are responsible for half
the petty larceny. grand larceny. defal-
cation and embezzlement in the United
States, but I don't hear any complaint Of
that sort on this side of the water. 1t is
difficult to understand why it is so. Bet
ting is general. one might almost say uni
versal. Even many Of the bishops and the
clergy do not realize the sinfulness OF
| stalking a few shillings upon a horse race,
and the way in which the pink sporting
supplements to the newspapers are grab
bed on the streets by people in sha bby
garments indicates that the submerged
| section of the population feel an eager
| interest in the results of the races. An
ordinary observer would infer that an
equal number of people stake a similar
amount of money In the United King
dom and in the United States, but there
seems to be no harm done here; or at least
not enough to provoke the ban of the law.
| On the contrary, betting is regulated.
| Bookmakers are all licensed by the gov
eminent, and if they do not conduct their
business honestly or II they transgress
| the proprieties in any way their privileges
are taken away from them.
The Bookmakers.
They were scattered here and there
among the spectators on the Leopards-
town course. but there is evidently q rule
requiring them to occupy a fixed place,
| because each of them stood upon a mat
| or a little wooden platform or a wagon
cushion and never stirred from the spot.
| Some of them were dressed in a very
| conspicuous manner, indicating their indi-
viduality, suppose. or carrying out some
| fad. One wore a bright orange suit that
could have been seen a mile or two;
another was in brilliant blue. a peculiar
shade Of that color had never seen be-
fore, and his cap was Of the same ma
terial. Another was in white duck, with
his name painted in large fancy red let
! tiers across his shoulders and across his
breast. Each bookmaker wore sash
! upon which his name was plainly painted
for Identification, as we'll as the number
| Of his license. Hence we knew that Mike
| Kelley, Joe Matterson, Timothy Burke,
Patrick Sarsfieid. George Bevers and
others, no doubt famous in their profess
| sion, were present.
They were all In the open air In front
of the stand. and each bookmaker had
| nook-a large one-in which he noted
every bet az it was made, and gave the