The sun., 1908-12-13
CURRENT SPORTING GOSSIP
STATE RACING TAX SHOWS
FALLING OFF OF SI6S, ,96s.S2.

FALLING OFF OF SI66 ,30S.JS.
Only sss .4Ss.s4 Yielded by the tracks
In This State for. Last Seasons Asso.
Citations. May Refuse to Pay in Order
to Test the $3.50 ,OOO Appropriation
Of.qial figures which have been filed with
the state Comptroller at Albany by John q.
Shea. supervisor Of racing accounts, ahow
Just how the Agnew-Hart antt.bettine law
has affected the turf In the State 0fsNew
York. In 1907 the per cent. tax on the
receipts of all racing associations operat-
! ing In the State under the control Of the
Jockey Club amounted to s146. t3o, 10, or
within t9.27OS4 OF the $3.50. 900 appropriated
by the Legislature last spring for the bene-
At of the county and town fairs. For the
season which closed last November the
tax amounted 10 SIT ,48es4. II the Leeis-
lature should again appropriate t2S0,o00 for
prizes at these fairs. the amount needed
from the State Treasury would be si72.-
533.1e. The difference between the tax
item of last season and that Of 1907 IA $780,
962.s2. This report is of unusual interest
to the turf world, as II shows that as COM
pared with 1907 there was a loss In revenues
to the different racing associatiohs Of
81. .s39, ,246+0. From estimates gathered
elsewhere 1t Ia shown that the falling on In
the value of the purses competed for was
| 81 ,02T. i0i. The tax for this year Is the
lowest since the season OF 1897. and Ii would
probably have been less had it not been for
the fact that the. Agnew-Hart law did not
go into effect until June l2.
1t was reported recently that the racing
associations would refuse to pay the State
tax this year on the ground that the clause
In the racing law which authorized its col
lection is unconstitutional. Several mem
bers OF the JockeysClub have repeatedly
asserted that when the exclusive penalty
provided for in the Percy-Gray law was
repealed by the passage of the Agnew-
Hart bill the tax clause should have been
repealed too. particularly in view of the
special appropriation of s25o.ooo ordered
by the Legislature. All of the racing asso-
Citations are bonded and II they, refuse to
pay the tax for the recent season II viii be
up to the bond companies to carry the matter
to the highest court, it Is said. The Jockey
Clubs attorneys have maintained all along
that the $3.50, 600 appropriation is uneon-
stitutional, so that It looks as II there would
be big legal fight in relation TO this par
ticular point. If, as result of such f1eht
the s25O,OOO appropriation should be de-
clared illegal. the racetrack lawyers say
that the fairs would be wiped out of exist
ence.
Louis Winans, who has just purchased
the two-year-ods Sir Martin and Edward
from John E. Madden. is an American who
has lived In Englod for many years and
has been extensively interested In the
European trotting turf Winsns bought
the wonderful little trotter Silico fromsMad-
den for sS5. 900 two years ago and also pur-
chased Allen Winter. winner Of the Read
vile Trotting Derby, last fall Sir Martin
I'm .ISak- - e,l.l -
England next Saturday.
| 4. B. Dade. the well known starter; says
that racing in Canada has @ brilliant future.
| He says that all of the tracks In Canada
will OFFER valuable stakes next year and
| that the Windsor track will be practically
| rebuilt ..'s
But for the fact that the clubhouse and
| grand stand are still standing nobody
visiting the site Of the former Brighton
Beach racetrack these days would believe
sied there for Hf rich purses. se' The The fence along
| the Ocean Boulevard has been torn down.
while only few feet Of the field stand re-
! up. streets have been laid out in vafious
directions and the track itself has disap-
Peared entirely II is I'M understood @ s that the
the other tracks and that the clubhouse
! will be removed TO an adjacent plot to be
turned into restaurant.
| The ten round bout between Abe Attell,
the American fea therweight champion,
at Ad wSsst g. Of Milwaukee q dSs Am
satisfactory from the spectators point oi
view. In spite o. the fact that Attell said
seemed to be slow and awkward, losing
many chances TO score points. and before
hs sSd SSd half ns o2d Tss s fSS sse
and did so well that some Of the rinaside
critics declared that he was entitled %, a
good ses aas said drs% Tsd
themselves believe that Atteli Vas not
always looks into he future. re- He has bee,,
accused many times OF purposely putting
up weak argument against an opponent
seq1eniiy another seH pufse %1 WITH Wits Jem a bfis
coll, the. English champion. hos on his
trail, it is believed in some quarters that
Wolgast for the purpose Of fooiing Driscoii
nngside, Atteil takes good care Of himself
that he has suddenly lost his pugiiistic
eklil. Wolgast y only a good second rater.
Judging from his bout here some time ago
trying his best sporting men say that VOL
CAST should have been easily disposed Of
Packey Mcfarland. who will meet Young
Erne in a twenty round battle at New Or
leans on December -. says he will make a
match with Cyclone Johnny Thompson Mt
the lightweight limit. all the way from six
10 twenty-five rounds. Thompson has been
calling Mcfarland a coward, and APsckey |
says he intends TO put nn end TO such abuse.
Joe Cans has been sued by a Baltimore
woman for 5000. In her complaint she !
says that Cans was riding In an automobile |
which ran over her and caused permanent
injuries. -rti ,t |
TO my mind" says Charley. Comiskey, |
owner the White Sox. st, Louis has made |
to Billy sullivan and John King. C,Iiger is !
the best catcher in America. Barring |
these men there has not been q good catcher I
developed In ten years and to-day hrFt |
class backstop Is not only the hardest propo4 |
sition to secure, but he Is more valuable TO |
a ball team than ever before In the history |
OF the game. Looking back, must say |
that catchers like Buck Ewing, Charley 1
Bennett Jack Boyle and Silver Flint have |
never been equalled.
The new rule passed by the American |
League providing for bullets. boardA on |
which the batting order and the changes |
during the game must be posted, has caused |
much favorable comment. Score cards |
as a rule are unreliable. so that spectators |
are often in ignorance as TO the identity |
OF the men who make star plays until they |
read the newspapers after the gaincs. |
The score card men may kick because Of |
the new rule, but they are not the only ones |