The Washington herald., 1911-09-24

ne round that Samuel H Hopkins, preSf-
dent Of theS MARYLAND State fair, was
an old and respected citizen Of Laurel.
He has had the largest experience of any
man in Howard County in State and
county fairs, and is one of the larzesr
exhibitors of live stock in the East He
Is also a connoisseur of horses of the
shOw-ring type. Vice President J. Law
renee Clark is a man who also stands
high in the community in which he lives,
as does also G. H. HinChman, secretary
treasurer. Assistant Secretary F. H.
Cashell is one of the most prominent
stock growers in Montgomery County and
is a. wealthy farmer. The honorary board
IS comprised of prominent citizens OF
Anne Arundel. Allegany, Baltimore, Car
roll, Calvert, Caroline, and the other
counties of Maryland Washington. D.
C., is represented on the honorary board
by J. Clarence Moore. James Ross, Ar
thur Peter, Z. E. Jordan, A d. " Bury,
J. Z. Ralph. Gist Blair, Col Joseph Gar
rard, Milton Hogan, and Melvin E.
Hazen.
The man least known of all those con-
nected with the Maryland State fair is
Mr.. H d. Brown, general manager and
race secretary. Born in Denver Colo,
about forty-eight years ago, he has had
large experience in race management
When the fair management, after their
successful fair and race meeting of last
fall, realized that they had a franchise
worth retaining and future worth cul-
tivating, they began to look about for a
race manager who knew his business in
that line from a to 2. and they decided
on Mr.. Brown. : Best of all, Mr.. Brown
had ready capital ito put into the busi-
ness. which, added to his ripe experience
in track and fair management, made him
the one man to ill the bill. Mr.. Brown
possesses an engaging personality. He
is OF brunette complexion, and his eyes
are dark and piercing In stature he is
about five feet ten inches. His manner
IS that of a man born to command. and
he seems capable of managing large en-
terprises. To visitors he is affable, ready
to give information when asked. and is
very much liked by newspaper men.
As a race promoter. Mr.. Brown has
long stood IN the very first ranks. He
is and has long been interested in agri-
cultural matters, and to prove this he
says he will give away p per cent of
1872. and each succeeding year he Will
increase the value of all premiums.
When he first opened the meeting at
Moncrief Park. Jacksonville, Fla. he
promised that each year he would IN
crease the value of all purses, and kept
his word. The Florida Live Stock Agri-
cultural Association gave away through
Mr.. Brown last year S352, 900 in purses
and stakes, the largest amount ever dis
tributed at any winter race meeting His
slogan is, The purses bring the horses
and the horses draw the people" We
talked with some horsemen while at
Laurel who had raced under Mr.. Brown,
and they all liked him. They said that
all horse owners, whether rich or poor.
looked alike to him; they all received
the same uniform good treatment.
Mr.. Brown was interrogated by The
Herald man why he raced in winter His
reply was that he was not as partial to
it as some people seemed to believe. One
strong reason why he raced in the winter
sea son was because il gave a number of
men employment, and because, again., it
gave men who owned runners a greater
earning capacity for their horses and en-
abled them to keep their stables at a les
sened expense, Why he asked, should
horses remain idle from December to
April, and thus eat up in winter what
they made for their owners during the
summer and fall months? It is because
of my views on this question that I am
at present constructing a track near
Cuba, over which horse owners
may race during the winter months. The
center of Havana. As regards the track
and buildings at this point everything
will be reldy on the evening of Septem-
Der 30, and you may positively state in
The Washington Herald that the grounds
will be thrown open to the public on the
morning of October 3
The grounds of the Maryland State
Fair Association were originally the
property of President Samuel H. Hop
kins The land was in most part a
swampy forest. The trees have been
cleared, the bog holes filled. and eleva-
tions removed. The. soil retains just
of moisture to make the mile
track a fast one when the soil settles,
and good one to work horses over. In
constructing the mile ring the old half
mile ring was destroyed. 1t was first
thought that It could be retained, and
efforts were made in that direction.
What is left of the telf-mile track will
be now used for the exhibition of show
ring horses and other live stock. The
ring will be in front of the grand stand
and persons seated there will be able to
see everything that is going on in the
show ring.
From the grand stand every foot OF
the rack track can he viewed by the
guests of the ASSOCIATION. Mr.. Hopkins
said he wished to impress on the minds
of The Washington Herald readers thaI
the AGRICULTURAL exhibit would be one OF
the best ever seen in this section OF the
oountry The live stock exhibit especially
he said, would surpass anything ever
seen in the South, as men were making
entries to 1t as far West as Illinois,
where he had exhibited himself, and
from other Middle West and far Western
States.
The horse show, he said. would also he
an event worth witnessing. There VIII
be jumping contests, and some OF the
best jumpers in the show rings OF the
country would take part. Gen. Allen Mr.
Hopkins said, was at the track feW
iay since and was much interested IN
the plans set forth. and remarked tnat
he expected to attend most of the events;
II would be hard to pick better neio
for steeplechasing than has been iald OUT
At the Laurel track. There VIII oe
Il, Liverpool that will make norses
stretch their necks to cover, and all can
De seen from the grand stand and other
oarts of the track. The Baltimore ana
ohio Railroad lands guests almost atgthe
rates of the grounds