The Washington herald., 1914-09-20

~
fair with a racing attachment Trotting
tracks, East, West, and South. have null
tiplIed faster. than horses ut to race.
East OF the Great Lakes. on the Grand
Circuit. there has been this year lam
entable lact Of horses. The Grand
Circuit Is the dreaded Molock, in that
1t deyours nearly all that Is best In rae
ing horsehesh. for the pace Is swift and
flesh and blood have their Limitations.
Nor is there a near prospect that con-
ditions viii be remedied. Comb as Mnr-
ply, Cox. Geers and others do each
year who race the big rings, the two
lappers, and the breeding. plants for rae
ing material, the demand Is far greater
than the supply Of horses that come mp
to their Standard And. even when all
that seems desirable is accomplished by
them, or they think is accomplished. only
very few out Of the lot prove TO be
what they thought they were. Sickness.
lameness accidents, or lack Of speed
intervene, or some wollly horse from the
tall weeds, driven by bewhiskered Rube
from the hoop-pole region. unexpectedly
appears and gets their goat
While the American trotting bred
horse entertains the public some three
or four months each year. and furnishes
the rural folk a vacation of a few days
from the hard grind OF the farm, his
running brother-in-blood. like the poets
brook, goes on, forever. In summer end
in winter. in snow and in mud. In hail
and in sleet. he tolls on for the lion
man." the festive bookmaker, and for
the gambler who tolls not, neither does
he spin. and Solomon in all his glory Is
not arrayed like him. In all seasons and
In all climes-from the Saskatchewan
to the more torrid zone OF Mexico, the
thoroughbred scintilates with more or
less briIlIancy AS a specimen Of the
mentality of man. still strongly endowed
with primordiaI instincts, he is, after 80
years of scientific development, the most
perfect equine racing machine that has
thus far been produced.
Pity it is that he. too frequently, is
used for ignoble purposes, and has be-
come the tool Of men who only prize him
when he gallops home in front with the
money they have posted on him. over
in nearby Maryland men of means, and,
other men who should have q wiser re-
gard for the future of racing in that
State. are doing their best to Kill racing
sport Pimlico Is not enough for them 10
race over; Laurel is not sufficient to sat-
isfy their greed; Havre de Grace does
not give them sufficient opportunities 10
satisfy their passion for betting, but
they must needs construct another run
ming track at Bowie-near the back door
of the National Capital Do these men
who so boldly defy the public sentiment
Of communities: who so fiagrantly out
rage the moral and religious sentiment
! of church and school, imagine that thess
people are going to stand for long all
| these merry-Go-rounds?
80
Passing from matters comparatively
| foreign to subjects more local, We OF the
\ District of Columbia are not so slow In
! light harness affairs as some OF our
] daily newspapers would have the public
believe. The truth is that the inhabi-
| tants OF the District have been so COM
/ pleteIy submerged with baseball news on
| the part of sporting editors. that light
harness racing at this point has been
neglected save by enc paper-The wash
| ington Herald. Even important events
! on the Grand Circuit have been tossed
| into the waste basket. on occasions, or