Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-08-04

| meeting they will put on. This is 1,250
tickets for each days' racing They
have figured this proposition down to
the last cent. They intend, if they de-
| eide TO come in here, to put on y
| races, each one for $500 purse That
will cost them IS 900 and half of that
| should De paid in by the horse men in
entry fees. They will depend upon
| patronage to make up the remaining
$4,000.
They believe Rock Island is ripe for
good. first class race meeting and
| IL they can put on this one this fall
and the people will show by their pat
ronage that they desire good, clean
races, Messrs. Jones and Kenney will
use their influence to secure dates and
make this town the opening one of the
Great Western circuit in 1916. Surely
IL means a great deal to the people of
this town to have this opportunity to
come into this big circuit, the second
largest in the United States.
How Dubuque Boosts.
During the last days racing in Dav-
export, Mr.. Kenney was met by COM
mittee of six men from Dubuque, Iowa,
representing Greater Dubuque Travel =
ing Mems association, telling Mr.. Ken
ney they liked the class of races he
was putting on and wanting to know
what they could do to boosts his Du-
buque meeting scheduled to take place
the last week in August. AS a result
of the conference they have instruct
ed every one of their men travelin g
out of Dubuque to boost this meeting.
They asked Mr.. Kenney if he would
consent to putting a circular, adver-
Using the meeting, in every letter
mailed out of Dubuque between now
and the date of the races. Mr.. kenney
replied 1T would be a great help, but
l haven't nerve enough to ask it of
you" Before they returned home,
however, they told Mr.. Kenney they
would have 1000 such circulars print
ed and see that one was inclosed in
letters going out of their town. This
is only TO show what other towns of
the same class and size as Rock Island
are doing to help along in this game,
realizing that good live race meeting
is the biggest boost a town can have.
Dubuque has further promised Mr..
kenney that one day during his races
there, will be declared a half holiday
and all the stores and factories of the
city will be closed. Mr.. Penney asked
that this be done on Tuesday, the
first day of the meeting, so the people
would have an opportunity to see the
first days races and if they were not
satisfied, they could tell their friends
to stay away, or if they Tired them,
could boost and help.
Purses Higher Here.
The towns in this immediate 1ocali-
~ that hold county fairs only give
purses of $500. Mr.. Kenney proposes
to give purses of $500 for each race
here This assures the people that the
best class of half mile horses will he
entered This meeting will come
shortly after the meeting at Knoxville
and Aledo and the week after the
meeting in Peoria There will be sew
eral hundred race horses within a ra-
dius of 100 miles Of Rock Island and
no other town in Illinois or Iowa hold
ing race meeting that week.
If the people of this town should
desire, it can be arranged to hold
night horses show. The grounds at
the Exposition park are wired for
electricity and it will be no trouble
to arrange for this show at the time
they are arranging for the races.
Galesburg holds night horse show in
connection with its district fair and in
the past it has proven second only to
the shows held in Chicago and Denver.
In the past Rock Island has been
good sport town. Now is the time TO
break into the racing game and ulti-
mately give the people Of Rock Island
the best class of races. It will require
little get-together spirit on the
part Of the people who wish to boost
the town. It would require just
little effort toward organization and
the sale of the tickets, which should
be an easy matter.
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