The Adair County news., 1919-12-17

Possible as Matter of Sound Policy
in Its Relation to National Defenss.
AT no time in the course of the last
fire years, not even While the great
war was at its height, did the Cen,
trail Empires stop the racing of thor
Ou"hbred horses. The great tracks AT
Hamburg, Buda Pest. Vienna and Ber-
lin were the scenes of brilliant gather
ings, even when the Grand Duke Nicl-
Olas- WAS threatening East PrusSi:,
With invasion and Brueilof was on the
edge of the plains of Hungary with hi.
wild COSsack riders. At no time dur
ing the course of the great war wer,'
American and English trainers anG
Jockeys, who had been caught by til"
declaration of war in Germany and
Austria-Hungary and were unable to
obtain passports. informed. They were
permitted by governments their gov
ernments were seeking to destroy tC
pursue their accustomed callings un-
mOlested and unrestrained.
To a certain extent racing was cur
tailed in Great Britain during the frs,
two years Of the great war. The Use
of the famous Epson Downs course
rs a resting place for convalescing sol
GierS necessitated The running of the
famous British. Derby at Newmarket
IN 1914. 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1918. The
preOccupatiOn of the spOrtsmen OF
Great Britain in the business of war
caused them, to a certain extent, TO
1916 and 1917, and Americans were
enabled to slip in and buy up a lot of
first-class stations and mares with
which to enrich the American thor
OugEbred industry.
France Alone Stops Racing.
OF the great nations participating in
the great war, France alone felt the
necessity of stopping horse racing
Threatened with utter destruction in Il
food OF Teutonic barbarism, France
had to send to the fighting lines on rhe
Marine, the SOlnme, the AiSne about
Verdun, in the VOsges, every mali
Frenchman capable Of bearing arms.
Back of the fighting lines she had to
mobilize the elderly men with the
women and children for the imperativ"
work Of making munitions. Upon
France alone fell the burden Of resist
ing the German tide for upward of two
: years. Throughout the course of the
war speed tests were held at the grea
French tracks, but not as public spec
tacles. But there was no letting down
Of the bars as regards the expectation
from France of thoroughbred blood
any time during the war. As a special
consideration citizens of the United
States, a country from which the
French, from the very beginning of th.,
war, were drawing enormous quaint
ties of military material, who had thor
Oughbred studs inf France, such men as
John Sanford, Of Amsterdam, Major
August Belmont, Joseph E. Widener
and Thomas P. ThOrne, were permit
ted, when transportation was availG-
BILE, to ship to the United States a lin
tied number of thoroughbred yearlings.
NO matured thoroughbred stations or
males were allowed to leave the eoun-
try, whether their owners were French
men or outlanders.
With the signing of the armistice
France and England resumed racing
with racteriStic enthusiasm. The
attendance at the race tracks about
Paris has been greater this season
than in any for the Period of half a
dozen years preceding the outbreak OF
the great war. The crowds that wit.
messed the running of the Derby, the
Oaks, the Ascot Gold Cup, the Leger
etc, in Great Britain, were greater by
the thousands than the greatest OF
ante-bellum race track gatherings.
Sport Encouraged in Europe.
In France and Great Britain the pat
ronage of horse racing, by the public
has the highest government encourage
.ment now as the support Of racing had
in Germany and Austria Hungary ever
through the dark months when human
beings were finding it difficult to OBJ
tain nourishing food. France and Eng
land recognize today as Germany ant
Austria-Hungary have for many day:
the indispensibility of thoroughbred
blood to national defense and neces
sity Of thoroughbred horse racing fol
the maintenance at its highest efticien
cy of thoroughbred blood.
For upward of seventy years previ
Gus to the beginning of the great wal
the military governments Of continent
al Europe had been maintaining thor
Oughbred studs for the production OF
military horses. ali earlier century o.
experimentation having demonstrates
To the satisfaction Of experts that 4
was the horse that boosted of tn,
greatest proportion of thoroughbred
blood that showed the highest efficien
cy in military service, whether as {
troopers mount, an artillery horse o.
part of the transport service. Th'
great war had not progressed tw,