Evening star., 1926-05-23
MEN AND AFFAIRS
BY ROBERT r. SMALL.

place of Penrose, Of Quay and o5
Cameron.
Representative Ware. who in No
vember will be elected to Senator. has
assumed the role of State diCtatol
Whether he will be able to hold II
remains to be seen. He does not
measure up TO any of his predecessors
Mr.. Mellon soon may. retire TO private
life. Perhaps he will be glad. after
all. that the mantle of Pennsylvania
leadership did nGt fall upon him. Il
is an uneasy head that wears tht
keystone crown of the &. @. =.
+ = = ::
Under the brief and impersona
heading. Race Track Official Dies.
there was told in the news dis
patches of Thursday the story OF III"
passing of IL true Southern gentlemal
Of the old school, Col Andrew Vennic
Of Louisville, Ky. Col VeInie was E.
gracious host ut Churchill Downs
where on Saturday of last week h.
had superintended all the arrange
nents for the running Of the tifty-se'
ond Kentucky Derby.
The colonel had not been as hale
and hearty as usual for some time
but on Derby day he told all Of his
friends he never had felt better H.
his life. These friends had come from
the far corners of the country. Thel
had come with the knowledge tha,
Col. Vennie, with the hospitality Of
the old South. would greet them with
Kind words and kind deeds Those
VINO knew him best were aware thai
no trip to Louisville would he com
plete without q visit 10 Col. Nenric
home and the mixing of an old-fasl
ioned mint julep from the very hes
of kentucky's rapidly vanishing stoCl
OF pre-war Bourbon
To Col. -Nennie the mixing OF thi>
! julep was a ceremony. To his friends
it was the highest of compliments
Sometimes the julep requires an hou,
in the making. to get the flavor jus
right and to get the proper amouut
/ Of flOstinS on the glass. II was y,
ilbation To he approached with revei
ence. IT breathed OF the old Kei
! tucky days. To partane of such n
| decoction was as far removed from
! the indisCriminate guZZling of tit
| modern days as nectar is from neal
! beer.
| COL. Nennie lived with Col. Mai,
I Winn, vice president and general maj
ager Of the Kentucky Jockey Club.
/ The two ColOnels We're insepara blp
ana DOtn We're Il part and parcel Ot
! Kentucky racing and all that is bes;
ON the latter-day American turf. With
! Col. Nennie, racing was a game o.
| love. Blessed with ample means. he
could have led retired and peaceful
| life, but he loved the crowds and the
| thoroughbreds and the excitement o.
| the turf. Louisville on Derby day will
| not seem the same without him. IL
| Col. Nennie there has passed a kind
ly. gentle soul which cannot be 70
placed.
x i :; Z
The writer recalls that. on Derby
day. Col. Nennie. gazing i'll wondcr
at the vast crowd a Churchill Downs
was immensely amused at one racing
enthusiast, who literally had hanged
himself in order to be sure of getting
an unobstructed view of the famed
Kentucky racing classic. The mar
brought a looped rope with him TO the
track. lie had passed the loop undei
his arms. had tied the loose end OF
the rope TO the mezzanine balcony o.
the grandstand and deliberately HAD
suspended himself over the heads o:
the spectators on the lawn. There he
dangled. swinging 10 and fro in the
breeze, with a pair of field glasses il
one hand and a racing program il
the other. In all his years of racing
the colonel avowed he never before
had seen SO desperate an enthusiast
fCupyright 1926