The Washington times., 1933-07-24
REFINED TONE
. PREVAILS IN
PLACE
BY HARRY COSTELLO

HAGEKSTOWN, Nd, July
A.-'Wagering away from the
racetrack without furtiveness?
ImpOssible!"
Thus speaks the big-city dweller
the big city with it's code of
alleged liberality, said to reflect
the big, broad-minded spirit of
the metropolitan center as op.
posed to the small. narrow-mind.
ed spirit of the tank towns" and
the sticks"
However, the big city dweller is
wrong, dead wrong. Proof posi-
tive that he is wrong is here IN
Hagerstown.
BusybOdies Absent
In this pleasant but aggressive
little city, where busybodies are
conspicuous by their absence,
there is nothing sly, secret IT
stealthy about wagering on horse
races.
In the neighborhood of Fort
Frederick and the bs ttlefields of
Anttetam and Gettysburg, where
once stood old Elizabethtown, and
b in spacious chamber of the
city's most prominent hotel, is a
wagering parlor where, openly
and with honor one may stake
a bet on ones favorite thorough
bred, without embarrassment.
The setting, the environment,
of this parlor is worthy of the
best traditions of the contract of
honor, which a wager really is,
after all. In this bright and airy
room the spirit of the true sports
man is abroad and one catches
that spirit as one studies the
scene before him.
Board Gives Information
On large blackboard, not un-
like the stock list board in a
reputable brokers' office, is writ
ten the data pertaining to the
days racing Neatly done, placed
just so, and with accurate infor
nation posted thereon. this board
Is an artistic success.
A well-modulated voice tells the
always dramatic story of each
race from the signal, They're
Off" to the last stride down the
stretch to the wire.
Men and women, youngsters
never, all of them as conTen,
tional as spectators at a track,
listen with interest and pleasure
as the description of each race
comes to them from the radio
like apparatus in the room.
No DiscOrdant Note
There is not discordant note
In the whole scene.
This" remarks a well-dresSed
young man, obviously a men,
ber of the firm, as he indicates
the scene with sweep of his
hand, "iS not a pOOlrOOm. 1t
is, indeed, an institution of
which we are justly proud.
Temperance and moderation
are here. SpOrtSmanShip is
here. Desirable tone is here.
Most aSsuredly, this is not a
pOOlrOOm!"
Between races sun-tanned
wagerer at a nearby table dis
cusses with his friend and neigh
Dor, likewise a hardy son of the
soil, the points of the modern
thoroughbred the English Shire
stallion, the Clydedale gelding,
the Observation-Disclosures trotter.
Which reminds one to look about
him: not a pale.faced. furtive
tout among the people in the
room!
"Since the earliest dawn of
civilization" observes the clean.
cut, bright-eyed firm member,
man has loved to stake a mod
est wager on his favOrite Steed.
Public misinterpretatiOn of the
whole history of the contract
of honor has given us these
secret pOOlrOOms, where slyness
and stealth are prevalent"
Quickly he sketches the history
of wagering from the time of the
thirty-third Olympiad, 648 B. c.,
down through the years, through
the reign of James I, Queen Anne,
George I, to these modern Gays of
the gallant Equipoise.
"Yes," he concludes, "a wager
Is a contract of honor, and we
conduct this establishment in
an honorable manner"