NINETEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART III 131 



tended over quite a long time — something like this: If you take an average 

 of the county fairs that, say, hang up about three thousand dollars in 

 purses, and take it one year with another, it is going to cost that county 

 fair about 50 per cent of the original purse they put up. They give eight 

 purses of $400 each, that would be $3,200, and it would cost $1,600 to put 

 on those races. They get back about 50 per cent on that purse. The 

 question is whether the average county fair can afford to put up that 

 $3,200 and give it outright without any deductions. Of course, they use 

 the argument that if we hire vaudeville acts, we pay them as much, and 

 we don't ask any deductions for putting on the acts. That is true, and 

 I think you will all bear me out in the statement that horse racing is 

 one of the best acts we have at the county fairs. There is no question 

 about that, because we all know that when it rains and the horses cannot 

 run we have no grand-stand on that day, in spite of the performance of 

 the vaudeville acts. I was figuring it up in my own mind along this 

 line: Take a $400 purse as a basis, — if we reduce that to, say, $200, that is 

 what it would cost the association; but suppose, instead, we offered a 

 $200 purse and all entrance money, and suppose we make the entrance 

 fee $10 and there were ten entries in that race, — that would be $300, with 

 no deductions. On a basis of that kind that would give the race within 

 $60 of what the original offer of $400 would give, with 5 per cent to enter 

 and 5 per cent deducted. 



I am very sorry that Mr. Curtin is not here this morning, because he 

 had a paper on that very subject in Chicago, which was very well gotten 

 up. He had it all figured out, what it would cost all the associations, and 

 so on. In the matter of. overcharge for stall rent and hay, overcharge 

 for drayage to and from the fair grounds, and such matters. Those are 

 pretty hard propositions for the fair to take up and control, but I think 

 there ought to be some arrangement made whereby we could be a little 

 more lenient to the horseman. , 



In regard to the suggestion I made about offering a $200 purse, that 

 would necessitate every fellow entered to pay $10, and with ten or twelve 

 entries it would add quite a bit to the size of the purse. And that in turn 

 would necessitate the management getting the entry fee when the horse 

 is entered, else the man that won the money would come to get his purse 

 and you v/ould have only a part of the purse, because all the horsemen 

 hadn't paid their entrance fee. You would tell him that, but he would 

 say, "It's your business to see that they do pay. I am entitled to so much 

 money on this race," and he would be in the right about it too. 



I haven't got any suggestion to make of a definite nature on this propo- 

 sition, but I would like to hear something more from the members present 

 as to what they think of it. I am simply bringing the matter up for dis- 

 cussion. It is a question of how far we can go in offering purses to the 

 horsemen. The other features of the fourteen points are just regarding 

 the horsemen's interest, and things of that kind, and that is what they 

 have to work out in Chicago when they have their meeting. But the 

 question for this association is just how far, and to what extent, we can 

 be liberal with the fellow that comes to our fair to race. ^ 



The Chairman: Gentlemen, in connection with this discussion there 

 is some valuable matter in this report of the county and district fairs for 



