54 HISTORYOFTHE 



street-cars, vehicles, equestrians and pedestrians. They came in 

 all sorts of ways, from the dusty and perspiring footman to 

 the elegant and flashy tally-ho, drawn by four prancing horses. 

 It reminded one of the Irishman's witty paraphrase of an old 

 couplet, 



"Some ride in chaises, 



And some walk, be-jases." 



Long before the hour for the first race the grand stand and 

 surrounding grounds were a solid mass of restless but good- 

 natured humanity, all on the qui vive for the sport so near at 

 hand. Locomotion was the next thing to impossible, and those 

 not content to remain in one place had a formidable undertaking 

 in trying to get around. Over in the center-field a similar condi- 

 tion of affairs existed. For more than a quarter of a mile 

 fronting the grand stand the inner rail was hugged by a hetero- 

 geneous mass of humanity, made up of men, women and children, 

 white and blacks all bent upon getting the best position possible 

 under the circumstances irrespective of the rights of others. Fur- 

 ther back, a line of vehicles, every available inch occupied by a 

 sightseer, extended nearly the entire distance of the back-stretch, 

 so that only occasional glimpses of the horses could be caught by 

 the occupants of the pressstand, upon whom those not present 

 depended for an accurate description of the races. 



And it might be appropriately asked, what was the attraction 

 that drew all this concourse of people to the same spot? What 

 was it that made them endure for five hours all the discomfitures 

 that surrounded them? It was not for the purpose of specu- 

 lating on the results, for not one-tenth of those who were there, 

 bet, or attempted to bet, or had any desire to do so. It was 

 that inborn love of sport, that can be found in the hearts of the 

 majority of men. It is the greatest compliment that can be paid 



