20 MEMOIR. 



their holiday, and they took as much pride in keeping up 

 the standard as the New York Yacht Club has in retain- 

 ing the America's cup. It was the good old spirit for 

 genuine sport that carried Col. Edwards to the front in 

 Cleveland, and it is with regret that I see this spirit on 

 the decline, the tendency to-day being towards shorter 

 races and increased speculation. Such a course, especially 

 the latter, is beset with danger, for without a big grain of 

 sentiment, harness racing can never retain the popular 

 support which was given it in the old days when the 

 names of Goldsmith Maid and Dexter were household 

 ivords, and when every slip of a lad with a hobby-horse 

 or a sled, designated it with a name that had become 

 prominent on account of record-breaking performances. 

 "In the thirty years that have elapsed since the Quad- 

 rilateral was founded, twenty-four cities have, at differ- 

 ent times, been members of the Circuit. Cleveland is the 

 only one that has given a meeting each year in member- 

 ship. Buffalo has, with two exceptions, given a meeting 

 each season. Three of them were not in the Circuit, al- 

 though two of the three were held on its old dates the 

 first week in August. Utica skipped twice before it 

 dropped out in 1888, after a clash with Poughkeepsie, its 

 grounds being sold for a public institution. Springfield 

 failed to hold meetings in 1878, 1879 and 1882, and aban- 

 doned the idea of future meetings after the reform move- 

 ment in 1893. Rochester raced regularly from 1875 to 

 1896, while Poughkeepsie held but seven Grand Circuit 

 meetings between 1877 and 1894. Hartford, as has been 

 stated, was admitted in 1876, and is still a member. In 

 1893 the Charter Oak Park stakes were decided at Fleet- 

 wood Park, New York, while in 1895 and 1896 the gates 

 were closed. New York was given a week in 1877, but 



