Evening Star Newspaper, October 17, 1936, Page 15

Books— Art—Music he Foening SHtas, WASHINGTON, D. FEATURES C, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1936. News of Churches PAGE B—1 BEHIND THE SCENES AT MARYLAND’S RACE:- TRACKS SPORT OF KINGS IS A BIG BUSINESS Task of Handling Millions, Maintaining Huge Plants, and Educating Thoroughbreds Is One That Keeps Hundreds Busy—State One of First to Sponsor Racing. First Charter of Club Preserved Here. By Gene Day. AFEGUARDED as a historic relic in the archives of the Congressional Library is a 106- year-old document of interest to every District racing fan—the origi- nal charter of the Maryland Jockey Club, Despite the fact that organized racing existed close to the National Capital some 90 years prior to official recognition of that “magna charter of the turf,” it well served its destiny, after adoption, as a primary rule book. Some of its regulations, how- ever, would be as in appropriate to- day as hoop skirts and bustles at a White House reception. For example, there is a provision that: “All mem- bers and their families shall pass the gate free, and all who are not mem- bers shall pay the foilowing tolls, viz: For every four-wheel carriage, 100 cents; for every gig, cart, two- wheel carriage and man on horse- back, 75 cents; for every person on foot, 25 cents. “The stewards shall wear & white rose or some other distinctive badge. It shall be their duty to attend on the course, preserve order, clear the track and keep off the crowd from horses coming to the stand after the elose of a heat. They may employ able-bodied men to assist them. The three judges in the starting stand shall keep that stand clear of any intrusion during the pendency of & heat and also see that the riders are dressed in jockey style—to wit, jockey cap, silk jacket, pantaloons and half boots. There shall be two distance judges and three patrol judges, who shall repair to the judge's stand after each heat and report the nags that are distanced, and foul riding, if there be any.” Now, once more the maws of Mary- fand's parimutuels are disgorging gold to the lucky. Jockeys, garbed in woolen and rubber garments, by dint of roadwork have pared away those creases of flesh which formerly adorned their waistlines. The rail birds are jumping out of bed at chanticleer's first call in order to watch sunrise trials of promising fillies or big-boned geldings. Bettors are hatching out new hunches and trying revised systems of picking the win- ners. Brisk, crisp autumnal days, with the countryside and woods garbed in rainbowlike raiment, lure throngs to the nearby race tracks. And right here let's digress long enough to give credit where it is due. All of us have heard the fame of Vir- ginia and Kentucky as superlative horse raising and racing States ever since we were big enough to compre- hend. Maryland seemingly drew a bye in all such chatter. Rightfully, Maryland rates at the van. The Mary- land Jockey Club was in operation 30 years before the Declaration of Inde- pendence was signed. Maryland was raising bangtails and holding races as early as 1740. Four more track sea- sons and Maryland will celebrate her bicentennial of the dynasty of King Thoroughbred. TA MONG the first to subscribe to the Maryland Jockey Club after it was chartered was Gen. Andrew Jackson, gpectacular Old Hickory. He was al ways interested in the improvement of | American horses by. the use of better blood and systematic selection. Just one other reference to ye olden days before your correspondent dives into a description of what goes on backstage at the modern Maryland tracks. In browsing through old files of the Congressional Record, he noted that on October 24, 1877, Congress ad- journed in order that the lawmakers could journey by tallyho, six-in-hand, surrey, coach, trap, one-hoss shay and rail to Pimlico to watch a 2';-mile race, weight for age, between Parole, Ten Broeck and Tom Ochiltree, grand champions of the American turf. Twenty thousand spectators, an out- pouring of the population for those days, cheered the thrilling victory of Parole in en almost blanket finish. A dozen smooth-stepping steeds line up across the track. The veteran starter, who has sent them away in 15,000 races, watches the field closely, ready when the line-up is exactly right to signal the rise of the barrier. Tense Interest grips the many thousands in the stands. A few tardy bettors charge toward the betting windows to place their wagers before the deadline. Then the peal of the bell—they're off! Horses strain and lengthen out. Ball- like bunches of muscle show where none previously was apparent. The thunder of flying hoofs synchronizes with the ‘spatter of pellets of clay and Joam sprayed from the moist-surfaced track as the racers plunge and stride *into high.” Unseen by the average spectator and unknowri to the majority, an electri- cal timing device goes into action with the break of the barrier. It plots its precise messages of the flight of the 7 split seconds as the shifting field of flying thoroughgreds round the first turn of the carefully manicured track. Brilliant colors flash in the bright sun- light, jockeys clamped to their steeds like rivet heads in boiler plate, horses drawing in air oxygen and giving out additional, speed, spectators in the stands yelling, shrieking, shouting and swaying while the automatic timer clicks off the record. On the last turn four horses are bunched, with the rest of the field straggled out behind. Here they come. The thoroughbreds respond to the whips. Stretch runners unlimber their sprints for the finish. The horse on the pole is a shoulder ahead & hundred yards from the tape. Two others so close up that a single lariat would rope the three. The onlookers dizzy with excitement. The pole horse has given his best. He falters a trifle almost at the finish. The two other contenders, with a spate-annihilating “kick” in their last wild dash for the line, move up. Three horses look like one to the thousands in the grandstand; the fourth runner is so close that a small tent would cover the straining, heaving, mad-running quartet. Pandemonium possesses the eyes, even though schooled to the task by years of experience, fail to decide this issue. Is it a three-way tie, a race- track marvel duplicating the extraor- dinary triple play of base ball? Will the race be repeated? THE photographic timing device, one of the newest aids of the racing world, has picked the winner and the two runners-up. Even as the spectators argue heatedly or frankly ner's number is posted and a tie re- record for the distance. The success- ful bettors race to the pay-off win- dows of the parimutuels. What the confess their befuddlement, the win- | | contributed a new and accurate judge corded between the second and third | horses for place and show honors and | cash awards. The time is close to the | eye of man could not distinguish, the all - revealing and accurate photo- graphic “eye” of the camera linked to the electrified stop watch had di- vulged. The set-up was such that the camera automatically took a picture | of the finish of the race, being so lo- cated in the judges’ stand that it commanded the best possible view and angular perspective of the thorough- breds as they spurted across the fin- ish line. Inventive achievement has of racing events, one that produces an almost infallible record. Horse rac- ing benefits greatly; the finish cam- era takes the doubt out of close fin- ishes. Decisions which otherwise might be faulty and subject to pro- test are now accepted as factual and founded on positive proof. Shift the scene to a late October dawn, one of those mornings when it is murky overhead and moist under- foot. Apparently the weather man is debating with himself whether to dish out one of those bright, bracing days or to dispense mugginess and showers. The setting is a neighbor= ing Maryland race track. About the time that a swanky streamlined mio- tor car comes to & halt at the racing oval, two high-stepping, fidgety horses with training boys in the sad- dles leave the exercise ring where the thoroughbreds have been limbere ing up and jog slowly to the track. Thundering down the stretch in a thrilling close finish. BITTER ELECTION DEADLOCKS Tumultuous Scenes Accompanied Historic Decisions Thrown Into House of Representatives—Electoral Commission Failed to Satisfy Some States in 1876. By Herbert Plummer. UMULTUOUS scenes have l marked the two occasions in American political history when the election of a Presi- ent has been thrown into the House of Representatives. Charged by the Constitution with choosing the Chief Executive when a presidential candidate fails to re- ceive a clear majority of electoral votes, the House performed this task in both 1801 and 1825. The Senate chose the Vice Presi- dent for the only time in American history after the election of 1836. In the election of 1800 Thomas Jef- ferson and Aaron Burr received 73 electoral votes each, thus leaving it to the House to say which should be President. February 11, 1801, was the date set for making the choice. Feeling ran high in Washington on the eve of the balloting. “For several days previous,” reports the New York Daily Advertiser, “men of the most abandoned and profligate character flocked to the city and it is the opinion of every sensible man here violent measures would have been resorted to to thrust Mr. Jeffer- son into the chair.” Another newspaper reported that letters were being written to the sup- porters of Burr in the House “threat- ening them with assassination.” WITH all but two members present, and one of those two lying ill in a committee room adjoining the chamber, the House started balloting. ‘Thirty-five ballots were taken during the next six days without a choice being made. On the thirty-sixth bal- lot, February 17, Jefferson was elected by the votes of 10 States to 4 for Burr and 2 blank. “The manner of the last ballot was arranged but a few minutes before the vote was taken,” a Burr supporter said afterward. “The means existed of electing Burr, but this required his co-operation. By deceiving one man (a great blockhead) and tempting two (not incorruptible) he might have secured & majority of the States.” Burr took his defeat in good grace. Supporters of Jefferson were wild with joy. The New York Daily Ad- vertiser says on February 18: “After the presidential election last evening a band of Republicans (Jef- ferson’s party), consisting of the most worthless wretches assembled in Wash- ington, marched from one end of the city to the other and attempted to compel the citizens to illuminate their homes. When one Burr adherent refused, the mob left him impre- cating vengeance.” THz election of 1825 in the House, while not so dramatic, neverthe- less abounded with color. In the campaign of 1824 none of the three candidates received a ma- Ljority of electoral votes. Andrew Jackson captured 99, John Quincy Adams 84, and Willlam H. Craw- throng. Expert judges even wrinkle their brows in perplexity. Who wins? Who places? Who shows? Human > . ford 41. A sensational rumor that Adams supporters had approached Henry B o Clay, then Speaker of the House, with an offer of Secretary of State if he would support Adams, and that Clay, in turn, had approached the Jackson forces with a tender of his support| for a similar reward had rocked the | country. The Washington National Intelli- gencer reported on the day previous | to the election that: *Great numbers of stranger have been attracted to the city. By tomorrow night there will not be a bed to be had in the city for love or money.” The House met on February 9 to elect. The galleries were jammed. | Gen, Lafayette occupied a seat of vantage. Only one ballot was necessary to elect Adams. Thirteen States went for him to seven for Jackson and four for Crawford. When it was apparent | that Adams was to be the next Presi- dent, the “effect was electric.” “There was a clapping of hands and audible hisses in the galleries,” re- ports the New York National Advo- cate. “The galleries were ordered cleared—a deep disappointment to the more than a thousand persons who had, many of them, waited from early morning to witness the spec- tacle.” Jackson, however, made no public show of his disappointment. In 1836 Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky failed to receive a ma- jority of electoral votes over three other candidates for the vice presi- dency and was forced to fight it out in the Senate with Francis Granger of New York, the runner-up. On the first ballot Johnson received 33 votes to Granger's 16 and served as Vice President under Martin Van Buren. ONE of the greatest political crises in American history followed the presidential election of 1876. The contestants for the presidency were Samuel J. Tilden, a Democrat, and Rutherford B. Hayes, a Repub- lican. The election called for the choice of 369 electors, of whom 185 would constitute a majority. The votes of all but four States were beyond dis- pute and gave Tilden 184 to Hayes' 165. From the four States of Florida, Louisiana, Oregon and South Caro- lina, however, came duplicate sets of electoral votes certified by conflioting State authorities. Twenty votes were thus in doubt, of which the Demo- crats needed but one to elect and the Republicans needed all. Who was to decide on the validity of these 20 doubtful votes? The situation was further compli- | cated by the fact that the Democrats | controlled the House and the Repub- licans the Senate. OTH parties finally agreed to set up an emergency electoral com- mission composed of five Representa~ tives, five Senators and five merabers of the Supreme Court. The com- mission’s decisions were to stand as final unless both houses of Congress should reverse them. . : i The commission met for the first time in the Supreme Court chamber of the Capitol on January 30, 1877 Intense excitement prevailed in Wash- ington. The New York Times re- ported: “The city is crowded with distin- guished persons from all parts of the Union. Tickets are distributed as on inauguration day for the 200 seats in the Supreme Court chamber. At least 500 able-bodied men were anxious ap- plicants for the positions of 50 addi- tionel policemen authorized.” ‘When the commission perfected its organization the political lineup stood at eight Republicans and seven Dem- ocrats. For 29 days the battle pro- gressed amid scenes of bitterness and intense partisanship. “I have noticed,” one newspaper man observed, “that the Democratic orators make many and awful scrip- tural comparisons and freely invoke upon their opponents woes and maledictions, death and judgment. One would think from their talk they were the chosen people of God and the Republicans all Philistines and Ammonites. One would suppose the Democrats were in the habit of open- Continued on Page B-2) e The historic and famous Woodlawn Vase, one of the treas- ured trophies of Maryland racing. COURT FIRE PERILS Old Supreme Tribunal Chamber Suffered Damage Which Started Agitation 36 Years Ago for Home. By Samuel Shaffer. HEN the United States Su- preme Court convened for its second session in the new building recently, many old-timers recalled the agitation for new quarters which was carried on in Capital newspapers 36 years ago, fol- lowing the explosion and fire in the Capitol, which nearly destroyed the Supreme Court chamber and ruined many priceless documents. At 5:15 pm. Sunday, November 6, 1898, an explosion of mysterious or- fgin, which was heard for blocks around, shook the Capitol to its foun- dations. This was followed imme- The House of Representatives elected a Presideni for the first time in 1801 when it settled the tie between Thomas Jeffer- son (right, top) and Aaron Burr (left) in Jeflerson’s favor. In 1825 the House elected John Quincy Adams, and the large crowd clapped and hissed so loudly as the result was announced that the galleries had to be cleared. Below is an artist’s conception of the scene. da | turned in the alarm. diately by a fire tensity. ‘Two bicycle policemen, at the cor- ner of Second and C streets north- west, saw the flames issuing from the windows of the building and Every available fire truck in the District of Columbia went into action. During the progress of the fire a line of hose burst and bystanders fled, panic-stricken and dripping. It was soon repaired, but failed to work. A fireman, deciding that the pipe was choked, took off the nozzle and re- moved four eels. of considerable in- AN INVESTIGATION made by Ed- ward Clark, architect of the Cap- itol, with the assistance of two out- side investigators, Glenn Brown, ar- chitect, and Prof. Charles E. Monroe, chemist and expert on explosives, traced the explosion to a gas jet left burning in one of the Supreme Court file-room compartments. ‘The outer valve of the gas meter had been left open through some one’s oversight. Gas, under abnormal pres- sure, blew out the sealing liquid of the gas governor, flooded the com- partments, forming an explosive mix- | ture, and' was ignited by the burning gas jet. The explosion lifted the masonry floors of the small rooms in the law library, the file room of the Supreme Court, the marshal’s office and the electrician’s room. It blew up the floors and arches of the small air shaft adjoining the crypt, and completely destroyed the floor of the vestibule, fronting the entrance to the law li- brary. Windows and doors were car- ried away. For a while there were fears for the safety of the building walls. ‘The fire destroyed the Supreme Court hydraulic elevator, which had been installed for the use of Justice Field, who was lame. The flames gutted the ante room and the offices of the marshal of the Supreme Court, the private rooms of the Attorney General, and finally reached the arched ceiling of the court room. Tons of court records were de- stroyed. The decorations of the court room, which had recently been re- newed, were ruined. The marbie busts of the Chiet Justices escaped damage. 4 Acts of heroism were recorded. The fire could not be brought under con- trol until the gas from the main was cut off. Chief Electrician Gleim, braving the intense heat, entered the meter room and cut off the gas at the L | | | : 4 Fall racing season. District racegoers throng nearby Maryland tracks during the TALE OF TWO CITIES ‘Mayor of Winchester, Va., Visits English By George Porter. N A LITERAL hands-across-the- sea gesture, the mayor of Win- chester, Va., is paying a visit to City of Same Name to Cement Old Ties of Friendship. which is divided into four squares. | representing the four regimes under | which the city has existed. In one corner is a portion of the | British flag, in another that of the Winchester, England. As one of the principal actors in this modern tale of two cities, Dr. | Charles R. Anderson, “first citizen” of | the Virginia town, was received with | old world pomp and splendor in Merrie | England. He and Mr. A. T. Edmonds, mayor of the British corporation, trod streets that have in centuries put‘ echoed to the hoofs of horses bearing famous English monarchs. ‘The two exchanged gifts of historic significance, Dr. Anderson received a model of | King Arthur's round table, the orig- | inal of which is in Winchester Castle. | The remains of this Norman castle are | embodied in the county hall and the round table that is kept in it is sup- " posed to date from the time of King Stephen, who died in 1154. The Virginia mayor, in turn, pre- | sented, as his good will tokens, a silken | United States, in a third part of & Confederate flag and in the fourth the flag of Virginia. It was adopted within the past year after an old and unofficial seal had worn out. Besides having identical names, the two Winchesters are similar in many respects. Both are in pleasant vi leys, both are progressive commer- cially, both have high-class schools, both have been the scenes of elabo- rate pageantry and both are historic centers. The older English town might well serve as a model for its newer Vir- ginia namesake. It has greater population, more educational institutions and, of course, more history. Located 66 miles southwest of Lon- don, the older city is a municipal and parliamentary borough in Hampshire, set in the valley of the Itchen, while flag of his city, a scroll of felicitations adopted by the Old Dominion city's town council and some books on the Virginia Winchester's history. Dr. Anderson’s trip abroad has two principal purposes—the official task of further cementing the ties of friend- ship between the two Winchesters, and the private purpose of visiting his mother’s birthplace in Ireland. The presents he carried returned, in & way, favors which the English Win- chester sent his town some years ago during the administration of the late Mayor J. F. Ward. They consisted of an old Guild Hall flag and some historical books and souvenirs which are displayed in the Handley Library. BOUT & year ago, Mayor Ander- son received an official invitation to visit Winchester, England, when- ever he might be abroad. This gesture of friendship, following the gifts from the English city, led the American mayor to decide to combine his visit to Ireland with one to Winchester, Eng- iand, this Summer. He might have made the trip on the liner Queen Mary, as officials of English names received invitations to World communities just before the vessel's malden voyage, but he had previously engaged passage on a Bal- | timore Mail Line steamer. A physician and native of Frederick the county seat, Mayor Anderson is | accompanied on the vovage by his wife and daughter Sue, his secretary, | Miss Riley, and personal friend, Ross | M. Swimley, His visit is the latest manifestation of the friendly feeling in existence between the two towns almost con- tinuously since the Virginia settle- ment was laid out 200 yearse ago by Col. James Wood, who acted for Lord Fairfax, at that time “proprietor of the northern neck of Virginia,” and who named the town after his native city, Winchester, England. While friendliness of the two towns was more or less intangible for years, there have been definite overtures of neighborliness recently. In late sea- sons, British apple merchants, who buy heavily in Virginia, have visited ‘Winchester, center of the great Shen- andoah apple-growing area, and estab- lished social and business friendships. wm:n the Shenandoah apple-blos- som festivals were inaugurated at Winchester, it was only logical, after a few years, to crown & Win. chester, England, girl queen of the fete. She was Miss Patricia Dacre Morton, daughter of the late Gen. Morton of “the Royal Marines, who crossed the ocean for the ceremonies. The Virginia Winchester . flag which Mayor Anderson left in Eng- land is in some fespects similar to & British flag, It carries a lion and also embodies features of the town.seal,' v all American cities and towns with | use the glant ship to visit the Old | County, Va., of which Winchester is | its American namesake, 76 miles from Washington, is at the northern end | of the Shenandoah Valley apple belt. “Our” Winchester has about 10,000 population, while “theirs” totals about 23,000. | I\/IUCH of the English Winchester's history centers about its ca- thedral, nearly 556 feet long, the longest in England. The mortuary chest in its presbytery contains the bones of Saxon kings. The oldest part of the edifice dates from the eleventh century, but a greater part of the main building was built at various. times between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. The famous architect and scholar, William of Wykeham, had an im- portant part in the work. He is buried there along with Wil- |liam Rufus, Edmund, son of King | Alfred, Cardinal Beaufort, Issak | Walton and the famous St. Swithin. The history of the town itself goes back to the days of tradition. It was an important Romano-British country towvn. Six Roman roads in- tersected at its site and many Ro- | man relics have been found there. | Under the Saxons it was called Wintanceaster. It was the capital of Wessex, and | when the kings of Wessex became the | kings of England, its importance rose. | Some authorities refer to it as the | capital of England between the ninth and eleventh centuries. It was the site of a royal residence and Parliament met.there. Only 12 miles from Southampton, it prospered after the Norman conquest. For years the royal treasure was stored at Winchester and in the reigns of King Stephen and Henry II, the Court of the Exchequer also was held there. A provision that the exchequer and mint should remain there per- manently was contained in the chare ter granted by King John. The town has been called the “Jerusalem of England,” because of its large colony of Jews. It is one of the oldest incorporated towns in the kingdom. A charter granted in 1587, the first to mention a mayor, was the one under which the town was governed until 1835. HE Virginia Winchester was in- corporated in 1779 and chartered as a city in 1852. There had been & settlement on the site of the present town as early as 1732. Fort Loudoun, nearby, was built by George Wash- ington in 1756 and used as his head- quarters during the French and In- dian Wars. The location, which hdd been the headquarters of the Shawnees, pow- erful Indian tribe, before the com- ing of the white man, was the placé from which Washington began his :n;’r“u & surveyor to Lord Fairfax