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WHY COLONEL SIMMONS RETIRED. Concerning the appointment of Mr. C. H. Pet-tingill to succeed Col. B. W. Simmons and the reasons for the latter - retirement. Morning Telegraph says : "C. H. Pettingill, who is at present occupying the judicial stand at the Highland Park Clubs meeting at Detroit, has been appointed judge on Jockey Club tracks, vice Col. B. W. Simmons, who has resigned on account of age. "Mr. Pettingill wiU report for duty on the opening day of the Sheepshead Bay meeting, which begins on August 25. "The appointment to the position under the Jockey Club is an acknowledgement of Mr. Pet-tingills ability, and a host of friends all over America will be pleased to learn the news. "Though the resignation of Colonel Simmons will create surprise in some quarters it has been well known for some time by his intimate friends that he contemplated taking such action. Colonel Simmons has served as placing judge for many years, and he has of late felt himself unequal to the task. "Last year, when the appointments were made by the Jockey Club, Colonel Simmons requested that his resignation be accepted. The stewards would not entertain the proposition, and he served through the season. Last winter he again made the request and met with the same WW, "Becently he insisted that he be relieved o his duties, and at a meeting of the Board of Stewards last Wednesday the appointment of Mr. Pettingill was decided on. Mr. Pettingill was communicated with, and on his acceptance of the appointment Colonel Simmons request was granted. "In the retirement of Colonel Simmons the American turf loses one of the most popular and respected officials that ever placed a horse. During all the years of his incumbence not a breath of suspicion was ever breathed against him. and he had the entire confidence of the racing world. "Mr. Pettingill is widely and favorably known as a racing official. He has served in the judges stand and in the starters box at important meetings east and west for the last twenty years, and has the confidence of all horsemen. With Mr. Pettingill and Mr. McDowell placing the horses at the fall meetings of the Jockey Club tracks horsemen and the public will be well served."
