view raw text
WHOLESOME DISCIPLINE. For bad behavior, negligence and all the other besotting ills of jockeys there is no remedy known to tho pharmacopoeia of the turf that can begin to equal a doso of suspension. It is a cureall in tho best sense of the word. If the jockey is inclined to walk in the way that is not straight and narrow it simply eliminates him from the racing plan ; if he is fractious he becomes as gentle as a lamb; if he is impudent he becomes meek and respectful. Suspension is indeed an unrivalled remedy. It is as efficacious with the fashionable jockey as with the humble stable boy. About two months ago Bullman and Burns were cutting a wide swath. They were in the employ of August Belmont and W. C. Whitney respectively, and with such powerful patrons they seemed to think that the earth and the fulness thereof was theirs. Just at that time something happened. Tho stewards of The Jockey Club met and thought that a dote of suspension would bo about the proper thing, Instantly Burns and Bullman pasted from viow, and although it may have seemed strange to them there was none to mourn their passing. Now they are on the penitent bench. They have applied to the Jookey Club, not for a license but for a degree of restoration which will permit them to rido in California. What action the stewards will take is problematical, although if Burns and Bullman were guilty of no offense more serious than that of bad behavior at the post it would seem that thoy had paid a heavy penalty the heaviest ever visited by Tho Jockoy Club for a similar offense. Indeed, in the minds of a great many racegoers the punishment outweighed the crime so greatly that thoy were constrained to believe the jockoys guilty of some offense graver than that of disobeying the starter. It will be remembered, however, that at the time these boys were suspended there was much trouble at the starting post and the stowards announced their intention of remedying it. Evidently they believed that suspension would prove to be the most potent remedy, "and in striking they preferred to aim at shining marks. Burns and Bullman had been prominent factors in tho starting difficulties, and the stewards, marking them for fair game, brought them down. Now tho boys are on the penitent bench and their friends are hopeful that they will be permitted to ride on tho coast. It is significant of Burns innocence of wrongdoing, other than fcis offense of breaking up starts, that almost immediately after his suspension Mr. Whitney renewed his contract with him a step which would never have been taken if there had been any question of tho boys honesty. The Evening Sun.