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EASTERN TURF TALK. Of things interesting to eastern patrons of racing the New York Sun of Tuesday says: "Before the races yesterday starter C. J. £ Fitzgerald was served with an injunction re- I straining him from using the starting gate known as the McGinnis barrier. The in- ] junction was issued by a justice of the Su- ] preme Court upon application of Patrick J. 1 Ryan, who set forth that the McGinnis bar- i rier was an infringement on his patent. The i barrier, by the way, was patented by Mc- Ginnis first in 1897, with a renewal last De- i cember, and during the winter McGinnis paid a visit to England, where it is said he succeeded in having it introduced at a number of the British tracks. Ryan alleged yester- 1 day that he invented the gate, and that at one time a royalty was paid him for the use of it "In view of the serving of papers Mr. Fitzgerald went temporarily into the judges stand to assist Clarence McDowell, filling the 1 place of C. H. Pettingill, who went to the post and used the barrier for the first three races. Then Ryan served the Metropolitan Jockey Club with another injunction, which l made it impossible to use the barrier at all; so Mr. Pettingill was compelled to go ! back to the old recall flag system, Mr. Fitzgerald in the meantime leaving the track i to consult with his attorneys. "The starting with the recall flag inciden- tally served to illustrate vividly the merits of the no-recall system. "In the fifth race, with only three starters, there was a delay of fifteen minutes at the post, Mr. Pettingill having instructed the jockeys not to break until he cried "come on." Again in the last race there were a couple of false breaks, in one of which Ben-ella delayed matters by running away half a mile. The injunction proceedings will be argued in court next Monday, and in the meantime the starter will use a rubber band such as Mr. Cassidy employed at Aqueduct a year ago in place of the electrical device. "The losses sustained by the layers last week resulted in the reduction of the number doing business in the ring yesterday by at least a dozen. The Pinkertons, acting upon numerous complaints against grandstand messengers who were accused p£ shaving the odds on bets placed with them by women, started a crusade yesterday, and it is said nearly two dozen of the so-called pirates were informed that they could do business no longer. » "When Flagstaff won the second race, H. F. Meyer, owner of Miss Nancy, which ran second, boosted the price of Flagstaff to ,500. At that point Aste, who was red hot under the collar, bid ,000 himself, whereupon Meyer turned away. Under the rules Meyer received ,000, which reimbursed him for part of the heavy wager he placed upon Miss Nancy. "Just before the running of the second race an owner appeared before paddock judge J. L. Hall and asked him if he could use ether on his horses feet before starting him in a race today. Mr. Hall referred the matter to the stewards, who took it under consideration. "Many superstitious bettors thought they saw a hunch in playing Injunction in the Montague Stakes because of the fact that an injunction, prevented the use of the barrier."
