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NO "DEPRAVITY" IN SIGHT AT SARATOGA. Story of the Failure of a New Hampshire Sunday School Associations "Evidence Hunter." New York, January 11. The Grange State Sunday School Association and kindred Interests of New Hampshire, which are trying to prevent racing at the new Salem track, did not meet with much encouragement when a representative was sent to Saratoga to gather material for a lurid picture of depravity, the result of the racetrack. Saratoga was probably selected in preference to other racing centers because it is more of a rural community, and then the fare to Saratoga is cheaper than to New York or Buffalo. One day last week a stranger registered at the Worden House, in Saratoga, as "S. E. Burroughs. .Manchester, N. II." Dressed in a rather outspoken check suit and wearing a red tie. there was nothing sanctimonious in his appearance, and he attracted no particular attention until he began to ask questions. He showed no Interest in the village generally. Didnt want to know the least thing about the famous springs and never once asked to wee the spot which marked the lirst "rough house" of the Iroquois Indians. He sought enlightenment only about the racetrack. He wauted to know how long racing had bieu goiug on there, the size of the track, how many persons saw the racing there annually and exhausted every possible source of information, until It was finally suggested by one of the bellhops that "he is a bookmaker laying his plans for next season." His appearance and style of dress favored the suggestion as being of merit. Eventually, however, he introduced himself, stating plainly that he had been sent by the New Hampshire goody-goodies to investigate the moral atmosphere of Saratoga. The associations lie represented wanted some evidence of the terrible results that racing must leave on a community, aud it was up to. him to produce this evidence. He was somewhat surprised In walking down the., business street of the village to notice that there, were some really smart-looking stores, and the proprietors seemed to be fairly busy. lie called on a business man, who had been recommended as one who could give him a few points on Saratoga depravity, and explained his errand. "Havent noticed any slump in Saratoga morals," remarked the business man. "Methodist church has-just finished paying for 5,000 worth of improvements." "What," exclaimed he of the check suit and red tie in evident surprise. "Do you have churches here?" He was told that there were a few in the village which were sometimes opened. The vice sleuth then looked for a minister, feeling sure that he would get encouragement from that quarter. "They tell me the moral conditions of Saratoga are verging on the precipice of hell," he remarked to the preacher. "Never noticed the verging," was the answer. "Mi- church has just had the most prosperous year in existence. Trot along, Sherlock." The loudly appareled depravity hunter spent a day In Saratoga and learned it was pretty much the same as the towns In his own state. There were plenty of churches, good schools, in which the "doie sheets" did not, as he imagined, take the "place of arithmetics and geographies as textbooks, and that the moral tone of the place was on a plane with that of other communities. ! It was all a surprise to the New Hampshire sleuth. He had failed miserably in his depravity hunting, ami the following morning paid bis bill aud silently left for Manchester, N. II. Before going, however, lie confided to the hotel clerk that some one In New Hampshire must have been kidding him.
