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IS NOW PRACTICALLY A NEW TRACK. New Orleans Fair Grounds Course Modern- ized in All Features. New Orleans, November 11. When middle west and eastern horsemen arrive at New Orleans they will not recognize the old Fair Grouuds, the scene of many brilliantly contested races of the days gone by. The track itself has been entirely rebuilt. It lias been moved over six feet from its former limits on the grandstand side. It has been widened throughout, so that its mean width at any point is sGventy feet, while in the main stretch its width is seventy-three feet. Billy Myer has had charge of the track construction. In the remodeling the old gumbo clay was dug out. The foundation was made with a layer of cinders. On top of that was placed four-inch cross draining tiles six feet apart. On top of this another dressing of cinders was laid and then a top dressing of eighteen inches of light sandy loam. The ditches on either side of the track have been lowered and, instead of the water being carried off through oien canals as formerly, it will be disposed of through sixteen-inch tile drainage pipes, The practical completion of the new city sewage system has enabled the Fair Grounds to simplify this feature greatly. The canal, which in former days cut across the infield, lias been widened and sunk five feet below its original level. This means that in any sort of rainfall, the water will he carried off rapidly to the pumping stations, so that there will be no chance whatever for a Howling of the track such as occurred several years ago when the candidates for the Derby lined up at the post in water deep enough to swim in. The track has been graded up beyond its former level to the extent of five feet on the turns. It drains to the inside. Besides the cross tile draining, sluice boxes are placed on the inside rail every thirty feet. A chute has been built for six furlongs starts, so that all races at this distance will have a clear run of a quarter of a mile before the upper turn is reached. An experienced turfman said of the track: "Well, they are doing things here, and a selling plater that cannot run a mile in 1:40, had better stay away." In the writers opinion, the new Fair Grounds will he the best equipped mile race track in America, notwithstanding the fact that some mistakes have been made. The brick barn and buildings above it have been torn down so that now there is nothing but open space between the upper end of the grandstand and Bud Renauds Bungalow barn at the Gentilly street entrance at the head of the stretch. In order to secure a long run in, the new stand lias been placed some 300 feet lower down than the old one, so that the Inclosed paddock which abuts it, is alwut level with the first turn. This arrangement will give a long stretch run of pretty nearly five-sixteenths of a mile, but on account of the lay of the grounds, it compresses the paddock. This has movable doors and windows so that it can be either opened or closed. There are twenty stalls on one side arranged similar to the Latonia paddock. But there is no available space outside. The grounds come to a point on the turn and the space between the paddock and the track could be designated as forty feet at its widest and ten feet at its narrowest dimension. Another feature that would impress an outsider is this: At City Park the grandstand was located so as to get the afternoon sun. There was no need that any part of the grandstand should be inclosed in glass as was done at the old Fair Grounds stand. At the latter course the stand is placed directly opposite. It gets the sun only in the early morning hours. It is likely that some changes will be made in the construction plans and that the promenade will be inclosed in glass, as it certainly ought to be if the management has due consideration for the welfare of racing patrons. But, criticize as you will, when you come to consider the plant generally, there is only one thing to do. You have to take off your hat. The steel framework of the old Union Park stand in St. Louis was used in the construction, but comparison would be" out of the question, because plans liave been changed and only first-class material has been used here. A Chicago man, D. II. Long, has had charge of the construction, and he states that all summer long he has met with all sorts of obstacles in the way of getting material here. It is to his credit that he could have the grounds ready for racing in a matter of three or four days if occasion required it. The stand proper is 300 feet by 120. It is raised about eighteen feet above the level of the track and, besides the main entrance, it has nine stairways. I should judge that it would accommodate 10,000 people without over-crowding. The inclosed betting ring, with movable doors and .windows, so that the track management can discount the weather man, can accommodate any even hundred gentlemen who think they know more than the public does, and then there will be plenty of room to get around. Upstairs a wide, railed-in gallery runs entirely around the speculative inclosure, so that visitors can observe all angles of the sport just as they might do if they had an invitation to the wheat pit in Chicago or the stock exchange in New York. Horsemen, who have been here before, will find only one landmark remaining. That Is eighteen and the number is stated advisedly live oak trees in the infield. Maybe the vandals would have cut out the live oaks, but the old Napoleonic code, which is still in force here, says no. People down here love racing and arc Interested In it. Of course, the politicians may try to make some sort of an issue of turf sports, but, if they do, in the writers opinion, the politicians will lose. The people down this way are liberal minded and they want recreation. Any antl-raclng platform would not appeal to them.
