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OUTLAW PROMOTER RABB IS GAME. New Orleans, La., December 21. Manager Rabb, of the half-mile merry -go-round opposite City Park, talks valiantly of reopening his track Monday, at the beginning of the second City Park meeting. Rabb:? idea is that he can draw enough patronage during the holidays to pay expenses with the possibility of making some little money. Lack Jbf financial support lias handicapped his winter racing schemes as well as lack of horses. If the track does reopen there is no chance that it can continue more than a week or ten days at the outside, as to do so would mean that it would have to be operated at a considerable dally loss. Besides that. Mayor Behrman, who compelled Rabb to cut out Sunday racing, would bo liable to step in at -any time and close tin; track as a public nuisance, which up has the authority to do. Rabb is something of a picturesque figure in current racing affairs down hero. He was born and raised up-state somewhere, but has lived in New Orleans for several years past. Ho has been mixed up in gambling, bookinaklng, poolroom ventures, haiidbcoking and racing for a long time. It was alleged that he was associated with J. U. "Wishard intlie combinethatxlsted . at .City Park . two years agfflhls "winter, when "horses" were selecteoT for WIshards son, I. Wishard, to pull. M-lrifacty Rabba connection was established to the" satisfaction of Presiding Judge Trevelyan, and he was ruled, off along with. Wishard and one or two others. Rabb immediately set to work to organize the Louisiana Jockey Club, of whicli ho was the promoter and later the manager. But the stigma of outlawry placed upon lilm at City Park hung over him in his new. venture, and it Is claimed by members of the club that this .seriously affected the race meeting last summer, as it certainly has the ineffectual attempts to conduct winter racing at the plant. The public have been loath to take kindly to racing conducted by a man with Rabbs reputation behind him. Personally Rabb appears to be a passable sort of fellow, but ho is not popular among his own following. He is aggressive as was shown last summer when single handed he closed up "Curley" Browns poolroom, and was instrumental in securing an indictment against Brown, which ended in the latter havinc to serve a brief term in jail. It was claimed that some local politicians were interested in Browns poolroom. These threatened to ran Rabb out of town. But, whatever else he may be. Rabb is not one of the "scary" kind. He refused to "un" and he is still in the swim. For the few days that the half-mile Jericho was running in opposition to the big tracks, it had a daily attendance of four or five hundred persons, mostly made up of broken down touts and race track hustlers who could not raise the price of admission to the mile tracks and who went to Rabbs sideshow to while away the time. The gate was practically free, few of the patrons had any money to bet with themselves and it was seldom that the crowd contained anyone who was sufficiently strong financially to make touting a profitable vocation. Even should the track attempt another meeting, lack of moneyed patronage will doom it to speedy failure.
