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1 • ■ ; 1 • 1 : I e 1 il t a t . n II s a ■ v 1 v ,1 ,. ,. . ■ " !1 e I - I II I 1! I- il - II . I II " POINTS OUT GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY. _______ How could it better be shown that horse racing is a popular sport than by tin- attendance at the track* all over America this season! Early in tin- spring indication- minted to an exceptional voir for racing everywhere ;i nd it has so proved. There is a general Interest in the revival of the thoroughbred lor ecu nomie reasons. Many of those who have pooh poohed the idea of the horse being of greater uso than that of wagon pulling have revised their ideas and are now convinced that the thoroughbred was not im proved for racing alone, but as the foundation for a breed of horses that have proved of Inestimable value to the world at large. What would the allied armies of the warring countries have done had it ti"t been for tin- horse- which have been acquired ill this country and Canada since the beginning of bostill- tie-. There is a direct question which could be pot to the anti-racing lolk which they could not answer without admitting the bore wa- of extreme Im- portance la warfare and as I general utility animal. The existing strife had hardly started when agents rrom England. France. Italy. Russia and Spain and other countries were sent here n buy every horse reaching the military Standard for shipment abroad. it Mi-ined to be tin- only war requisite of which the Europeans were short, notwithstanding the fact that Institutions lor tin- production of horse- are : n- eminent ow ned in al -t every foreign country. There could P.- n 1 mere positive declaration of the value of the horse, and the better they "ere phv-i eally the greater the price paid. Notwithstanding the fact that nearly half a million horses have been shipped to England, France ami Italy, this country is still being scoured by agent-, who are accepting what might be tinned •old clocks" for military 11-1 . These are horses which in the early stagi - ol the buying were not considered good enough for shipment. Almost any obi horse is now being snapped op b-r exp rtation bj England and France, and Italy is buying Imrsvs as small as 15 hand-., practically no bigger than polo ponies. One can hardly realize the scarcity of hor-es ill this country since the war started. Ib.w are they to he . replaced it breeders are not encouraged to raise hor-es of all kind- ami to Improve the breeding? Slop hor-e racing and tin- foundation i- knocked from under th.- industry. It i- through contests that the I better breed i- derived. Without a contest a horse i- ju-t a hor-e. with one leg en each corner. No 1 attention would i-o paid to Improvement in the -took and the American product, which all of Eu 1. rone sought Immediately Cue wTr starter!:- wmikl dwindle down to the lowest type of uuluiub. 1 c 1 I • I 1 . ; , | , : It is a Sjnestion which should not only lie taken up 1 by ever state in the Union, but Washington has every right to proceed in the matter. Not wishing to slide into- the ranks of calamity seekers, -vial 1 would happen if this country had to defend itself against some intruding country? It was not long 1 since thai some rem vv ned retired general said that this country had hut aiinuunil ion enough in the magazine to last 11 day and a half. Judging from that pointed fact, there are not enough horses left 1 in this country at the present moment to serve for 2o minutes. 1 iparal ively. It is to be hoped this 1 country will never be called upon to face an invading enemy. What would happen few are in a pi-si Host f-» state, but one thing is positive, there would 1 be but few desirable horses and no tield from which 1 to buy. Now is the time to begin anew and build up stock the like of which cannot Im- duplicated in any country. Infuse into the new horse the best blood obtainable and selected intell igentlv. All. or nearly all. of the old stock has been sold. Encourage horse racing to determine which is the liest from which 1 to produce, and in a few years the farms will be replenished, not with •old crocks. but material I which is worth more than a side glance. The nucleus is here: all that it needs is some sort of r legislative recogaitoa, and the United State- eoald I be made the greatest horse mart in the world. — Exchange.
