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NEW ORLEANS OPINION OF ITS MEETING. Held That the City Was Benefitted Greatly in Material Ways. Careful investigation has divulged the fact that patrons of the Fair Grounds did not lose the fabulous sum of money it is alleged was taken out of New Orleans, according to Joseph A. Murphy, presiding judge and racing manager. Mr. Murphy says there was a considerable sum of money lost by both backers and layers on account of the admission at the Fair Grounds, as a matter of course, but he points out that all this money went into the treasury of the Business Mens Racing Association and still is here in Now Orleans. Before leaving for St. Louis, judge Murphy expressed satisfaction over the outcome of the third saceeasfal winter racing season here, and says he believes if the sport is kept on the same clean basis, on which it has been run for the past three years, its future here is bright. At present there is a bill now pending in the general assembly of the state cf Missouri for the re-establishment of racing in that state, and judge Murphy is deeply interested in this measure. One of his greatest ambitions is to revive racing in St. Louis, his home. He went to the Mound City, to be on the ground to help as much as possible. He would like to see St. Louis follow-New Orleans Paid. "New Orleans had a great meeting under the adverse conditions which prevailed all winter." said Judge Murphy. "Of the TOO horses stabled at the Fair Granada, we have had the use of less than 400 and many stake winners were kept in their stalls by the continued rain and mud. No Apologies to Offer. "As to the actual racing, my officials and myself have no apologies to offer. It has been clean racing throughout. We can fully censored in advance the list of men and boys who were to participate in the meeting, and we had a clean lot to contend with. When the Business Mens Racing Association wis organized I laid down the policy that to have clean racing it was essential to start with clean men and we have lived up to that policy. Of course there were some reversals of form as there will be as long as horses are made of flesh, and blood and are subject to the ills that follow such. I have often thought that if horses could talk they would beg to be excused from racing on some days and there would be less reversals of form. "As a matter of course there has been some criticism. A racing official must sometimes stand between the horsemen and the public. There is a wide difli r nee between a spectator thinking a race is fraudulent and ruling somebody off and distressing him and his family because a horse fails to run to form. Of course we could make a grandstand play to the public and do this once in a while, but we dont play the game that way. I have always tried to be sure of what I am doing when I take away a mans means of making a living. "I have made a careful study of conditions here since tiie rev ival of racing and the result is interesting. To begin with, excepting Saturdays and holidays, the attendance of local people at the i track is not over twenty-five per cent. Figuring a maximum attendance on the average at 4.000 a day the local attendance is less than one-third of j one per cent of the citys population. The abolition of the free gate and the high price of admission has had a steadying influence on local attendance. Besides tiiis ninety per cent of the local attendance is made up of the class of people who can wcdl afford to pay their way anywhere. In this connection I might remark for the benefit of the agitators, who are constantly describing us as a drawback, that a close search of the records of the grand jury, district attorney office or the calendar of the courts will fail to show a single case since the revival of racing that is directly attributable to the sport. If as these people charge racing is a breeder of crime, it strikes me that Craig Kennedy or Sherlock Holmes is needed in New Orleans. New Orleans People Profited. "I have also investigated the matter of betting and I can assert with all truth that no one quit winner to any considerable amount on the meeting and the general result of Palm Garden activities showed a big deficit for those who took the negative side of the individual betting. Where did all the money gal I am asked. It went into the pockets of tin- New Orleans people. That is the answer. We have had over 700 horses ■totaled here since December 1. That is nearly ninety days. It takes seven hundred men and boys to care for these horses. Conservatively estimated it takes three dollars a day to train a horse allowing for feed and the clothing and feed of the help. It therefore costs about .90.010 for this alone. Three thousand strangers a day at a minimum of 0 for each sixty davs is ,800,000. I could go further, but this woald si i m to be enough. "In the final analysis the racing public seldom asks what becomes of its money. No one who pays to see a show at a theater or a baseball | :ine cares who gets the money provided he gets what he paid to see. They figure as Harry Payne Whitney, Thomas Clyde. Charles Clark. C. K. G. Billings and other millionaires who race with us. when they meet a deficit on their racing stables, charge it to profit and loss as they would the upkeep of a yacht. And since the Easiness Mens Racing Association has already spent its profit* for years ahead in the purchase of City Park and the Fair Grounds there will be no controversy over any accumulation in that direction and the public Will be more interested in finding out whether we are to keep up to the high standards in racing which we have set. then in trying to find out where the money went. I think I can answer this query satisfactorily in advance." — New Orleans Times-Picayune.
