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w IMPROVING BELMONT PARK TRACK Superintendent Fclz Has Had a Large Force Putting It in tho Best Condition for Racing. Si-y; York. April 1. — According to present appearances the main track at Belmout Park, a mile and i half around, should be better and faster this year than it ever has l een. Superintendent Pelz has leva ivorking a large force of men on it through the winter and it was not until last week that trainers were permitted to work their horses over it. Meanwhile they have not haaa. in any way im-onvenienced. is the training track has been iu such exceptionally good order that they have been working their horses over it uninterruptedly since February 1-1, with the exception of one day. As for the big track proper, it would be hard to imagine how it could lie in better condition. When Mr. Pelz undertook the work of improving it early in the winter he found its surface had been literally filled with small, sharp-edged pebbles and coarse gravel, which had been gradually working up to the surface until it looked like a graveled walk after a heavy rainfall, when the rain had washed the pebbles clean. The first task which confronted the superintendent was the getting rid of this gravel, which had a tendency to cut and break up the hoofs and even wear them off. The gravel was not sufficiently coarse to be removed with harrows and rakes, while to get them off by planing it down wit!i scrapers, meant the removal with them of the fin-: surface soil which served as an excellent cushion. To meet the case Mr. Petz armed a large-for.-o of laborers with heavy, stiff •"push-brooms" and they were told to sweep up the pebbles iu small heaps. After each heavy rainfall this work progressed admirably and as fast as the pebbles or gravel were thus collected in heaps, the objectionable material was shovelled into barrows or carts and hauled out to be spread upon many n adways. SOFT. ELASTIC CUSHION ON TRACK. As fast as one accumulation of gravel was removed, the work was followed with ■MOT harrowing and another sweeping up of the pebbles which. being lighter than the cushion soil, kept coming to the surface until in this way the fine pebbles were all harrowed and swept out of the sandy loam with which the track is cushioned and neither harrows nor push brooms could bring any more to tlie surface, thus leaving a soft but firm and elastic cushion which covered the track to a depth of from two and a half to three inches — probably three inches. Then came the task of working over this cushion into the best possible condition. With the sharp, coarse gravel removed the loam proved to be an Ideal material and it was tractable under the harrows and planers. The track surface has been carefully regraded. filling iu the low places at the edges of the gutters, especially next to the inner rail, where the gutters have been widened, carefully sloped and tamped, with all cavities beside the l osts carefully refilled and smoothed down, so that what with leveling, harrowing, planing and working the track is in |ierfect order from rail to rail. It is as smooth and as level as the proverbial "billiard table" and there is neither a hard nor a soft spot to be found anywhere on its surface.
