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FIRE WRECKS GRANDSTAND Big Structure at New Orleans Fair Grounds Made Ashes Racing Will Begin Wednesday as asIf If Nothing Had Happened Yesterdays Racing NEW ORLEANS La December 28 Fire of a mysterious origin destroyed the Fair Grounds grand ¬ stand secretarys office jockeys quarters and part of the paddock at an early hour this morning The damage is estimated at 200000 covered by 55000 insurance The work of rebuilding the grandstand will begin at once All official announcement was made this morning by president John T Fender and supervisor I It Rennysoii that the announced open ¬ ing of the race meeting under the auspices of the Business Mens Racing Association on January 1 would not be interfered with The fire was con ¬ fined to the grandstand and offices adjacent to the big structure The track and stables did not suf ¬ fer a particle and the damage suffered by the paddock can be repaired without much bother botherThe The contract for the rebuilding of the stand has already been let and a temporary structure to serve as a grandstand in already being planned and a big force of carpenters will be put on the job at once Tin blase was discovered iu the clubhouse in the north end of the grandstand about 15 a m and It is said had there been any available apparatus to handle the firo it could have been extinguished without much trouble It gained steady headway however and the eighteen engines that responded to i general alarm ould not prevuntsllUiBtructure reduction to ashes TJi r Kniiulstaml ruxaimrt of tlie structure erected at Union Park St Louis and transferred here in 1SO7 when there was a general remodeling of the Fair Grounds entailing an ex ¬ pense of over 1200000 1200000During During the afternoon president Fender and super ¬ visor I 15 Rennysoii issued the following Joint statement The opening of the racing season at this Fair Grounds will not be postponed or delayed We will begin racing as announced on January 1 1Joseph Joseph A Murphy manager of the racing de ¬ partment of the Business Mens Racing Association issued the following statement The fire will not inconvenience us at all so far as the actual racing is concerned and we will open Wednesday with the same brilliancy from a racing viewpoint as though there had been no fire Our badges wen saved We had ordered complete new sets of saddle cloths and arm numbers which happily had not been de ¬ livered Both sets of scales were saved and all of the racing colors were either at Jefferson Park or at the stables The judges stand is not much damaged and the bugle will sound at two oclock Wednesday as though nothing had happened happenedThe The starting gates were tin and out of danger As for the spectator no class of people in the world would adjust themselves to conditions as readily as racegoers Real democracy prevails on the iiuarterstretch and the northern horsemen and visitors will fall into the spirit of the thing and events will go on with a snap that will surprise people The horsemen are enthusiastic over the pluck of the directors of the Business Mens Racing Association and will cooperate to make the racing as high class as possible possibleI I have instructed all of my staff of officials to report to me at the Fair Grounds at three oclock Sunday afternoon and we will systematize the work necessary for the opening openingBANNER BANNER CROWD SEES RACING RACINGFine Fine weather and an improved track were features in some interesting sport witnessed by a banner attendance at Iefferson Fark this afternoon Most of the finishes were of the close variety with the winners in doubt until the last stride strideSeveral Several holes in the stretch made the results un ¬ certain even though some of the starters had ap ¬ parently winning leads Most of the horses in the different fields completed their races without mis ¬ hap The mile race fourth on the program featured and it resulted in a victory for Warsaw which won from the double winner Grayson in the last few strides stridesThe The opener went to Hazel Dale which led for the entire way Bean Spiller proved best in the second race and Jack K under hard riding led Medusa home in the third Margery one of the outsiders showed a reversal of form when she beat a fairly good band starting iu the fifth fifthJudge Judge Murphy departed after the fifth race for the Fair Grounds where he was to confer with presi ¬ dent Fender and supervisor Rennysoa with refer ¬ ence to building the new grandstand It is in ¬ tended to erect tin new structure about 150 feet farther down the stretch so as to allow for a farther sweep of the stretch racing to the first turn in mile races racesJockey Jockey Tom McTaggart wired asking ifhe would be iKrmitted iu the Fair Grounds He was answered that until the Jockey Club restored his license he would be given n privilege The rule barring those in bad standing with reputable associations will be strictly enforced enforcedJockey Jockey A Johnson was taken sick in the fore ¬ noon and was compslled to cancel his engagements for the afternoon afternoonRacing Racing secretary Joseph McLennan lost all of his records at the Fair Grounds fire many of which cannot be replaced While the fire was at its height and it appeared the flames would extend to the stables near the paddock the horses quartered there were quickly rcmovd 8 A Clopton J W Storr and Frank Ilerold were the owners whose horses were thought to bo endangered endangeredW W Walker claimed Dolina out of the sixth race from J F Sweeney for 1100
