view raw text
SENTIMENT RULES AMERICAN; SPORTS No Better Place to Study Spirit of Fair Play than on Our Race Tracks-. The historians, diplomats and war departments of .the different countries will now proceed to account for Germanys failure to win the war. Volumes will be written, .different itheoriesj udvanced, "but In the end it will result iu nothing more tluui conjecture. One must" admit, however, that the advent of the American soldiers ihto the conflict was the turning point, that sealed the fate of Germany. She was. beaten from - that time on because she had failed .to appreciate and recognize the value of the eternal fighting spirit of the American, who would fight for an ideal witli a zeal that has always been Irresistible; for the old flag has never yet trailed the ground since the Stars and Stripes were first hoisted. Xo nation on the other side has ever yet understood America. " -u . They have noted our superficial defects, made us subjects of caricature and ludicrousness, as did Mrs. Frances Trollop in her "Domestic Manners of the Americans." Charles TIlcKehs infills "American Xotes," and many others from the other side that have written alsmt us after they made a superficial journey through our land, and they dont thoroughly understand President Wilson over there, now. They fail to catch the true American . spirit of liberty and the sentimentalities that attend it; for which our people will fight and give their all. No foreigner can ever :uiulerstaud these things unless he expects to make this Country forever his home for himself and his descendants. YANKEES TRUE SPORTSMEN. The majority of Americans are true siHirtsmeu they have all the sense of fair play that sport of any kind develops and are willing to give and take as the chances of the game dictate. This is one reason why we were able to put on the fighting line over there a body of men that had the superlative fighting spirit developed in them and could stand a lot of grief with a smile. The morale, of all of the different armies of the allies was Improved and strengthened by the demonstrations given by the aggressive Americans who were fighting for an ideal and willing to risk their lives, for ji sentiment. Sentiment is one of the characteristic attributes of the horseman. A man that cares for and associates with high-class, intelligent thoroughbred dumb, animals must have some of the milk of human kindness in his heart or he would not be in the business. If the general public were better acquainted with this kindly spirit which amounts almost to filial affection that exists between owners, trainers, stable lioys and Rice horses, there would be less attention paid to criticisms ;of tlje .race,, tracks by- persons that personally know nothing whateycr. about the business. John E. Madden of Hamburg Place, Lexington, Ky., deeply engrossed In a business of immense proportions, found time and. Impelled by a sense of gratitude to the memory of the equine celebrities that he had owned and which had helped to make the name of Hamburg Place fatnois the world over, dedicated uud had prepared an artistic plot of ground, laid out with great cure under the direction of an experienced landscape gardener on a prominent part of his breeding farm, to be used as a burying ground for his famous horses as they die, which will be for years to come reminder to visitors that these horses have borne the torch and held it high. Mr. Madden has hud handsome monuments erected over the graves of the great thoroughbred race mares Imp and Ida Pickwick, likewise nlso over the graves of the champion trotting marcs Nancy Hanks and Hamburg Relle, so as to effectively preserve for future generations the, history uud achievements of these great horses. , When Hamburg Relle died at Thomasvllle, Ga., she wns owned- by II. M. Continued on second page. SENTIMENT RULES AMERICAN SPORTS Continued from first page. Ilanna of Cleveland, Ohio, who willingly concurred to the plan and assisted in having her body removed from Tliomasville, Ga., to Lexington, Ky.t where her remains. now rest in the beautiful equine cemetery at Hamburg Place", within a few rods of the paddock in which she was foaled and her infancy nurtured: The late Hon. Leland Stanford, one of the "leading" great moil of our country, successful business man, governor of California and United States senator from the same state, accomplished much for the development of the far west and "gave to California 0,000,000 in memory of his only son to found a magnificent university at Palo Alto for the benefit of mankind. Yet this prominent man was so fascinated witli breeding and racing, lxjtli thoroughbreds and trotters, that when Electioneer died on his farm Senator Stanford had erected a superb, granite monument of commanding appearance", reserving in stone for ages a record of the mighty deeds of Electioneer. Numerous other celebrated horses, all. over the country, at other times, have had their; last resting place marked by imposing, costly shafts of marble and granite as a mark of appreciation and a display of sentiment on the part of the owner that is almost a reverence. It is this spirit found in the heart of every true sportsman and the lover of clean sports that the German" army knew nothing about or could not understand, for it lias been demonstrated that there is a little indescribable something .called class, idealism, or by whatever name it is known, that makes men win. Our pioneer ancestors were all idealists, else they never would have crossed the Atlantic and settled in the wilderness; so that now- tills spirit, nurtured and developed as it is in a country like this, is a force that an enemy must reckon with. Therefore, when the conclusion is finally readied as to why Germany was loaten, the, sportsmen of this country will no doubt receive their full share of credit.
