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P I J I I C 1 c 1 t 1 t 1 1 j . , , , NEW ORLEANS INSIDE FACTS Honorable Part Played by John Dymond, Jr., and His Present Task. SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y., August 25. John Dymond, Jr., of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, recently elected president of the Business Mens Racing Association of New Orleans, reached Saratoga tcday. The purpose of his visit is to enlist interest among the horsemen in the race meeting which will be held in New Orleans beginning January 1, and while in the North he will- announce the complete plans for the meeting there. Mr. Dymond seeks first-hand information as to how high-class racing may be conducted to the satisfaction, pleasure and profit of all interested. With this object in view he will study the methods of control employed here, ! as well as at Belmont Park and Louisville. He was recently granted full authority by the board of directors of the Business Mens Racing Association to employ the necessary official staff and fix their compensation. He hopes to perfect his organization before he returns to New Orleans. R. S. Eddy, Jr., general manager at the Fair Grounds, who preceded Mr. Dymond here by several days, and Wilson Williamson, one of the directors, who is also here, will assist him in this task. The connection of Mr. Dymond with New Orleans racing is interesting. He is an attorney by profession and during the last session of the Louisiana legislature served as a member of the house of representatives from the Parish of Plaquemines. He was one of the leaders of that body, having been unanimously selected in 1921 as its member of the legislative bureau, which was created under Louisianas new constitution the same year. HOT FIGHT WAGED IN 1022. A hot fight was waged in the 1022 legislature in Louisiana to prohibit horse racing in that state and, especially, wagering of any sort at the race tracks. This battle was led by Governor John M. Parker and the measure passed the senate and was sent to the house of representatives, where it lacked only one vote of passing there. At the critical moment Mr. Dymond was asked if he would accept the presidency of the racing association, those tendering the offer feeling confident that if he would assume the reins at the head of the New Orleans organization the fight against racing would be over. The people throughout the state have implicit confidence in him and they felt certain that if he would accept the position he would remedy any conditions that needed remedying. Mr. Dymond accepted the task. With the announcement in the newspapers that he had done so the fight for the retention of thoroughbred horse racing in Louisiana was won, as no further effort was made to pass Continued on twelfth page. 1 i 1 I c f 1 J , , j . j ; i NEW ORLEand NSIDE FACTS ..limicd from first page. the bill wl.ieli would have meant its death knell. Mr. Dymor.d is surrounded by a board of directors of unusual strength and standing in their community. It is composed of B. C. Casanas, -former president of the New Orleans Association of Commerce; Crawford H. Ellis, vice president of the United Fruit Company; Wilson Williams, Louisiana state agent of the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company; W. H. Britt, general passenger agent of the Illinois Central Railroad; James D. Kennedy, manager of the Mont Leon Hotel, New Orleans; Louis Hauseman, one of the Crescent Citys leading jewelers, and Victor H. Dumorelle, a prominent merchant of that city. Prospects for a successful season of winter racing in New Orleans were never brighter, according to Mr. Dymond. "Considering the circumstances under which I assumed this duty to the people of Louisiana," said Mr. Dymond, "I feel that it is incumbent upon me to become acquainted and familiar with the best racing methods in vogue in this country and to see that they are applied to our New Orleans sport through a corps of the most efficient officials obtainable. I have been told that things occqrred in New Orleans racing last year that reflected on the honesty of the sport and the policies of those conducting it. "Of the facts on which these accusations were made I know nothing, as I did not visit the New Orleans track last winter. 1 propose, as far as it is humanly possible, to have clean andl high-class racing at all times in New Orleans as long as I am in charge of affairs. We will have no place for the horse, owner, trainer, jockey or anybodj else connected with the sport who indulges in sharp practice of any description, and if this class will take a suggestion from me they will seek winter quarters elsewhere than the Crescent City. "We want the leading members of the turf fraternity owners, trainers and jockeys to participate in our racing. They will always receive an invitation to return. Under these circumstances the patrons of the Fair Grounds can rest assured that horses will run as true to form as is possible at ail times, and they will be free from any inside or outside influences or combinations."
