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PARI-MUTUEL MEASURE Kentucky Capitol Stormed by Friends of Racing at Hearing. Consensus of Opinion Is That Bill Passed by House Will Be Killed in Senate. LOUISVILLE, Ky, Feb. 20. It was the opinion of unbiased persons this afternoon at Frankfort, where the hearing of the racing and anti-betting factions before the senatorial committee having the Bennett repeal measure in charge was held, that the vote in favor of the continuance of present racing conditions in Kentucky would be 21 to 17. This would kill the anti-pari-mutuel bill passed by the lower house, last week and guarantee the status quo of racing in Kentucky for at least two years. After the arrangements made before the largest crowd that ever attended a legislative heaTing at Frankfort the friends of racing claimed that the vote against the Bennett "repealer" would be 22 to 1G. It seems that the poll of the senate, consisting of thirty-eight members, is as nearly correct as such polls ever are. The pressure has been so great for the entire session that practically crery senator has come out in the open as to his stand on the racing question. An immense crowd from the blue grass .section stormed the capitol today with statistics to show that the repeal of the pari-muuel bill would mean the destruction of millions of dollars in blooded stock, to say nothing of the depreciation of land values throughout the entire blue grass counties, which comprise as many as one dozen counties covering an area of 100 square miles.-It was estimated by persons who presented tho racing side before the senatorial committee that the repeal would cut off a revenue to the state of more than a half million dollars, all of which would fall upon the farmer, who is now burdened with taxes to the extent of bankruptcy. Among those who presented arguments for tho present conditions of racing was tho Rev. Thomas L. Settle, pastor of the Church of the Good Shepherd of Lexington ; Charles E. Marvin, of Haynes Station, and Desha Breckinridge, editor of the Herald, Lexington. Those who appeared for the passage of tho bill were the Rev. M. P. Hunt, the Rev. Dr. R. L. McCreedy, Episcopal dean, and Helm Bruce, attorney, all of Louisville. Observers say that the Bennett bill probably will be reported out of the committeo on Kentucky statutes unfavorable tomorrow. This would require twenty votes, a majority of the senators, to give it its first reading.
