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RUSH BELMONT PARK WORK * All Except Minor Improvements Will Be Complete for Opening. — i Historic Gates of "Washington Jockey Club Will Be MoTed After the Spring Meeting. — — t NEW YORK, N. T.. April IT— The work of beautifying Belmont Park goes on apace, and the work outlined last autumn is being carried to completion under the personal supervision of president J. E. Widener, who spends considerable time at the course in company with superintendent Pels and the various contractors on the job. There is one detail, however, that will go over until after the spring meeting. This has to do with the removel of the old gates of the Washington Jockey Club to the enclosure entrance below the Turf and Field Club. These historic relics of racing in the south were donated to the Westchester Placing Association some years ago by the city of Charleston. They were placed at what was the original entrance to the clubhouse, whose abandonment became imperative with the remodeling of the course and grandstand. That avenue has not been used for several years and the old brick and cement pillars have such a historical association that president Widener intends removing them to a point where they will be appreciated by the public SOUTH CAROLINA JOCKEY CLUB. The South Carolina Jockey Club was the most aristocratic racing organization in this country a hundred years ago. Its meetings in February were the rendezvous of the elite of the United States. Visitors from other parts were welcomed by the sportsmen conducting the Washignton course. That hospitality for which the south has always been noted was emphasized and, while the stakes for which the hroses raced were substantial for those days, the trophies accompanying them had a greater appeal to the sportsmen of the period. Many of the cups offered for races at the Washington course near Charleston and at the Pharsaiia course at Natchez are in the homes of present-day sportsmen who treasure them for their traditions. That the gates leading to the scene of so many fine races and so much gaiecy shoul i find their way to Belmont Park is a tribute from me bar.dful of sportsmen in Charleston who appreciated the work that is being done for the turf by the Westchester Racing Association. Thousands of patrons of Belmont Park who have passed these old gates many times without being aware of their history will now have an opportunity to observe them in detail. DETAILS OF NEW LOCATION. Two of the relics will be placed ninety feet apart, in a line with the present ornamental iron fence. The other two will be set some distance back at the end of a graceful curve, and will form the gateway proper. The opening at this point will be fifty feet in width. Another space, with a gradually curved boundary, in which will be placed the control service for tickets, will lead into a roadway of bluestone thirty-five feet in width. This will traverse flower and shrub-bordered areas to the club entrance of the grandstand. This roadway will have an anchor post fence bordered by a space fifteen feet wide, in which shrubs will serve as a screen to the stables on either side of it, until the left hand curve is reached. When completed, there will be something to charm the eye from the moment the spectator enters the gates of this most attractive racing property. *
