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. . On the Wire I By Hugh J. McGuhe Start Backstretch Employment Bureau Elevate Standard of Stable Personnel Project Another Lindheimer I nnovation ARLINGTON PARK, Arlington Heights, 111., June 23. A plan designed for the improvement of racing in general and as a particular assist to horsemen will be . . inaugurated inaugurated here here next next Monday Monday by by inaugurated inaugurated here here next next Monday Monday by by Ben Lindheimer and his associates. This is the establishment of an employment bureau on the backstretch to make it easier for horsemen to get the best available help. "While the new project will be a clearing house for present stable workers, it will go a step farther in an endeavor to introduce young men of good character into the work. The job will be headed by a .man of integrity headed by a .man acquainted with the problems of personnel, and he will have the assistance of a member of the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau to help weed out undesirables. Such a project has been suggested in the past by horsemen, but nothing was ever done about it until Lindheimer took up the challenge. He looks upon it as creating a beneficial effect for racing and, carried to its conclusion, it cannot fail to elevate the standard of stable personnel. In doing so, it will bring racing into r. a better light from all viewpoints. The problem of stable help has long been a vexatious one to the sport and to many trainers in particular. There are good, solid, capable men around the stable area, but too often their ability and character are besmirched by the actions of the few undesirables. New Idea a Big Help to Trainers Trainers have long protested the help situation but with no alternative have perforce been obliged to hire and fire assistants who were unsatisfactory, either as to ability or character. The new project will need the " co-operation of the horsemen, and as trainers themselves have advocated, the plan this should be freely and fully given. There will be no compulsion to use the tracks employment depot, but when it is in full swing it should go far to eliminate many of the worries of .the conditioners. -It is felt that applicants for stable positions will receive a better screening and that the great majority of efficient men now working will welcome the effort to get co-workers with similar qualifications. Lindheimer has always been an advocate of better living conditions for men on the backstretch, and he has found that the men are appreciative of improvements. Tack and recreation rooms are kept clean and the free movies offered twice weekly are attended by from 300 to 500. Right now the tack rooms at Washington Park are being disinfected in preparation for the next meeting at that course. Here there is a phone at every barn, and a doctor and portable hospital are available around the clock on three-minute notice through a switchboard. "The facilities of the backstretch employment bureau are fashioned primarily for the best, element among the present group of grooms who find themselves unemployed for any reason, but an effort will also be made to introduce new young blood of good character through advertisements in newspapers and contact with employment agencies. Records of employees will be efficiently kept and Lindheimer has set no limit on the number of persons who may be required to give the plan a fair -operating test.. He looks upon the project as a progressive step in the interest of grooms, trainers, and racing in general and believes .that it might lead to other avenues of improvement and be of im-5 mense assistance to racing in other sectors. Designed in the interest of the proficient groom, for the convenience of trainers, and paid for by the track, the plan should find favor in all- quarters. Assistant executive director Kline Weatherford, who is given to caution, is wholeheartedly back of the plan, but he warns that it will require time to reach smooth operation and must have the support of trainers. In return he believes that it will rid the backstretch almost completely of the worst element found there. Armer and Nail Take in Sport Enjoying the sport here for a few days are M. B. Armer, of Wichita, Kansas, and J. H. Nail, of Albany, Texas, owners of the Armer-Nail Stable horses trained by Lyo Lee. Neither of the owners nor the trainer have lost faith an the stables First Cabin, who is nursing a broken bone in his foot, suffered during the running of the Florida Derby, and those who saw that race can understand the reason for the confidence. First Cabin finished third in that Derby to Nashua and Blue Lem, but he gave an exhibition of gameness seldom equaled as he ran the final furlong literally on three legs. First Cabin had set the pace in the nine-furlong Gulfstream classic well into the stretch, when the mishap occurred, and his connections and others are not convinced that he would not have been the winner with better fortune. He is to have another chance, and trainer Lee reports that he has picked up considerable weight and can be expected to give a good account of himself when ready to run again in the fall. First Cabin is a chestnut son of Sun Again, from the Whirl-away mare, Whirling Girl, and his return to the racing wars will be a welcome addition to the three-year-old crop that is generally considered of the strongest in years. The colt is quartered here with other members "of the stable.
