view raw text
► : _ — Traditional Huge Crowd Makes Derby Unlike Any Other Event Louisville Businesses and * ► Traffic Control Geared to Handle 100,000 Invaders By OSCAR OTIS CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., May 2. — "Two is company and three is a crowd," the old saying has it, but when you get 100,000 people, give or take a few thousand, and what you have is a Kentucky Derby crowd. Moreover, you have one of the most colorful, certainly the most enthusiastic crowd on earth. The Derby crowd is nothing more nor less than you and me and some other individuals who have subordinated for the day all mundane interests to concentrate upon a horse race.. It is a crowd which assembles to see something extraordinary, and the crowd in turn creates a setting for the Kentucky Derby to make it unlike any other race on earth. Some Arrive at Daybreak For days now. the racing legions have been streaming into Louisville, and tomorrow morning, at daybreak, the first thin rivulet of fans will converge at the Churchill Downs gates. By mid-morning this trickle will have swollen into a river, and by early afternoon, a full scale flood. The thoughtful will have made their Derby wagers early at windows thoughtfully provided for just this purpose by the management. They will find their appointed spot to personally participate in an unfolding of a page in history and a chapter of sportsmanship. As the horses step onto the track, the familiar strains of "My Old Kentucky Home" will waft through the air. momentarily easing the tension, but only to REGGIE CORNELL — Trainer and developer of Silky Sullivan. launch a new and greater one as the horses approach the gate. From the start to the finish, camparative calm will prevail, but as the winner gallops back, a low roar willl develop at the clubhouse turn, rise to. a shattering burst of approval, and the tension will be over — until next year at the very same time. The Derby legions have come, and are still arriving, by all modes of transportation, save perhaps oxcart. The airplanes report busier than ever schedules, with hundreds of extra flights booked into Louisvilles Standiford Field. Special trains are in abundance and some all-Pullman jobs will be parked at the Louisville and Nashville Station on Broadway, with the berths serving as a home for the visitors during their stay. Most of the citizens within motoring distance and using their own cars which has Continued on Page 23 D ► ■ ■ — A Traditional Crowd Derbys Trademark Louisville Businesses and Traffic Control Geared to Handle 100,000 Invaders Continued ttom Pogs 3 D led to an appeal from the Louisville Police Department for motorists to park downtown and away from the track, and use public transportation, either cabs cr buses. to and from Churchill Downs. The police department has worked out a one-way system of streets from downtown to and from Churchill., and one street/ Fourth, wiH be reserved for these ears and -buses. The" latter service lias a whole barn full of express buses which make ciuy, limited stops between Cliureliill and Fourth] and Broadway. ] In additon. on Derby morning and after] the race. Kentucky State Polic -will be sta- tioned at key spots on all highways leading into Louisville to expedite traffic.: Both state and city police have orders to; be courteous to all Derby visitors, but.! nevertheless, firm, and if a fan must drive to the track, he is advised to start early. Hotel space is tight. The major hotels. and outlying motels.- have been sold out for the three-day Derby period. Thursday night through Sunday morning, for weeks.; ► : and to ilie last room. Rooms in private homes are available, however, and the Louisville Chamber of Commerce T;eeps a list available of rooms which visitors may find eminently satisfactory. JfSo valid figures are available on the economic impact of the Derby upori Louisville. Some businesses say they arerrt helped a bit. and the Chamber of Commerce informs the hotels and restaurants in general not to divulge their profit and loss statements over the Derby period. ; However, all service trades or industries, ranging from transportation to .gaso-; line stations to restaurants, do a land-office business during Derby week, and espe-; cially .Friday and Saturday. Estimates have ranged as iiigh as 5,000.00 left to the Lrjuisville area economy and related transport industries, i. e., trains, plariesj and busses. Estimate 00 Per Person If as many as 100.000 people actually show up for the Derby, an estimate of 01* per head expended over and above -the price of Churchill Downs admission aaid reserved seat would be perhaps about right. For the expenditures of those who motor in and out from Cincinnati, for instance; would be about balanced by the. substantial costs to get here from the West Ccast. And the- bars and cafes have on liand bales of mint lor the oceans of juleps that will be served. And -whether you touch the stuff or not. the whole 100.000. which is what we said at the beginning, just you and me and some other people got together for a horse race, its a figurative-and/or literal toast. "To the Derby, suhl"
