The Claremore Messenger. (Claremore, Indian Terr.), Vol. 8, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, June 27, 1902 Page: 2 of 8
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I
Women Heft or* or Seen
on Eastern Hace Tracks
To hm the rice-track woman, the
typical feminine follower of the
horses. the woman who bets for a liv-
ing end live* (or betting, one must go
to Gravesend. There she 1h In her
element She may go to Morris Parle
to cut a tUftH in a stunning gown and
to enjoy a little amateur betting In a
mild sort of way; but it la at Grave-
K.'iid that she goes in to win, that ahe
plunges deep, deep down into her
po.-ketliook, end comea forth a "dead
K«mo sport."
From the moment that ahe boards
the wpeciaf train which is to carry her
U* ihe track until that In which she
once more steps Into New York a
flushed and triumphant winner, or a
the train speede her toward the place
where all Is so wicked and iy>rldly
and faacinating tier eyes open wider
and wider and her blood pulses faster
and faster. She feela that she is go-
ing straight to the devil—with things
intensely interesting all along the
way.
Who ever said that women were
not true sports? Who ever said that
they were not born daughters of the
turf? Not the bookies with whom
they place their bets and who lose
on them three times out of four. Not
any one who has watched a woman
lay a bet and rake in her winnings or
take her losses with the quiet stoicism
of a hero. The old follower of the
And so the girl In the pink chiffon
hat shuts her eyes and twirls her fln
ger round three tlmea and puts it
down on Daisy Green. And the bet is
laid amid much discussion and excite
ment.
One sees things at the races which
might shock one on Broadway. Hut
what is permissible at Gravesend may
not be permissible on Broadway. For
instance, at Gravesend, one's bank is
one's stocking, and one may rush up
the grand stand in wild hurry, lift
one's skirts and dive down for one's
winnings in a moment of madneas
after one has had a good tip, and the
crowd will think no more of it than
the crowd thinks of the girl who
wears an abbreviated bathing suit at
Narragausett Pier, or a very low cut
gown at a dinner party.
Suddenly some woman leaves the
seedy looking man who has been
hanging over the railing of the stand
talking to her In earnest, convincing
tones. She flies up between the rows
of seats to the rear of the stand.
There is a flash of lace petticoat and
a glitter of red stocking. Then ma-
dam draws forth a roll of greenbacks,
extracts the desired amount, another
flash of white and red and the re-
V3
copit on,you uconnor!:
bedraggled, sorrowful loser, the wo-
man who bets on the races is a won-
dorful and fascinating character
study.
On tho hot train as it steams out of
the hot city she occupies all the desir-
able seats, in the inad rush heavy
feet liave trampled upon her silken
trnin or torn the veil from her hat, but
with a spiteful,.retaliating .dig of
the flbowr into masculine ribs she has
her way to the fore, aud as
the car moves off with its load of in-
teresting humanity, its load of hopes
and fears, of beggars and fortune
hunters, she settles back Into her seat
with a sigh of contentment and a
•thrill of joyous anticipation.
Across the aisle from her is a party
made up of the wives of the horsemen
and jockeys, a gay, good-natured, well-
fed crowd, in bright, big hats, cotton
ahlrt - waists and, gorgeous diamonds,
alt chewing gum and talking horse in
terms that make the head of the un-
initiated woman swim. A bit further
down the car is the green girl going
•to the races for the first time. One
ran always single her out from among
the old-timers. Her eyes are dancing
twith ihe excitement and the novelty
•s she clings to a strap Or to the hand-
pocno young fellow with the Held
flags flung across bis shoulder*. As {
tracks Is no bolder, no more open in
her methods than the girl who lays
her first bet. Girls of twenty and
grandmothers, toothless and wrinkl-
ed. shake their programs at the book-
ies.
A girl in a pink chiffon hat and a
brown tailor suit, with a fresh, inno-
cent face, sits far back on the stand
talking breathlessly to a young man
in gray tweed.
Oh, 1 fl just like to—to—plunge
just once. Can I put up a dollar?"
"Of course you can: but I don't
want you ta be so silly as to throw
your money away.
'Throw it away! Oh, but it would
not be throwing it away. I just want
to have the sensation of seeing a
horse go round with some of my
money on him. Do you tbink mamma
would really mind?"
"Perhaps not. What horse do you
want to bet on?"
"I don't know. Let me see. There's
Julia Arthur; she's my favorite act-
ress. And there's Lady Charlotte; my
mother's name is Charlotte. And there
is Cincinnatus; and I'm from Ohio.
Ob, I just can't choose. Walt a min-
ute. I'll siuit.qiy eyes and' twirl my
Unger round three times and then
put it down on the program. That's
as good a way as any."
mainder is safely stowed away once
more.
Then there is the sound of a bugle
and a thousand feminine tongues com-
mence clamoring and chattering as
the horses parade past the stand. In
a few moments the horses are lined
up at the barrier. Another moment
and the flag is, dropped and the grand
stand shouts in one voice. "They're
off!"
Then doth the eternal feminine
break forth. Women drag at the coat
sleeves of their escorts, climb upon
chairs, flght for a good position, quar-
rel over their favorite jockies and
push their way to the front of the
crowd as though there were only one
horse in the race and a fifty-cent bet
were a matter of life and death.
"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" walls the
girl in the pink chiffon hat, clutching
at her escort's arm, "Daisy Green Isn't
going to win; oh, she Isn't going to,
she isn't going to. How could you
make me bet on her?"
Suddenly a little dark horse bursts
through an opening in the bnnch.
"Daisy Green!" yells some one on
the stand. Then handtaatchleh and
umbrellas are cast into the air. The
toothless old woman grabs off her hat
and with It her wig, and wares U
wildly over a bald bead. The womb
In ths poppy hat leans forward, bast-
ing her thigh and fairly pushing her
horse In. "Come on, Daisy Oreen,"
she cries. "Come on, Daisy! Now
Daisy! Ah, thank Ood!"
There la a cloud of dust down tho
stretch. A rush past tho grand stand,
and Daisy Oreen flashes In, a winner
by a length! The three women who
bunched their bets dance up and
down and grs~:p each other around the
neck. The pale, thin woman across
the aisle sinks down bealde her hus-
band in a dead faint, and the little girl
in tne chiffon hat scresms with all her
might and main; then a thousand
feminine figures sink down into their
cheirs, and, like a clock that has sud*
denly stopped, the grand stand b
comes quiet.—Helea Long in New
York Sunday Press,
MANNING OUR NEW WARSHIPS.
Navy Department Is Bmharrsssed for
Lack of Seamen.
The scarcity of trained seamen In
the United States navy is more ap-
parent on the United States receiving-
ship Columbia, at the Brooklyn navy
yard, at present, than at any time for
several years. The executive officers
on that ship are compelled to daily
notify the navigation bureau that they
are unable to fill orders for drafts of
men which are required for various
branches of the service. There are at
present on the receiving-ship 290 men
of all classes. Of this number 250
are landsmen who are new in the serv-
ice and who are not competent to be
put into a government ship for duty.
The reault is a great embarrassment
both to local officers and to the chiefs
of the bureau.
A year ago this month there were
about 800 men on board the receiving
ship Vermont. There were all classes
of sailors and few of the orders from
the department at Washington had
to be sent back without being filled.
The Columbia cannot at best accom-
modate more than 40(J men. Her ca-
pacity at present, however, is not be-
in# at all tested. The training-ships
are liable to make up their full com-
plement of landsmen for cruises and
there are hundreds of this class who
are on the waiting list. That does
not. however, relieve the strained
condition which exists in the navy.
The one particular reason which is
assigned for this great dearth of sail*
ors is the fact that the navy is in the
period of transition from the old to
the new service. The seamen were
formerly compelled to enlist for three
years. In 1899 the new law requiring
them to enlist for four years took ef-
fect. At the present time, therefore,
the old three-year men are going out
of service, not caring to enlist for four
years more, and many new men are
not willing to re-enlist for four years.
The fact that a year has been added
to the length of the service has In it-
self a bad effect. The example of
some men who have served three
years and who are wilMng to continue
for another term of years does not
tend to increase the regular enlist*
ments.
What a Swede Thought Funny.
A belated wayfarer was passing a
public house late at night when a for-
eigner was ejected therefrom v/ho
bore all the signs of rough UBage, but
nevertheless was laughing immoder-
ately. "What is the Joke?" the gen-
tleman asked. "Why," said the
other, "a man came up to me in the
bar just now, gave me a fearful punch
on the nose, and said, Take that, you
blooming Norwegian," and hs fell to
laughing again. "But," the gentleman
said, "there's nothing very funny in
that." "No," the.xaan anawered, "but
then he hit me a crack in the eyes and
afterward knocked out my teeth say-
ing "And take that, too, you blooming
Norwegian.'" "But still I can't sea
anything funny." "Ho! Ho! Ho'" the
other yelled. "The jeke is that I'm
a 8wede."—London Globe.
Don't beUeve all you hear; you are
fortunate it you cm beiiere all you
aar.
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Latta, T. A. The Claremore Messenger. (Claremore, Indian Terr.), Vol. 8, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, June 27, 1902, newspaper, June 27, 1902; Claremore, Indian Territory. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc177908/m1/2/: accessed April 24, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.