Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 171, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 July 1913 — MINERAL SPRINGS RACE MEET ENDS [ARTICLE]

MINERAL SPRINGS RACE MEET ENDS

Betting Was Lively Friday and Large Crowd of Real Sports Attended From City. Twelve hundred people, mostly from Chicago and practically all of the sporting gentry, put in Friday at the Mineral Springs' race track. It was the next to the last day at the races and a tip had gone out that the watchers whom Governor Ralston had posted there had withdrawn and the “spenorts” made the; most of it. Billy Birch, in the Chicago Rec-I ordVHesrald, has the following ,to I say about the races: • Racing at the Mineral Springs track will come to a close this afternoon and in all probability this will he the last race meeting to be held near Chicago. Although the track’s backers were loath to admit that the chances of reopening the course August 21st, as originally planhed, were slim, law-suits may end the club’s career, even if the governor does not act. Two Porter county men who were responsible for building the sidewalk which runs from the railroad tracks to the entrance of the grounds claimed not to have been paid, although they were promised the money tonight. Besides this several horse owners who did not get the money due them in purses last season have announced that they intend to carry their case to the courts. So far during the present meeting all of the purses have been paid promptly, but several horse owners wtho intended keeping their horses at the track until the next meeting changed their plans, yesterday following Governor Ralston’s statement that troops may be called to end the next meeting. Nearly every person connected with the track from tout to owner refuses to “lay” against theVgovernoT when he coupled with the “bangtails” in the betting. Yesterday, despite the fact that the sheriff of Porter county and the prosecuting attorney had several extra men.on hand to stop betting, the bookies worked in the open. Money was passed without any fear of the officials'and they had a profitable day, too. They registered what was probably the biggest killing of the meeting when Wood Dove failed to go over in the fifth, for th£ daughter of Ounard and Grail was backed heavily to win by the talent '