AN ENGLISH PRESS OPINION OF MELBOURNE CUP DAY.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 376, 12 June 1889, Page 4

AN ENGLISH PRESS OPINION OF MELBOURNE CUP DAY.

The " St. James's Budget" of last month, the weekly issue of the London evening paper the "St James's Gazette," has a lengthy disquisition on Australian racing in general, and the Melbourne Cup in particular. As the writer has not fallen into the errors ot previous English writers on the subject, I append his remarks on "Cup Day " as he witnessed it :—: — **The chief racing clubs are recognised by special Acts of the colonial legislabuies, and have legal sanction for their proceedings. The privilege has not. been abused. The absence of the rowdyism which usually infe&ts an English racecourse is remarkable. The spectacle of 100,000 AngloSaxons enjoying themselves in a quiet and orderly manner can only be seen in Australia, where Democracy at play gives a more favourable impression of the country than Democracy at work. To not a few native Australians the Melbourne spring meeting affords the only opportunity they have of keeping themselves in touch with the civilised world and of relieving the monotony of a lonely life in the bush ; and it may, therefore, be regarded nob only as a means of amusement, but also as possessed of humanising influences. Its success is greatly due to this cause. It is more than a mere carnival; it> is a Congress, a Diet ot Antipodean civilisation,and a? s.ich it exercises a beneficent influence over Australia. Nob less than £150,000 was expended in reclaiming a marshy tract of ground near the Saltwater Creek and in adapting it to the purposes of a racecourse, with the result that Flemington is as nearly perfect as money can make it. In the stands, on the hill, and on the flat, are massed together on Cup Day no less than one-sixth of the total population of the colony. If the attendance on Epsom Downs were in the same proportion, five millions of people would be present at the Derby. The flat is thronged with a surging though orderly mass of humanity, as well behaved as a flock of sheep on an up-country station, and requiring very few shepherds in blue tunics and helmets. But the most attractive part of Fiemingbon is naturally the Grand Stand and the lawn, where the charming Australian women are flitting to and fro or sauntering on the sward. As a rule they dress well, though without ostentation. No public gathering in England shows a higher general average of good baste in dress. The excellent, bearing and demeanour of the vast Flemington crowds seems astonishing to those who have seen a British mob taking its pleasui*e. Scarcely a drunken man can be found, and none of the demoralisation which often attends race meetings at home is apparent. The Australians amuse themselves in a sensible and orderly manner. The crowd which a&sembles to witness the chief sporting event in Ausbralia is not only the AngloSaxon world. Several Australian innova- J tions might usefully be introduced on the English racecourses. The number of each horse is shown on a label attached to the saddle, rendering identification a more easy matter than when the colours worn by the jockey, which are often indistinct, are the only guide. A dial is placed opposite the judge's box, and the index hand is released by electricity from the starting point and stopped at the conclusion of the race, so that the exact duration is clearly shown to the crowd. In all hurdle races an ambulance is sent round the course."