FROG RACES IN NEW YORK

Evening Star, Issue 21819, 7 September 1934, Page 1

FROG RACES IN NEW YORK

On a magnificent terrace facing the .Hudson liner, New ..York .people recently watched the first frog-jumping ■ -championship contest’* in the city’s history, and the promoters of this bizarre meeting are confident that; frog racing is destined to become a national s P°rt (says an English paper). ; I'lxe terrace was divided into six janes, each 50ft long, fenced with, muslin. and provided with little: muslin hurdles. . • . > In. the .“paddock” twenty husky frogs squatted, blinked, • and ! occasionally croaked. They •had been brought from all parts of. the United States and had been in training three weeks. Dillinger was the favourite in the first race— dash over 6in. hurdles. But when, the starting gun sounded Dillinger Was nowhere to be; seen. - ■ Five original entrants, plus the late starter Lopez, were placed under the tape, and their jockeys - Audrey Christi, Ruby Norton, Ethel Levy, Belle Kanter, Gail Andrews, and Marie Courtney—were given a list of rules providing that:— „ ' ; Owners - could hold the frogs by one leg only. Owners were permitted to have bait (worms, ants, flies) at the end of the lanes to attract the frogs. No artificial stimulants,, such at ' whisky, be permitted. / Any owner found watering dr filling a frog with buckshot, after Mark Twain’s, recipe, be disqualified.. . “Bang!” went the gun. .. Each frog .took a gingerly hop, away from its jockey and. then nestled close to the muMin border, shut its eyes, and went to sleep. All the rules then, by common consent} went. by the_ board. \ The jockeys ran for twigs and prodded the frogs, who hopped for dear life. Lopez, the first, one to be prodded, was.the winner.