Grand National

At Liverpool, England, they bring in the spring with the Grand National Steeplechase. The course is 4 1/2 mi. long; there are 30 jumps on it; the race is worth -L-5,000 and extras to the winner.

On a cold morning last week, people began to congregate around the track, in toppers, bowlers, soft felts. Those wearing caps wandered about outside the stands or perched like rooks in trees about the course. The Kang was not there nor was the Prince of Wales; but this unusual state of affairs was to some extent remedied by the presence of Lord Derby and other famed sportsmen. Time went on; a bell rang; 33 spry horses came out and began to dance. Suddenly the crowd took a long breath; Lord Derby lifted his binoculars; yoho, they were off, yo frightfully ho.

Out of the nimble 33, 9 finished-- 9 steaming, sweat-gilded, bloody-eyed horses, plastered with mud from cannon-bone to belly, and 9 taut riders bent to their necks. In front was Double Chance, owned by Fred Archer and D. Goold, at 100 to 9. Neither the horse nor its rider, Major J. P. Wilson, an amateur, had ever before ridden the course.