At Auteuil on Sunday last there were some strange riots
on the occasion of the Steeplechase Grand Prix. The French and English lads and stable hands attached to the training establishments at Maisons-Laffitte have been agitating (with good reason we dare say) for the recognition of their Union and for higher wages and shorter hours. M. Maurice Berteaux, the Vice-President of the Chamber, and former Minister of War, had addressed a meeting of the men, who decided to go on strike if refused satisfaction. On Sunday, as the racehorses were being conveyed in vans to the course, a party of men armed with revolvers held up the twenty-six vans and forced. them to return to the stables. These men were led by the notorious M. Pataud, and a lawyer named Craissac, who is secretary to the Lads' and Stablemen's Union. The , crowd at Auteuil, ignorant of the cause of the delay in starting the races, swarmed angrily on to the course. Although the horses were brought later, a large part of the crowd, having lost its temper, was unable to recover it, and there was fighting with the police, and some of the jumps and many hurdles were set on fire. The officers who rode in the military race were pelted with stones and pieces of the hurdles. The significance of all this has perhaps been exaggerated, but it is certainly not a good sign that an Ephesian riot can be precipitated by a handful of stable-boys, who call in the services of the General Confederation of Labour, aria sport be utterly spoiled in the name of sport.
Previous page
