who once declared that "four things greater than all things
are: Women and horses and power and war" would have found his dictum
translated into living proof to-day, for added to the beauty of the women
who graced the Downs, added to the fleetness of the satin-coated horses,
and the power that is Kentucky, there was the suggestion of patriotism
that can only translate itself in war. The olive-drab of the First
Kentucky Infantry formed a fitting background for the striking picture
presented by clubhouse lawn, verandas and boxes. "Old Glory" rippled and
fluttered and the notes of the bugle stirred the immense throng to one
single impulse of patriotism. The feeling that if fate should decree that
on the next Derby days some of "our boys" should be in France, and nearer
Longchamps than Churchill Downs, that Kentucky will be sure to "place a
wager for them" instead of "turning down an empty glass," was everywhere
expressed.

Meanwhile, it seemed that "the loveliest, and the best" of Louisville, of
Kentucky, and of the nation, were "star-scattered on the grass" of the
clubhouse. In fact, the Rubaiyat of the Kentucky Derby was written to-day,
and the chestnut-coated, satin-smooth Omar Khayyam won no less in the
clubhouse than on the race course for everywhere the Far Eastern, the
Persian, the Oriental touch was in evidence. There were Arab coats,
pongees, and tussahs, silks of Oriental weave, and fabrics that were dyed
in the self-same tints, and embroidered in the self-same designs and
motifs as those that greeted the eyes of Omar Khayyam centuries ago.

Automobiles in a long line that narrowed close to the course and bore
thousands from all quarters of the city filled all the inclosures and the
open spaces near the park. Street cars, embracing nearly all the emergency
equipment of the railway company, ran in an almost continuous line,
southbound, for several hours on Fourth street. Many lovers of the sport
and the occasion took the footpaths for the exercise.

At any rate, 1:30 o'clock found no less than 30,000 persons within
Churchill Downs. It found them likewise at attention as a body of
soldiers, led by a soldier band, marched in from the north gate, drawing
up before a large flagstaff in the center of the infield.

When 30,000 persons are of one mind, and are gathered in silence in one
place, there is eloquence in the air. The very breeze gives a thrill. When
the Star Spangled Banner and a Kentucky Derby in wartime a