OUR RUINED RACECOURSE - Jan 2, 1915

The troops have left us an appalling aftermath on the Racecourse.  From the distance it resembles a

desert of mud, with the cricket ground as a green oasis to remind us of what it once looked like.

The grass and soil has been turned and churned up by the horse, foot, and artillery.  The footpaths

which once threatened to swallow up the Racecourse are now swallowed up themselves by the

morass of mud, and the remnants of railings, the horse sheds and seats serve only to make the

wilderness seem more melancholy than ever. 

There is an uneasy suspicion that the soil is saturated with disease germs from the hundreds of sick

horses which where treated there.  Certainly the epidemic of illness among residents around the

Racecourse, particularly the lung complaint which is so prevalent as to be nicknamed

"Racecourse throat" tends to confirm the impression that the troops have left more than mud behind.