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HOW TOMMY KNIGHT CAME TO MR. RESPESS. Though his days as a jockey are at an end unless, perchance, he should take a mount in a highwelght race or develop a fancy for steepleehasingt which is not considered probable Tommy Knight is still in the employ of .1. B. Respess. lie perforins the duties of the stable foreman and not infrequently exercises horses. Some day it is expected that he will be the trainer of the Respess establishment. He has a berth with his employer as long as he wants it. This story of how the boy came to him was told by Mr. Respess to the Cincinnati Enquirer recently: "My horses were over at the old iSewport racetrack and one evening, when I was bound for the kitchen, I came across a little lad sitting on the ground, crying as if his heart would break, I asked what was the matter and between his sobs I learned that he had been abandoned by some man who .had a stable of horses and had to sell them and skip to avoid the sheriff. "He told me his name was Tommy Knight and that his parents were living at Lexington, Ky., and I. after a good deal of persuasion, got him to accompany nie to the eating place. Though he was repeatedly urged to sit at the table and eat with us, ho wouldnt budge, and when I finally Insiste.l that he niusf eat, he said: Boss, I dont belong at the table with yousc; Im a colored boy. "ThatvaU a surprise to me, as I thought that he was white, and so he waited until we were through and then he sat down and ate. I sort of took a fancy to him, and when I went to Lexington to the sales I ooked up his mother and took a contract on his services. "Whu,t a rider he turned out to be is well known. With ajl.xi that he could be trusted and never was there a Suspicion liiat he. was anything but honest. "Besides this he was so faithfuj. If I went out and took him along and happened to fall into a card game or any sort of gambling, when I left there would be Tommy on the outside, curled up asleep waiting for me. He has been a good boy to his folks, and there will always be a place for hlni with me. He has saved a good deal of money and will never want."
