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STABLE WORK IS HARD WORK INDEED iyman Davis Gives a Few Facts in Regard to Duties of Boys Caring for Race Horses In Kentucky a law was recently passed com ¬ pelling all men between 18 and 60 years of age to work a certain number of hours each week The race tracks were hit hard when the law was put into effect especially was it a severe blow to the negro stable hands Many of them were put in jail and almost died from being taken away from their favorite racers racersLyman Lyman Davis the wellknown race track official comes to the front on behalf of the blackskinned swipes and points out that the work of a race track rubber is work indeed and nearly all of them are expert in their line lineDid Did you ever stop to think what is necessary to get a horse ready to stand a bruising race The months of training the care that he receives and lastly the people who prepare him If not heres a few facts writes Mr Davis DavisNowadays Nowadays from four to five horses constitute a set in a modern racing stable This set is taken care of by one rubber and one exercising boy arid the rubber does practically all of the work workAnd And heres some of his duties the most im ¬ portant ones onesHe He generally arises with the sun feeds and waters his set shakes up each stall and cleans it saddles his first horse for the exercise boy who is just coming from his breakfast theii goes to breakfast himself gets back from breakfast in time to take the horse just brought in of the track saddles a fresh one for the exercising boy and then starts to cooling out the horse just brought in off the track then does him up after cleaning him from the tips of his ears to his feet bandages him if necessary and puts him away in his stall just about tlie time the other horse is brought in off the track This trackThis line of work is continued until almost din ¬ ner time according to the number of his horses to be worked or galloped that day dayAfter After dinner he may rest for an hour or two Then he starts to doing his laundry work for either himself or his horses If for the horses it consists of rubbing cloths bandages etc etcAbout About 4 oclock it is walking and grazing time and he and the exercise boy walks and grazes their set setHe He then shakes up his stalls supplies new bed ¬ ding where necessary fills up each hay rack and waters off each horse that is gives him a bucket of water waterIt It is now supper time He eats supper and if it is his turn then sits up until late listening to see if any of the horses get sick or cast in their stalls He then calls it a day and goes to his bed bedHIGHLY HIGHLY SPECIALIZED KIND OF WORK WORKWe We of the race track are told that this is no work but please consider that this man has spent his entire life upon a race track probably started as an exercising boy and when he got too heavy for that vocation started to rubbing horses He knows nothing else can do nothing else and his work is a highly specialized kind of work and an ordinary laborer could no more perform it than he could fly flyI I would like to take up a little space in re ¬ citing the hardships of one of my oldtime friends called Rabbit His case is a shining example of what tlie poor fellows have to put up with The other day I met Rabbit He was sitting upon an upturned water bucket and had just begun relating his adventures to a group of his companions but upon seeing me stopped spoke to me and began all over again saying When dat Texas gink hired me erway from de boss man he promised me 50 a mnnth to be paid on de fust uv each munth tole me dat he boaded his own help dat de cuddnt git de grub he fed at a common boading kitchun He tole de truth lie paid me on de fust uv de munth and borrowed de inunney rite back from me befoah noon en you cuddnt git de grub dat he fed me eh dc exercising boy at a boading kitchun because dat grub was rite fat salty bacon coffee eu bread He showed me how to cook it de fust mawning I wurked for him en heffhs de way dat man cooked He fust stahted a flan rite out on de bare ground he made dis fiah wid two or three little sticks uv wood erbout fouh or five inches long longDen Den he pulled out his big bowie knife en carved off twelve or fouhtecn slices uv dat bacon slid dem into dat frying pan en cooked em oven dat slbW fiah till he fried all nv de grease out uv dem den he sprinkled sum stuff he called coffee essiinee into a tin can uv biling watah sliced off sum bread en stahted to eating When he had enuff he turned me en de little niggah loose on what was left en Im heali to tell you dat even if dat grub was full uv smoke en cindahs dat I had a good appertite When youse a rubbing five hawses walking en grazing erbout three or fouh doing de laundry work en aejing as chambahmaid for all five uv em every day you wont lose yonh appcrtite Dat wuz de funniest man I evah wurked for he jest natcherally hated to spend a dollah he had five hawses en me en de little niggah done all Hy ¬ de wurk he neveh paid de exercising boy ced he had a contract on his survice de second munth he paid me de whole hunderd dollahs lie owed me en borrowed it back from me a half hoiih aftehwahds ced he had a bill to pay Coase I tried to argue wid him erbout lending him all uv dat niunney but it wuznt enny use dat man had a eye like a rattlesnake en lie got mity fidggety seemed like he wuz a going to pull dat bowie knife enny minit so I jest had to lend him dat hundcrd dollahs TURNS HIM OVER TO FEDERAL OFFICER Well sah I waited two or three days en den astcd him when lie was a going to pay me mah hunderd dollahs back en he tole me dat hed attend to dose small mattahs upon de first uv de following munth den I declahed mahsef tole dat gentleman dat I wuz a going to quit him on de fol ¬ lowing mawning He tried to persuade me to stay but when he found out dat I wuz set to quit lie tole me dat hed get de Federal officers to attend to niah case I thought he wiz jest a bluffing but he wuz so pizen mean dat I stayed De next mawning aftah Id finished up all uv mah wurk en wuz getting ready to fry sum bacon for dinnah a white man dat Id nevah seed befoah walked undah ouh shed an asted dat Texas reptile if he had a niggah named Rabbit awnrking for him He ced yes en de man ced introduce him en de boss brought dat man down to where I wuz astanding wid a frying pan in mah hand en ced Rabbit heahs a gentleman dat wants to talk to you De fellah pulled back his coat en showed me a badge erbout as big as a pie plate en ced Ise a federal offiser en Ise heah to find out why you isnt obeying de law en I answered I isnt a breaking enny law dat I knows of en den dc talk went on erbout like dis Do you know dat deres a state law recently passed called de wurk or fite law No sah I didnt Well you have to do one of the two things thingseitl8 eitl8 wrk or ti ht Dont you think dat Ise awurking rite now What you are doing now is no work at all Den I tole dat gentleman whut I wuz doing for dose 50 dat I wusnt agitting in dese wurds I gits up erbout fouh a clock every mawning shakes up mah stalls feeds en watahs mah hawses gits de breakfast for us three people saddles de fust hawse to be taken out on de track When he is brought in off de track saddles another one den stahts to cooling out de one brought in does him up en puts him erway in his stall en keeps on a doing dis till dinuah time Den gits dinnah moah bacon en coffee en bread After dinnah stahts to doing mah laundry wurk for five hawses Washing out rubbing cloths bandages en so on bout de time I finishes dis up it is walking en grazing time I walks en grazes fouh uv de hawses en de exercising boy attends to de udder one Den puts dem up for de nite gits suppah en den sits up till erbout 9 a clock every nite a listening to see if enny uv dem get casted in dere stalls fer dese shed rows stalls is mity narrcr en dey might roll oyah in dere sleep en git dere laigs pinned up ergaiust de side wall den I calls it a day en goes
