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IARMY OFFICERS PURPLEBRED HORSE Watercress II 2Tow at Corpus Christ Army Post and May Bace Again COIlPrS CHRISTI Tex December 21 A re ¬ cent visitor to the army post here was impressed by the stylish beauty and carriage of an officers mount as the artillery troop wound its way through the various evolutions of the drill on the parade grounds It was evident to the spectator that the handsome chestnut which so outlooked his equine fellows was of a class and breeding apart from them and realized it The lover of good horseflesh with his curiosity aroused and with the realization that in ¬ formation is a scarce commodity in the surround ¬ ings of an army camp requested permission to view the charger at closer range and was given leave to visit the stables stablesQuickly Quickly he found the big animal being groomed by an attendant in khaki who pridefully admitted that the hoss was a thoroughbred not like these others which are all right enough in their way but not thoroughbreds thoroughbredsThis This is a real horse bredin the purple whose turf name was Watercress II when lie raced in the east in 1915 and 191G he said His sire was one of the greatest sires of his tithe the English Watercress a son of Springfield Wharfedale by Hermit His dam was Pearl V by Salvator Firenai both champions This handsome big son of theirs was one of the last offerings that James B Haggin ever submitted to a thoroughbred sales ring and when he was led before the auctioneer it was with a reserve of 15000 upon him The high ¬ est sum offered was 10000 and he was returned to the Haggin barn Later he was sold to James McLaughlin acting for the Elkwood Park Stable for the sales ring bid The handsome body of Watercress II proved too weighty for his legs when the attempt was made to fit him for stake engagements and he bowed a tendon Patched up he finished second in a fashionable field of two yearold maidens at Saratoga in 1915 in one of his nine efforts under colors colorsAt At the dispersal of the Elkwood Stable the gelding was purchased for a proverbial song by a southerner who brought him to Xew Orleans where an army lieutenant in search of a thoroughbred mount secured him and had him shipped out here herePUPIL PUPIL OF KING EDWARDS STABLE STABLEIf If I do say it myself I know a good horse when I see one for over in the old country I was a hostler in King Edwards racing stable for several years and I learned there the proper care of a horse such as Ive bestowed upon this Watercress Hes a gilding Ill admit though he wouldnt have been one if they d given him a chance to develop his full strength of limb before they attempted to train him over the dirt tracks but hes the best horse and the bestlooking horse in the army and you can see for yourself how liis log ius responded to the treatment of cold tubbing and exercise over the sandy trails of this lonesome country Hes as sound as a dollar and hejiroves his royal blood and breeding on every long hike we make hes one of the thousands we need to guide the coldblooded gun and caisson pullers over their long marches This branch of the service needs his type as much as the cavalry docs if not more moreAfter After the Hun is safely stowed away and the world rests easier therell come a time when my four years service will be up and then Im going to get the lieutenant s permission and Watercress II and I are going racing for a while If we dont return with more brackets to our credit than a great ninny racers that Ive seen Ill lie sadly mistaken How can he help jt hes from one of the best families in the thoroughbred world and hes been in the army Thatll carry man or beast any ¬ where providing of course that he hasnt been in the German army armyLieutenant Lieutenant E S Munro of the 4th Field Artil ¬ lery and owner of atercress II at the present time said that he may permit the orderly to carry his desires into effect during the next season if only for the sake of satisfying his own curiosity regarding the efficacy of army training as he put it
