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REMINISCENCES OF LATE CHARLES REED Items in the Life of the Man Who Owned the Famous St. Blaise and Other Noted Horses. I.YV OKI. CANS. La., January IS. "ThCia gOCS I man who makes me think • the late Charley Iteed." remail.ed a reteran I in I man. "And it »bm remind- ate thai althuagh the dome, of Seeds life w . ,ii i.i mak- a big volume of interesting reading, abaul liim when be died la povertj dowa si Gallatin. Tenu.. a feu rears ago. He aaa past 8ii rears old arhca be died, and had been one of the the auwspaner* carried only about twenty Uue* most prominent characters on the turf and in the sporting world for a full half century. "Never was there a character better known to the turf | Matter of I century and more ago than old Charley Reed. So venerable in appearance was he thai no one seemed able to remember him as a young man. Ami yet with all his rear* he was still vigorous when he had passed his eightieth milestone. "Reed, though supposed by many to have been a Kentuckinn bv birth, was born in Tennessee on Friday. Match 13. 1N30. and in his late years lie often was heard to remark that there was no hoodoo in the Friday thc-tliirteentli for him. Ive always been lucky. he once remarked to a reporter, although at the particular moment he made the remark all his belongings that had cost him hundred-of thousands were being sold at auction for a pittance. "From his boyhood days Reed was | gambler, and be gambled at cards in those days when gambling was the recognized recreation of state--nien and financiers. And yet. after having gambled all his life, he was steered against a sure thing to lose his but ,000. and he died penni-less. ONE OF THE "FORTY-NINERS.- "At the first rumor of the strike in California the then young barley Reed was one of the modern laaaas to join the Argonauts anil go in quest of the golden fleece. Prospering there lie returned eastward to New York and later went to New Orleans, where he ran a gambling house. At tic time of General Renjamin Rutlers raid on the Us, cut itv Reed was in jail as the result of an encounter in which another gambler was killed. General Butler opened the doors of the jail, freed all the prisoners, and Reed went away from there and again journeyed northward. "Always Charley Reed loved the horses and often told of seeing his first big race when a boy of eleven, when he was taken to see the great match between Fashion and Peytona on Ixmg Island in I84L Loag after the Civil War Reed purchased Fairview Farm, near Gallatin. Tenu.. the place of his birth. lie succeeded John Meirissey in the ownership of the noted clubhouse at Saratoga, which afterward became the property of Richard Can-field, and which now is owned by the City of Saratoga, the buildings and grounds being a part of the city path system. "The one story that always trapped up whin anything was to be said of Reed was his sen-a-tional bid on the famous Epsom Derby winner St. Blaise. "St. Blaise was imported into this country by the first August Belmont, father of the present chairman of the Jockey Club. After the death of Mr. Relmont St. Blaise was put up at auction in Madison Square Garden, along with other* of the Relmont rating String. When the great thoroughbred was offered there was hut one bid. Every one else was breathless when Reed said 00,000. and he secured the horse, which became the head of the stud at Fairview. "Tall and big of frame, with grizzled hair and Mustache, Reed was a picturesque character of the turf, never to be forgotten by anyone who once had seen him. No other turfman of 1» i — time ever dressed as did Charley Reed. His taste ran to hats with fantastic bands made of multicolored scarves and bandana hankereliiefs. Always he wore a fancy vest of some heavy goods in bright colors, cheeked or striped, and on his feet lie wore spat-, whether in winter or summer. REEDS EXTENSIVE HOLDINGS. "In addition to his ciabhOUSe interests at Saratoga Reed owned the house at 5 West Twenty -fourth street adjoining the old Hoffman House, and along in the 70s. Mis and even into the 14786*• this was a place where the play at cards ami roulette «ras as high as any place in the world. There in those days famous men gambled for high stakes. tine of the legends of the place was that Fernando Wood, once mayor of New York, one night gambled away a newspaper property, and then wan it back and 0,000 besides on the following night. "One of the last Broadway memories of Reed i-* the sale of the valuable furniture and works of art which took place in 1910. Furnishings that bad cost *0,000 went for a total of ,500. In the lot Was one sideboard that President Scott of the Erie Railroad had offered Reed slo.000 for. When the offer was made Reed turned it down, saying it would spoil the set to part with it. At the sale it was bought in by a dealer in antiipies for ,-11. "Already Fairview had been sold with all its model stables and 1,857 acres of fine land that lay along the Cumberland River. Fairview was the most bautifal of all the old residences in the Blue Grass section of Tennessee, and had been the homo of the Franklins. "In those latter days it soured Reed to be known as a gambler rather than a horseman. He preferred to be remembered as the man who had owned St. Blaise and Thora. the greatest two-year-old of her year, and Ronnie Belle, another great race mare" that brought fame to her owner. " I remember the time. he said during the sale of his house furnishings, when this place was fre-tjuented by men famous all over the United States. Thev came here for recreation, but times have changed ami gamblers ,.f today arc different. People have come to think differently of playing cards for money, and the old days have passed forever. HONEST IN ALL HIS DEALINGS. "Always Kced had borne the reputation of being bouesl in ill his dealings on and off the turf, in bis gambling houses, or in any other business transaction. After the sale of his last belongings the old man had sufficient to keep him for his declining days, but with his advancing years his mind weakened. Tie- wire men played for him and be trusted them, for he always had been a trustful soul, believing no great ill of aiione. "The fake poolroom was all framed and the ag -d one was lid to the slaughter. The man who bad made one bid of 80,008 for a race horse and who had gambled for tens and hundreds of tic nsaads in a night was there to place the remnant of a once hi;; fortune on a sure thing. "The wire mob" let him "place the money and the "sure thing was second. After it was all over, weakened in mind, a- he was. Seed knew that he had been bunkoed, but like the majority of these who have fallen anil continue to fall for the old game, he never squealed. The transaction was known to but a few people. "Charley Reed just dropped out of sight, and like so many others at one time famous he was forgotten. He got back down to Gallatin, whence he had started, and he died a pauper and among strangers, for most of those who knew him there had passed on before."
