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RACING IN OLD MISSISSIPPI -4 . Days of Ante Bellum Sport at Pharsalia Course Recalled. Fatherland Stud Over 100 Years Old Still Nursery of Thoroughbred- :V 5 BY C. J. FITZ GERALD, NATCHEZ, Miss., November 13. Iu the ante bellum days no city in the United. States sur-: passed Natchez for its population in- the devoted interest displayed by its leadipg citizens iu. the sport of horse racing. Those were the- days of the: Pharsalia course, famous for the excellence of the; sport seen over it, particularly in races at two and; four-mile heats, which were notable for the bitter! manner In which they were fought between" horses; owned by members of the Surget, Binganian and. Minor families which were closely related by" tics of blood and marriage. The Pharsalia antedated the Metairie course at New Orleans and it was the meeting place of the sportsmen of the South long before Lexington and Lecompte had ther memorable, duel, ;ovqr the Louisiana proving grounds which has long been a cemetery. That was the period when General Wells, and Duncan F. Kennor delighted in crossing the Mississippi River from Louisiana to give battle to their fellow sportsmen, of that date. Prizes were: liberal for these tests and there were always trophies of the greatest beauty in addition: to the. money award. A. number Of these are now in the possession of the Surget, McKittrlck and Minor families today, but one of the most .beautiful, imported from England, occupies . a place of honor mi tlje sideboard of Samuel C. Hildreth of New York, who won it when Uncle captured .the Triumph Stakes at: Brighton Beach some years ago. Most of these: souvenirs of sports, when the joy of victory "was a greater solace than the money award, were buried" during the Civil War and they are now regarded as priceless for their memories and associations, Tlie. Pharsalia is now: a plantation on the outskirts of the town and there are no indications that it even echoes to the, hoof beats of some of, the stoutest and fleetest thoroughbreds this country has" eyer. known, or that -it was the gathering, place, of the arisocrats of all the southern country in tlie days when the Mississippi was the leading artery -of travel between the North and the South and .the steamers were veritable floating palaces.; Much of the glories of Natcliez has departed, but it still has many fine old homes, many of them on the bluff1 commanding a view of the hroad river for many miles. MAJ. T. J. CARSON LOCATED THERE. There is some of the bid time : sporting Spirit alive still, which augurs well for the future of the : thoroughbred in the South. For example, tliey are. still breeding thoroughbreds at the Fatherland Stud. Major Thomas J. Corson, who now lives near here, is authority; for the statement .that tlie Father-: hind 4is the eldest breeding institution of its kind in the Union that has remained continuously in the lwssesson of one family as a nursery of thorough-, -brpds for more than a hundredi years. This stud was originally established By Ailam L. Bingamau.J who was succeeded by his cousiu, James , Surget. James Surget, the sou of that same James : . died, recently, at the age of 84, and the breeding, interests of Fatherland have been assumed .uy his daughter Carldtta, now Mrs. David L. McKittrick, who; has. bought- the. Rock Sand Stallion Fern; Raclj from; the Nursery Stud, and will mate him with daughters of Cameron,-" by -Meddler, .. lam imported. Aifnet tyle, by Barcaldine, and G "jV". -Johnson, by IroquoiST-Bruhette by Bonnie Scotland. . Mr. Surgets early idyc was the chestnut horse. Rataplan, a noted distance, runner in the eighties, wiich he bgught from . the estate of Commodore -kitSon .of St. Paul. He was a. son of Alarm or. Reform Lady Lunily, and nearly all of the mares now at Fatherland have some of his -blood. For. .many years iMr. Surget was a constant visitor t Saratoga, but for. a loiig time he took his pleasure wltjl horses "at hoiiie. He had a. fine library of racing literature s-hd the walls of. his sitting room ,wcr6 covered with paintings: or; prints of :Gelcoe, LexlngtOn, Fashion, Iroquois, Rock .Sand, St. Simon, Isinglass and other famous" American, and English thoroughbreds. Fpr many years Peter Wimmer trained the horses ot .Jamfes Surget and had more . than an ordinary run of success with them. In his later years he, however, raced noiie of the horses lie. bred and at; the time of his death there were fourteen s.tallions at Fatherland and his second .establishment at. ChciTy Grove. Mrs. McKittrick. wishing to. reduce the stud, has deposit of a number of tlie stallions and mares. Five of the former Decamerone, by Cameron Vis-tala; Jeb Stuart, by G. W. Johnson Chacotah; an uijnauicd three-ycar-old. coif by Cameron Flash II.; Hancock, by Cameron Tigress, and Van Dorn, by Ci. W. Jolinson Costa Rica, have been bought by Major C. L. Sebtt of the Remount Service, ivlio will ship all but Van Dorn to Fort Reno, Oklahoma. Van Dorn will be left to improve the general purpose horses of this vicinity. ;
