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RACING OF QUARTER-HORSE ■ ■ Personal Recollections of a Veteran Who Had Hand in Game. «. Tale of Pays When Ton fonltl Matcli Yonr Horse at Almost Any Crossroads In the West. • "The name of that colt." paid a veteran racing man one day rceently. "lirinps to my memory iccollections of th;- poc-d old days, when you could match a quarter hors • at almost any crossroads in the west and southwest, and you were liable to be trimmed ajoiit as often as you trimmed the other fellow, for it was part of the religion of those peopie in that region to be ready to hold their own doing anything. They believed with all their h.arts that the Lord helps theso who help themselves. "My good friend Brown and I had plucked a few pigeons along the Atlantic coast, and incidentally we had lost some of our own plunging in Mississippi, where our feelings were hurt somewhat by people who not only took our money but hinted that their success had been mainly achieved through their superior training ability. They conceded that our horses were better than theirs, but they had out-trained the firm of Patterson and Brown, and that was a bitter pill to swallow. "We decided to try new pastures and shipped into Indiana, where there were in thos. days some mighty smart quarter horses, but nothing the equal of a nag in our string, though he had been beaten in Mississippi through a fluke. "We halted at Cambridge City and gave it out that we were on the lookout for some smart animals, principally horses with a turn of speed, thcugh we were prepared to pick up an old carriage or saddle horse if a really high class animal should be encountered. "You all know how solemn and innocent Brown looks naturally. Well, on the occasion of our visit to Cambridge City it seemed to me that he had never appeared more guileless. We made friends around town and were pretty good customers at the bar. I did the drinking for Patterson and Brown for reasons which will appear later in my story, and though there was plenty of opportunity to talk quarter horse neither of us said a word until one evening a prominent resident of Cambridge City coaxed Brown into consenting to run one of our saddle horses against a mare he owned. " Just for fun, was the way he put it at first, though subsequently he wanted to bet sioa BEOW5 PUTS LEAD IN POCKETS. "I happened along casually shortly after Brown had made the race and I upbraided him shamefully for burning up our money, finally walking away. Brown followed me to the stable where our horses were put up and I slipped him a roll of money. He had on a long linen duster, such as country folks wear in the summer time, and before returning to the hotel where the local horseman was holding forth, he put a few chunks of lead in his pockets You know Brown never weighed more than" 120 pounds in those days, though he stood five feet ten inches in his socks. "When he came into the room, where quite a crowd had gathered, having heard of the proposed race. Brown wanted to beg off, saying that I had threatened to dissolve partnership if the match was run. The more he begged the stauncher the other man was, and finally quite reluctantly Brown put up his hundred dollars The local sharper co-ertd it. and the money was put in the handy of the local hotel proprietor as stakeholder. " Thats a forfeit of 00, said the local man. and the day of the race we will post the other hundred. "I wish you could have heard Brown plead and beg. Patterson certainly would quit him now. he said, and, another thing, he had no jockey. "That would be all right, the local man said. He had a neighbor who had a son that could ride very well and he would get him to take the mount. But Brown argued that his horse was very hard to handle and that he would probably be compelled to ride himself. How much did he weigh? Fully 140 pounds as he stood. Oh. that could be arranged. If Brown rode, they would put up a colored boy of equal weight who worked in the stable. "They went to a neighboring grocery store. and sure enough Brown tipped the beam at 140. Both sides got ready for the match and the whole town woke up. The event brought a number of sports from out-of-town and some even came up from Kentucky, among them the man whose name is recalled by that blocky built chestnut colt over there. "He had raced me once and the minute he saw me he sang out, Hello, ! giving the name I usually raced horses under, though I will say that I assumed a name only because I was a government official at home and wanted to enjoy my favorite sport under cover, as it were. It was not through desire to be cunning or secure anything to which I thought I wasnt entitled. BF.TS CHOWD TO STANDSTILL. "I tipped a wink to the man from Kentucky and he sheered off into the crowd which jammed the country road where the race was to be run. For a few minutes I heard him offering to bet on our horse, and so eager were the local fellows to get some of the good thing that he was surrounded in a moment. After he had on a thousand of his own I motioned to him that we would like some of it. too, and he bet that crowd to a standstill. I had put up a thousand in town in small packages, getting odds for some of it. and we stood to win quite a bunch when the horses appeared. "When Browa said that he would ride our horse himself, because he was unruly at the start, he sprain* d the truth badly for if ever there was an ask and answer horse that knew his business it was that particular animal. He could turn on a five cent piece and jump twenty-two feet the first stride. If it wasnt a go he woidd pull up with the gentlest touch of the reins and walk back to the stretch like a plough horse coining home after a hard days work. "Br wn had heard something of the horse they would have had the surprise of their and as cranky as an old maid with, several hens setting and a thunder storm coming. Wlien I gave him my hand to put him up he remarked in his soft voice that he thought we had an easy thing. 1 "Brown rode in his shirt, trousers and socks, discarding boots in order to save every ounce of weight and if the other fellows could have put him on the scales, they would have had the surprise of their lives, for he weighed not a pound more than 120 as he stood. They were so eoekcy that they had put up the colored stable boy already referred to and he looked ISi pounds at the very leas!. "When they came to the rcrateh our horso lost some of his apparent dullncs he hail stood stolidly by the roadside when he wasnt walking about, led by Brown— and happening to look up. I saw my red-faced friend from Kentucky in the crowd on the other side of the tree-lined road. He covered his mouth with his freckled and hairy lrand to bide a smile that threatened to be.omc a guffaw. "The fences along the roail for 400 yards, the distance of the race, were c ivcrcd with people and the roadside was well nigh irrf-passable. a lane of fifteen feet wid- through which the horses were to pass heing kept clear by marshals. As Brown rode forward, his long legs dangling and the reins held loosely, he seemed so innocent and unwary that I could not trust myself to look at the Kontuokian. who I knew was enjoying the situation quite as much as I was. ■Bill AND HBO IN HAKMONY. "The colored lad had bis work cut out for him from the moment they threw him into the saddle. The horse curvetted and reared and the boy kept hi seat only through an exhibition of skill which betokened him no ordinary horseman. Our horse was ready always, he and Brown working in perfect harmony. "Time and again they got away to a false break and all the while the home hors was becoming lu tter and more high tempi red. The owner finally asked permission to turn his horse, and from the appearance of his face, as he stepped forward for the task, he knew that his money was gone. Browns skill in handling his mount and th:- perfect manners of our candidate made it plain to all — and there were many quarter horse experts in the crowd — that it was an experienced rider and a horse of unusual merit they were up against. "Finaly they were away, with Brown in the lead and the race was over right then. Some of them paid with pretty poor grace, and it was hinted more or less broadly that it would not be healthy for us to tarry too long in town. As we had the money, we were nothing loath to exchange Indiana for Ohio, and a few days later found us snugly located in a prosperous town in the interior of that state not a hundred miles from Columbus. "I had a few pretty smart trotters at home and was always wiling to pick up a four-cornered fellow if I knew where one could be found. We had been in town perhaps ten days and I had made several excursions into the country in quest of likely material, when, upon coming home one evening. Brown confided to me that he thought things were shaping themselves for a match. "There was a pretty smart mare owned just out of town and, in response to a few hints that we had something good in our string, there came a proposal to run :100 yards for 00, We each put up a forfeit of 00 and a few days later I went over near the Indiana border to look at a roan trotter that could do 2:30 three times on a half-mile bull ring. I was washing my hands in the back room of a country hotel preparatory to going in to dinner when I thought ! heard familiar voices outside a*, the bar. " Made a match, have you? was a query that floated my way. " Yes. for 00 with a man named Brown, was the answer. " What does he look like? came the first voice again. " A simple sort of fellow, quite tall and with one eye. " Simple, hey? was the answering retort. Oh, yes; Browns simple, all right. Say, youre bea*. youre beat right now. "I sneaked out the back way, hitched up my horse and was on my way again when the dinner bell was calling the bunch to the table. I lost no time in getting to town and told Brown that we might as well get ready to move, for I knew what was coming off the next day. We were told that wo could keep the 00 and there were a few gentle reminders that the stalls we occupied would be needed. BROWNS PROWKSS AS MATCHMAKER. "I thing, though, that Browns crowning effort came somewhat earlier in his career. He had picked up a fat little horse, not much more than 14.2 hands and kept him pretty well under cover, breaking him to harness and using him as a sort of general purpose animal. If there was an errand to be run BuPons. the name the little fellow got from Mrs. Brown when he was first brought home, was pressed into service, and smart as I considered myself those days I wasnt on to the fact that the little chap could flatten out like a true quarter horso flier until Brown invited me to sec him step one morning. "He had the peculiar churning motion with his tail seen occasionally in quarter horso families, and his short legs fairly twinkled when he got down to business. There was an old chaj " ati adjacent town in South Carolina who never lost an opportunity to take a fling at us, and when we made a match to run our pony for a couple of hundred a side agaitist a horse of some reputation a hundred miles or so up the- state, he lost no time- in prophesying that we would bo beaten and soundly at that. "We were beaten, all right, and on our way home we put up at the town where our garrulous friend lived. We had scarcely bedded our horses down that evening and had our supper before the- old chap appeared. He was grinning and chewing a rye straw. "Got beat, didnt you." was his salutation. I knowd youd get it. Why. that bull of yours cant beat anybody. " "He can beat anything round these dig-gins, was Browns answer before I could say a word. " I got an old fellow can beat you for twenty-five. was the ready come-back. "Well, they made a match to run two days later, and we lost. Brown rode- and appeared much crestfallen at the outcome. When he dismounted he- looked his horse over carefully as though trying to figure out how he had bee-n beaten. Shaking his head, he said: " Im not satisfie-d and Ill run you for another t werity-f i e in half an hour. "That was lemon pie for our opponent and the mom y was put up at once. Brown looked ready to cry when he was beaten worse than at the first essay, and he walked off leading the black pony, apparently as disconsolate as though he had lost everything of which he was possessed. "That evening the old fellow came around LContinoed on eleventh j/ae., RACING OF QUARTER-HORSE ] Continued from ninth page. to our quarters to gloat He was poking a lot of fun at us and our pony, when Brown ventured the opinion that he thought the pony was off his true form and that with a reasonable time to prepare him he could beat his conqueror of the afternoon quite handily. " Give you all the time you want and run you for 00, was the old fellows reply to this. ] " Ill go you, said Brown, counting out his money and handing it to one of the hangers on. Of course, the local horseman couldnt crawfish then and he put up his wad. " "When dye want to run?* he asked. " Well drawled Brown with a twinkle in his solitary eye, I was going to say in two weeks, but Ive just thought of a date I have day after tomorrow, so if youre ready well run in the morning. "I can still hear the yell that went up from the bystanders," concluded the veteran. "They knew as well as the man who made the match that the race was over right there. Oh, yes, Brown was simple, all right"
