The Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1850-1852, 1850-08-22
tr'sa ;h. N,~ frts sg,,r1i - ", J,-re.
SHAM HAYS AND Ills BULLY
RACE.
NV QUO ceNnt.roNne>r

HI Nfw QUO IoHRt.Fuepssr
Some fpfiy yrar- a:n. the managers
of rae, cnuf." rrar Nr,w siiir on
the Monongahela. pubh.i,ca notice of
race, one miic heats. on "A particular
day, fer purse of ouc hundred dollars.
free for anything rM foaJ hg.. and
hair on" A nan ia ,h- -iglborhnot,
named lIav.. had buil thu, he wa. ia
the habi, OF ruling TO mill with las bag
Of corn, apd lac Determined 10 enter
HIM f,r the rar". He SAID nothing
about II 10 any on" hu, be- rode him
nroand the track a number of time. on
moonlight nights. until The bull had iilr
hang of the ground pretty well, and
Mopid Keep the right couf,e. lie rode
with spurs, which the hull considered
particularly di-acreeahI.. 80 mrch su
that hc always brilowcd when they
were applied to hia side. On the mot
Ming Of the race Hayes came upon iir
ground ION horseback on hi. bull In
stead of saddle, lac hal dried OK
hide. the head part oi which. with the
horns still on, he had placed on the bnll's
rump. lie carried short tin horn IN
his hard. he 'ole TO the judges stand
and Offered his buli for the race; but
the owners OF the horses that wrr. EN-
tered objected. Hays applealcd To the
terms oi the notice, insisting that his
bull had "four teys anil hair on and
that therefore, he had righ, to enter
him. After a good deal of .cussin and
'dlscussin. the judges declared them
selves compelled TO decide that the bull
had the right TO run, and was entesed
accordingly.
When the time for starting arrived
the bull and horses took their places.
The hOrse racers were out Of humor AT
bur!e-que which they supposed was in.
tended, but thought that all would be
over as soon as the horses started, when
the signal was given they did START
Hays gave blast with his horn and
sunk his spurs into the bulls sides, who
bounded off with terrible bawl, at no
tritiing speed, the dried OK hide tapping
up and down and rn,iling at every
jump, making combination of noises
iha, had never been heard on race
course before. The horses all flew the
track, every one seemed to be seized
with q sudden determination to tax the
shortest cut to get out Of the redstOne
country, and not one Of them could he
brought back in time to save their dis
tance. The purse was given TO Hays,
under great deal Of hard swearing on
the part Of the owners Of the horses.
A general row ensuc1, but the fun Of
the thing put the crowd ali on the side
OF the bull. The horscmcn contended
that they were swindlcd out of the
purse, and il il had not been for Hays
horn and ox-hidr, which he ought not
to have been permitted to bring on the
ground. the thing would not have turn
ed out as it did. Upon this, Hays told
them that his bull could beat any of
their horses anyhow, and if they would
put up hundred dollars against the
purse which he had won, he would take
off the ox-hido and leave his tin horn,
and run fair race with them. His
offer was accepted and the money stalk
ed They again took their places at
the starting post, and the signal was
given. Hays gave the bull another
touch with his spur aud the bull gave
another tremendous below. The horses
remembered the horrible sound, and
thought all the rest was coming as be-
fore. Away they wen, again, in spite
OF all the cXcrtions Of their riders,
while Hays gallopcd his bull around
the track again and won the money
From that time they nicknamcd him
Sham Hays. He afterwards removed
10 Ohio, but his nickname stuck TO hin
as long as he lived.