New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-11-04
Nemppxk daily Gribm,te
THE TURF.
THE LATE BARBAROUs TROTTING MArCH
AT BRIDGEPORT.

On Friday, Oct. %, as We briefly mentioned ct the
time there came of one Of those cruel dieputable
exhibitions long match between two trotting horses
before wagons, at Bridgeport, Connecticut for Q
wager Of two thousand dollars. The authorities Of
Bridgeport We are informed, condition Of lowing
the race, e1acted an oath from the owners Of the
horses, which were named Broker and Unknown,
" that they had not and would not bet upon the
result" What this means il not very clear, for as
the race was trotted for match Of q 000 and as It
is not probable that the two thousand dollars
there of Themselves that any body else contributed
that amount to be trotted for, by Messrs Dalton's
and Taylors horses, one s naturally led TO suppose
that Mr.. Dalton, the owner Of Broker, put up, or
staked, or wsgered one thousand dollars and that
Mr.. Taylor, the owner of Unknown, put up or
stsked or wsgered the other thousand with agree
ment or understanding between them that the horse
of the two which came out ahead and alire, in q
trot Of twenty 1--we mles, should take the whole
of $4,000.
Now TO the eyes of ang reasonably learned Thebans,
this amounts exactly to Mr.. Dalton betting M.
Taylor one 81 ousard dollars that his horse Broker
could beat the other genemsn's horse Unknown, in
trot oftwenty five miles, and neither more nor less than
that; and it, having made that match or wager, the
gentlemen n question took oath that they had not
bet on the result Why, We fear that they swore to
what was not true, and that Bocotans of Bridge
port aided and sbetted and encouraged them in doing
go. by the way one would like to know by what au'
thoity or form of law the authorities of Bridgeport
administered such OATH aso one would desire to be
informed whether the said authorities administered,
or csused to be administered to every man, woman,
child and fool in the same town Of Bridgeport smi-
lar oath, that they had not and would not bet any
Al r. x-oA - kka Gnsk
place. has been the prevalent idea of the opponents
of racing that the mischief TO be appehended arose
rot from the danger incurred by the incorrigbe and
benighted sinners, who themselves run horses, of
losing their own money but from the danger incurred
by the population at large Of being demoralzed by
the wicked spectacle of two fast horses going their
fastest and being thereby seduced and led astray into
loose habits and gambling propensties through the IT.
resisbe temptation Of sporting their quarters or their
dimes, which they cannot afford to lose on the averte
nag This view, however, seems to have been too
large for the learned Brdgepolters, whose anxiety
seem to have confined itself wholly to regard for
the pockets and the souls Of Messrs. Dalton and Tay-
or aud to have lain dormant 10 relation TO the pockets
ard souls of the rising generation of bridgeport. In
the second place, as lovers OF fair play,
we must cay that 1t strikes US a. little hard that
Metsrs. Dalton and Taylor should be the only
two men In Bridgeport who were not allowed be
bet on their own horses, while all the other Bridge
porters were betting on the event to an I'M
limited extent The only way in which we can at all
understand the proceeding is this: that the authorities
acted under the full conviction that there was no one
in oil Bridge port, except the two entire strangers,
Dalton and Taylor, who were sufficiently wicked TO
be tempted into the niqu!y Of bet by any seduction,
and that strong in its own virtue, toto teres atque
rotundus, the Young America of Bridgeport required
no oath to keep Its feet free from the snare and the
stun bling block OF oouIse, oaths are administered
at Bridgeport previous 10 the opening of the polls,
that as q condition Of voting, every citizen shall swear
that he hos not and will not bet upon the eleeon and
generally, several times year, that no citizen shall
bet on the rise or fall Of railroad stock bank stock or
her securities, by buying selling upon tune, which
is rather q more demorslizng and ruinous sort OF
gambling than all the betting that ever has bsen or
ever will be- made upon either trots races snce the
begiI ming Of the world
Seriously speaking however, we think the authori'
ties Of Bridgeport have simply made themselves rdic
ulous and that they deserve to be- as they probably
are the laughing stock Ct ba the country for thus
stIainpg at q gnst and swallowing a camel
Had they prohibited the trot IN toto piece of un
wairantabe ard reckless cruelty to the nobest animal
that is sue ct to man. we should have landed them for
| their boldness aud humanity-had they forbidden
il, as likely to produce noisy assembage, to iucu.
cate bad example and encourage love of gambling
among the younger part Of the population, whether
agreed with them or not o. to the fact We should
certainly have deemed them right in upholding such
principle. But TO pass over the notorious and
palpsble cruelty to take no notice OF the pro-
miscuous outside gambling, and to ENFORCE ridicu-
lous oath on the owners Of the horse not to De-
on the result it being perfectly notoiiou, to every
body that the hores were going 10 rot for
bet, ard that in their senses would dream Of
nskiDg the driving to death of two valusbe animals
exec t for bet equal at least in value to the pscu
mary amount Of the mex, is tipply piece Of tom
fool.y!
With regard to the trot ITSELF these horses, which
had been previously driven still more cruel match
of leo niles or upward along turnpike road, were
bsought cut on the 23d Of October 70 perform task
which svowedly, VIGOROUSLY and as is well known to
every sportsman alive, 10 horse whstever Gao per-
form except at imminent risk Of his fe and if mis- fs
be sayed, at the almost absolute certainty OF bsng
ruined for life BY the performance The match was to
trot twenty five miles to wagons and i. differed IN
scIeeiy any respect from match against tine, the
Object not being to test the speed or courage OF the
bones but to ascertain which Of the two could endure
for the longest tine degree of toll a. torture which
ought to be il ficted on 10 horse The distance va,
| performei in hour 81 minutes and Is seoonss-.he
fastest half nile being accomplished in minute - ssc
| ords aud the slowest in minutes seconds; the
fastest mile in putes 29 seconds and the slowest
ahoot the endurance Of the two horsss at one pace
r Ia -.