Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-07-26
AMONG THE TReTTERs.

AMONG THE TR0TTERs. ~
Captain mcGowan, Dexter, Brown
George and Fearless -tsPersonaI
4Appearanee'' of the Fast Ones. 9qlE
"A correspondent of the World gives a
racy sketch OF visit to somo of the WELL
known fast trotters at Island Park Course.
The first one looked at was ''Capt. McGow-
an" a request for which boon made to the
owner was answered by a reference to the
valet and major -domo of the animal, This
functionary, like most of his profession,
affects certain naughty reserve, and, like
all his profession, ehews tobacco and ex-
pectorates with protusion. But though a
horseman, he is human, and the hinges of
his heart are lubricable, by what the Trib-
une calls "rum,' though for fact his ost-
lership takes gin-cocktail sour. The cookies
of his heart (what are the eoekles of. a mans
heart p having been thus warmed, we ven-
Uured to approach him on the subject near
est our own. Might we see the. Captain ?"
"Yaas, L s'pose so," was the reluctant re-
ply, and pnderlprotest. as it were, helpro-
dnced the key and led the way gloomily to
the stables. The key opened the door OF q
large, loose box, where was beast of
which it tcouldi only be seen that it was a
quadrupedal, solow did its blankets hang,
swathed in red flannel bandages. Our
guide, philosopher and friend stripped off
some of the wrappages in silence and ex-
| posed his treasure to our view. s7slgsE a-9
"We gazed. That's what you call a
black-roan, isn't it?" -'''''
| With a derisive snort, "That'sl what we
call a steel-roan, my young friend. He amt
much to look at, but he kin trot, he kim
r'Captain MEG !" in point of fact, is
a scrubby, wiry, ,bob-tailed 'ssteel-roan"
nag, such as no one would look twice at if
he were before a Washington Market
butchers cart, and no one would expect
to see anywhere else. But he has certain
ly shown himself possessed of more endur-
ance than any horse that ever trotted.. In
the last generation the horse srom Thumb''
was thought a miracle, because once he
trotted twenty miles, within the hour
MCGOWAN" has done it three or four times,
and his match yesterday was against the
best time of l'Prince'-ten miles in twen-
| ty-eight minutes and few seconds His
owner was ready to back him to almost
any amount to beat it. We ventured to in
Quire if the .'Captain" was kind. ss-a,
Jess kinds a Kitten"
Encouraged, we put forth the hand OF
hesitation to pat the Captains" haunch,
and the 'sCaptain" put forth the near hind
leg oflightning to perforate our abdomen.
We were half an inch out OF range, but we
sat down in water bucket with extreme
precipitation, and remarked to the effect
that that was mistaken "kindness.'' t-i--
''Wall, he don't like. strangers every
much, the Captain don't, that's fact"
We asked after his pedigree, and our tu-
tor began unctuousfy to recount that he
was damned by So and-so, who was sired
by phingumbob, who in turn was damned
by the other, and so on for many. genera
tions, and then returning to his subject,
struck off on the "Captain's" ancestors in
the male, and ran that back with equal
particularly. II he had known his own
| holt "a ho hau hoA ~ 70
advantage of most of Fifth avenue. All we
remember of the horses genealogy is the
concluding statement that he is ''higher
thoroughbred than any other trottin' hoss
in America" 800 i.'-'-"
We rubbed up our sporting reading and
"reminiscences a little, and ventured to re-
mark with an assumed air of confidence
that 'Ethan Allen" mad a very pretty turn
of speed, but we were met by the assertion
that the Captain" could trot ETHAN AL.
lens" condemned head off. Why, then, we
asked, had. not tMcGowan" been matched
more in mile heats. Because nobody could
hold him, we were told: and whenever il
was tried to trot him with another horse he
ransaway.l We were told also that, where
as in ordinary trots against time it is neces-
sary to run another horse alongside to keeI
up the spirit of the contestant. .McGoW.
an" was always trotted alone, and in his
4 last twenty mile trot his driver .'had al
he wanted" to keep him down to his gait
By this time we thought we had exhaust.
ed the ''Captain," and we were sure tht
| 'sCaptainoe had exhausted us; so the stable
door was locked (rhe steed coutd not bt
stolen except by an: iron clad thief, anG
we asked itthere were any more fast horses
on the ground. 81 Z. r5l- -e5i .EslGg
swell, yes, that brown Dexter is dowr
here in number five. 1 dunno where tht
j fellah is that takes care of him. ~ t
i The fellah was ultimately found, but he
too, was in q mood aptly designated by tht
name of his favorite vehicle. Under Judi
cleus ''treatmenJ' he relented, and admit
ted US to .'DeXter's" drawing-room. Near
ly- everybody is familiar with .'Dexter's'
appearance, his white face, his white leg
l brown coat and his long body. At presen
he looks rather low in flesh-oue coult
count all his ribs-but he has been worked
l pretty well this summer. His skin is a
p glossy as satin, and he seems fit for almos
anything. He, too, was hidden by blankets
and his hoofs were done up in what looked
like poulti-eS. We .cOntented ourselVe
with inquiries, from Distance about hi
temper, and his groom was free to admi
that he did, not encourage the familiarit,
of strangers. Unlike .'McGowan," who /
4 tied up close to the n1anger, 'sDeXter' i
q left perfectly free in his loose box to wan
der at his own sweet will. He seems YER
nervous beast, and was restless during tn
w
showing the white ofrhis wicked old eye,
now twitching his lip, and again throwing
the straw up from his hoofs Cor his hoove
Il if any one insists upon it, 5af ri .riay
81 The next curiosity was Brown George
n g Brown George" likewise had bOudoi
= and body servanr. The latter was col
Z ored, and, like his colleagues, broode
3 some intolerable wrong. We decline t
"a say whether we did or did not treat hin
but it is certain that we prevailed upon hir
to exhibit-his charge. U" Brown George
the handsomest of the horses we, saw. FL
q stands about as high as '.DeXter," is of
little darker brown, and trails behind hir
on the ground a tail which would be tn
envy of Vieh Jan Vohr. His running
maten is an ordinary looking bay beast,
trife smaller than himself. .-a
As we were leaving the stables, we re
marked small bay of the size of Flor
Temple, and presenting the same (" Bow
cry" appearance, which we were told wa
"Fearless," mare that could 'sknoc
some seconds off of 2 30," and gave Butle
some trouble to beat last week. ir l--
Z, On the whole, we concluded that as wit
frogs and men, so with trotting horses
"you can't tell by his looks how far
will jump" e -'... T43
The Suffrage Amendment TO th
f State Constitution. -
From the Cleveland Leader (RadicaD.
The Cincinnati Gazette argues with muc
force that the only real issue in the penGin
| apt fo Conctit1tinp of Ohio,