Middletown transcript., 1871-09-02

tha, eth day Of May, 1923. And thu,
night mail packets and mail couricrs car
rcd the news south. north, aud west from
New York In every country town the
people gathered in great numbers. hours
before the courier could possibly arrive, in
eager anticipation Of the news. The race
created national interest. and it was re-
gartcd Us contest Of national imppr-
tancc.
Those were the pal,ny days Of the turf,
and the Union Course was then in :hc
zenith vf i,s fame. General Riigely OF
Baltimore, Captain Cox of Washington,
aud John Allen. Esq. Of Philadelphia,
were the judges Of the race; and they re-
ported that tho first heat was run in I
minutes 81 seconds, the second heat in {
minutes and 40 seconds, aud the third in
$ minutes - seconds; thus making the
aggregate time % minutes 5nl seconds,
which Is equivalent to an average Of abou,
one mile in minute 80 seconds Amer
lean Eclipse: as an aged horse. being nine
years old in tho spring Of 1928, carried
1876 pounds. while Henry WAS burden ID
with los pounds; the advantage in
weight was clearly on the side Of the for
mcr. since the latter Yves his junior by five
years. This great iourmlo match led to
much speculation before it was decided on
Long Island soil in the presence Of vast
multitude Of people: and after the race
the history Of the struggle led to almost
endless discussion discussion which is
T. a. IL, L.. Il ,,,a,p,a,pal t,,,
one party that had Pur1y beccn in the
saddle from the star, Henry would not
have won the first heat aud that eight
miles ins,ca1 Of twelve would have iirish-
cl the race Another party insist that
Eclipse would have been detealei had
Colonel johnson been on the ground to
direct the running of the race. They ar
eua thnt Henry was lally managed the
second heat. aud that his bal manage
mrnt la,i him the race. Both sides arr
plau,;ly argued. aud simply mention thc
fac, withou, prc>uming 70 decide the con
iroyer>y. Certainly. the southern gen
tlcmen maintained confidence in the son
of Sir Archy in spite of his defeat; for
they agyrcl t, male a new match, Henry
4, ruu race Of f.nr-nilt heats against
Njaptienu Eclipse, IN the fil of l>23. for
auy sam from twenty q dhy thousand
loll1T, proposition firmly declined by
the Northern party. The Ni'ginian,
wcra IL the opinion that the absence Of
Colonel ] hnsan from n, tian Course
On liz 9Th Of May, was taa main cause
&C liebry'- lsfeat; anil this daa.on wa
,'reH Hsthcnci when the i..,ilsa prty de-
r.ira4 10 cutter INTO 4 second match.
}dt why was Napoleon ahsant On tha,
cyautfal day ~, Why! Simply be.
cause he was too weak to resist tcmpta-
ton, He attended II supper-pariy the
night before the race, met ronyival friends
AMI wine and HOLSTERS made him help
lc.s invalid when his strength should have
been greatest. his nerves cnlmast, aud hi,
intellect most uucloulel. That brilliant
hu. er,urie man, Hon John Randolph
VI Roanoke, witnessed the race between
the champions, and he was tie author q
Ii, since often quoted remark, 1T was
not Eclipse, bat the lnb,,cra that beat
llgury Apropos Of Randolph, The iir.
rin;a statesman VA, car tai breeder aud
one ef the INST devoted patrons Of the turf
His horses @erc usually trained aud run
IN lis fricll " Il johnson Ran.
dulph's peculiari,iel and sarcastic tongu,
made him cncmics on the tart. NJ well a.
in = liical circles Although be pro.
yokcl the distinguished kcn'ucisiin
lIcnry Clay. n patron f the turf, lik,
himself TO stand face 10 face with him IN
luelisir encounter solely that he might
crafty his inordinate greed Of neiefiely
we ean no, forget how chiyalrou,ly he re.
cciv,i Claws fire This duel made him
tie warm frienl Of the sage Of Ashland
and when Randolph. weak and dying
visited the Senate chamber for the last
time. his soul slonc gu, in all is true no.
bility. aud he paid touching and bcanli'
ful tribute 10 the araiarical powers Of tn,
great kcntuckyian. in asking to b. raised
up from the sofa in order that he might
Cor the last time on earth hear Henry
Clay speak These were his words
Raise me up; wish to listen TO that
voice once more Beautiful are they
not, especially when We think Of them il
connection viii, the arrogance of the pa
trieian representative from Virginia t,
speaker Clay in the winter OF lSld-iti?
To gg CONTINUED.