The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-06-10
A HERO OF THE TURF.
THE RACE HORSE McwHuRTER. Az
THOUGH WOUNDED TO DEATH,
Refuses To Give UP the Race.
LII. Louis Times. june G.l


ISt Louis Times. june 81
When McWhirter and Mahlstick came down
the quarter stretch to complete the second
mile, Ii was neck and neck at steady even
run. Sixty yards away from the string Mahl-
stick, without increasing speed r. suddenly ap-
down." cried out some excited spectator, It
was a true warning. One leg had failed him,
but he kept on gaf1antly for the game blood
was hot. Had Knox, the little colored Jockey,
refined him In, the life OF a noble horse might
have been spared and might have served in
the stud for years. But, supposing he could
have controlled the excited ANIMAL there
stood in the way Unole Abe's Instructions to
make the race from start to finish, or in old
John Harper's expressive language, from
lend to end"
MwHIRTER KEPT ON;
it was virtually on three legs. He rounded
the lower turn and was well into the second
quarter of the last mile, there being Just O
perceptible slaclening of the gait, when Joe
Rhodes overhauled him and went by. AS the
horse passed him McWhirter swerved and
then It was that Knox, the rider, says the
other fore leg gave down. From that point
the poor fellow plunged ahead and into the
last half mile every jump tearing tendons,
muscles, flesh and skin and Knox Juggling at
the .reins, When at last the Roadway slack
ened and the horse came to a sudden halt, 1t
was with the bones OF both fore legs
of the ankle Joint and protruding six inches
through hide and flesh and resting in the dirt,
the hoofs lying limp and useless Before. The
sudden halt sent the jockey flying over the
horses head.
That scene and those that followed were
fortunately located on the back stretch, and
the little crowd Of forty or fifty who went
partially concealed the sad spectacle from the
ffeld-glasses in the grand stand. Had the acct
dent been finished where it began, on the last
quarter, 1t would have spoiled the sport with
many turf-lover for days to come. Many OF
those who went over to the back stretch
turned back sick at heart after single
glance.
''sHooT HIM.
for Gods sake" was the prompt instruction
Of the owner when he learned the full extent
OF the misfortune.
AS soon as the jockey got out of the dirt he
had stripped the horse of pigskin and trap
pings and stood crying at the woeful picture
when the first of the spectators reached the
place. McWhirter stood thus pitched forward
protruding bones for fifteen minutes painting
with the exertion OF the race. The fire
cleaned In his eyes and ting Precipitation
rolled down his sides. AS the little group of
Mortified spectators stood about him, he
looked around as IL surprised that no trainer
hurried up with sponge and blanket. Alas
for McWhirter; not only was his last race
run, but there was no more use for q trainer
Inc command 10 BLlOOb MIN Ghule DeTnbpS
fifteen minutes after the accident for the
news Of the condition OF McWhlrter travelled
slowly back across the wide field, nobody at
first caring to tell what had happened to old
Gen. BufOrd. the owner When the command
did come the half dozen policemen Looked at
each other with no pleasant anticipation OF
such task.
OFFICER KEEBnE,
of the Fifth District, man experienced in
horse matters, undertook 1t: He took his
stand on the left side of McWhirter, and
using Colts navy, tired Of close range ran Inc th
eye and the base of the ear, and from the hole
the streaming blood gushed forth. At the re-
port the horse threw himself back on his
launches and struck out with his man
KlSo i the same 0us steady position and
stood there. Three times the officer
leveled his weapon and fred, Each
time the bullet entered the brain and the
blood gushed out. At the third shot Nc,
Whtrter hobbled across, the track and stood
by the fence. 1t seemed as II he would never
fall. AS he painted the blood would squirt out
upon the fence and run from his mouth and
nose in great clots. Finally the officer step
nny Il tbe 9nS u he pso
to the forehead fired, the ball entering right
between the eyes. The horse dropped then,
but it was not till long after he had been
dragged into the southeast corner OF the
oak that life finally went out.
Jockeys and trainers gathered about him
with the most marked manifestation OF sor
row. The name, which had been braided and
tied with the Buford colors, red and white,
was sheared off and carried away as keep
sakeS.
It was declared at first that
THE BONES
of the fore legs had been broken To any one
acquainted with the autonomy Of race horses,
this seemed impossible, and it proved not to
have been the case. At the conclusion Of the
races, and while the grave was being dug,
Gen. Mitchell and other well known horse
men made an examination. In one sense, per-
haps, both of McWhirter's legs were broken;
but It was not bone fracture. Tendons and
were torn apart and the bones dis
jointed. The accident was what was known
among horSemen as
"BREAKING DOWN"
It happens occasionally on race tracks, but
there was never seen so aggravated
= case as this. The breaking down" of one
leg occurred just before completing the sec
Ond mile, and the other gave way when Joe
Rhodes slipped past. After that McWhrter
ran on the stumps for a furlong, gripping
himself to the death.
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