Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-10-16
A Horse Ridden to Death

| When McWhirter and Mahlsticb
came down the quarter stretch IN late
race at st. Louis, Mo-, ia complete the
second mile, it was neck and neck at a
steady run Sixty yards away from
the string Mahlstick, without increas-
ing speed, suddenly appeared in the
lead. "McWhirter is giving DOWN.
cried some excited spectator. Ii was a
true warning. One leg had failed him,
but he kept on calamity, for the game
blood was hot. Had Knox, the little
colored jockey, reined him in, the life
of a noble horse might have been
spared. But McWhirter kept on; it
was virtually ON three legs. As he
rounded the lower turn, and was well
into the second quarter OF the last mile.
there being just perceptible Stacking
of the gait, Joe Rhodes Overhauled him
and went bv. 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 tugging away at the reins. When
at last the headway slackened and the
horse came 10 sudden halt, it was
with the bones of both fore legs torn
from the sockets of the ankle joint, and
protruding six inches through hide and
flesh, and resting on the earth. the
hoofs living limp and useless before.
The sudden halt sent the jockey flying
over the horses head. .'Shoot him, Tor
Gods sake" was the prompt instruc-
ton of the owner, when he learned the
full extent of the misfortune.
Police Officer Keeble undertook it.
He fired at close range. The ball
struck square about midway, between
the eye an the base of the ear, and
from the hole the streaming blood
gushed forth. At the report the horse
threw himself back ON his launches.
and struck out with his mangled fore
legs, but dropped down again into the
same steady position and stood there.
Three times the officer levelled his
weapon and fired. Each time the bull
let entered the brain and the blood
gushed out. At the third shot Nc
Whirter hobbled across the track and
stood by the fence. As he painted the
blood spurted out upon the fence and
ran from his mouth and nose. Finally
the officer stepped in front of the now
failing horse, and putting the muzzle
Of the pistol almost to the forehead
fired, the ball entering right between
the eyes. The horse then dropped, but
it was not till long after he had been
dragged into the southeast corner of the
grounds underneath the shade of a
the conclusion of the races, and while
the grave was being dug, Gen. Nit
chell and other well known horsemen
made an examination. In one sense,
perhaps, both of McWhirter's legs was
broken, but it was not bone fracture.
Tendons and muscles were torn apart,
and the bones disjointed. The acci-
dent was what is known among horse
men as breaking down. Gen. Buford
says:
'.The boy ought to have held him up.
McWhirter hadn't completed this
training, and 1 only entered him to
come here. l engaged him here and
nowhere else. He was ridden badly at
Louisville, where l gave him trial to
see how he went more than anything
else, and another horse struck him on
his good leg. We have nursed him and
he seemed to be all right. We used
cold water on mis- leg and it must have
made it tender. refused $4,000 for
him. He ran the grandest races ever
won, and his winnings have been be-
tween s., 900 and SIC, ,OOO."