Morning journal and courier., 1883-06-18
The Evolution of the Trotter. From the SpringasEd Republican

1 Professor William H. Brewer, of the Yale | Scientific school has one of the most com | plete horse libraries in the country, and one \ of the conclusions he draws from study of I it's contents is that ''the higher the enlght- \ enment of the people the greater the variety ! of uses to which horses are applied, and the | American trotting horse is 8 special product ! of the highest civilization the world has yet ! seen." The same might properly be said also | of the system of gambling called French { pool. There is little doubt but that the ! wonderful speed attained day by the American trotter is due in great measure to | its adaptability to betting purposes. Profes- ' sor Brewer calls attention to the fact that the ! introduction of one-horse vehicles in this country is synchronous with the commence | ment of notably good time made at trottipg I matches; but certainly the su1ky was not the l cause of the trotter, or the trotter the cause | of the betting fraternity. The reverse is nearer the truth. History and fashion have ! until within the century been against one I horse turn outs. The English view of it is well illustrated by writer quoted by Pro- lessor Brewer who says: ''Our cousins on the other side of the salt water are mad in the encouragement of that nasty, awkward, ugly, Chelsea water-works style of action which characterizes the fast trotter."
 It Is interesting to find how the horse in the eyes of 8 student becomes the exponent or indication of civilization. Professor
 
 through prehistoric ages from a 'fsmall weak and awkward animal" and as he is
 bred by different nations to the exigeneies of war, agriculture and pomp his changing characteristics mark epochs in the worlds history. Mohammedanism, according to
 Professor Brewer, spread wherever the Ara
 bian horse and his armed rider could tread
 and no further. The Moor went into Spain
 but when he was finally expelled he left his Barb horse behind, and from this sprang the famous Spanish breed. ''When the Spanish
 horse was at its best, then Spain was at her
 height among nations; and as her horses de-
 clinsd her glory waned.'' This is of course
 the language of enthusiasm for the fact is
 that as her glory waned the Spanish breed of
 horses declined. The ancient horse, as he is
 now presented to us in art, shows an animal
 tough and muscular, adapted for chariots
 and war, but inferior as to speed no horse
 among the Elgin marbles of any of the clas-
 sic remains is given trotting motion, and the horse in ''Sheridans Ride'' is grouped in the class by Professor Brewer who calls 1t 8 cart-horse going at a speed that
 would wind him before two miles of the twenty could be accomplished. With the fashion set against trotters, or even one- horse conveyances it was left for men of leisure and those of sporting instincts to bring about the revolution, or rather evolu- ton, of the American trotting horse As an iron clad knight entering 8 tournament upon trotter would seem incongruous, so we in America have found that there is something better than chariot. horses for an afternoons drive certainly are the first to know and ventilate the luxury of one fleet horse before a light buggy. The contempt abroad fer trotters is conveyed by the French saying that ladies who are kind to their husbands will ride beautiful ambling palfreys in the next world, but the wicked will be con demned to ride trotting nags."
 The history of the increase of speed in trotters is very remarkable. Although it took from the year 2200 B. c. to the present century to produce three minute horse
 since then the scale has been lowered in al most a mathematical ratio In 1918 Boston Blue" made 8 mile in three minutes: six years later ''Top Gallant" reached the much sung 2.4O on the plank. The record was lowered without break every three or four years until in 1859 the famous 'fFIora Temple reached 2.19a, which Dexter" followed in 1867 with 2 I'll. Goldsmith Maid'' in 1874 with 2. IA, and the last, "Maud S., reaches 2.104 in 1881. While in 1856 there was but one horse in the world that had trotted in 25, we have in 1882 some 495 with that record, an increase of 76 over 1881. We have 60 horses with ?. 19 record, although nineteen years ago there was not one in the country. Professor Brewer leaves it to mathematicians to plot out the curves by which decision can be made as to the l ultimate speed of our trotters. Some one has evidently taken up this suggestion, for few weeks since 8 writer in Science made | up an equation using the figures as they are | given in the professors tables. Taking the | number of trotters with 8 record Of 2.3O in | 1843, which was one, he makes 8 formula in | which represents the number of horses and | the number of years since 1850; y equals | .Oo16 multiplied by f. This would give in 1882 1876 horses Brewers tables say 1884. ! Applying the same formula to the year 1900, ] the number of horses reaching 2.30 will be | about 10, ,OOO And as to the increased rate of speed it is estimated that we will cross the | two minute line in 1907, which is not at all | unlikely.