St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-09-23
An Interrie,e Wtth spzan.

Milwaukee Sentinel, Monday, 22d.
''We are pushing matters out at the
track" said John Splan to Sentinel reporter,
last evening, and if we don't make some Of
the fastest miles on Thursday next that ever
were travelled, it won't be our fault. The
principal trouble with the track last week
was that the grass grew so far out at the
turns. OF course we had to drive around
the grass, and swerve made the course so
much longer. That will be all remedied.
The grass is cut away, and we have sent for
a machine that will scrape the bed of the
track, and put it in apple-pie trim"
Mr.. Woodmansee, the representative of
| Col. Kittson, is as sanguine as either Splan
or Campbell about the result of next Thurs
days performance.
GA record is what we are after,'' said Mr..
Woodmansee, 1--WE are of the opinion that
we will make it in this citv.''
In the course of general conversation
about the records and merits of the various
celebrated flyers, Mr.. Splan said: ''There is
one feature about Johnston that pleases me
| greatly and that is his uniformity. You can
always depend on him for good mile. He
may not lower the record every time he at
tempts it, but he gives the public fine ex-
hibiton of speed"
AS proving his assertion, Mr.. Splan said
that during the entire season the different
records made by the ''pacer king'' have
always been within radius of two seconds,
between 2:11 and 2:13. "And l don't be-
! lieve he made break more than twice since
/ have been driving him. continued Mr.
! Splan, enthusiastically. 'tNow, to drive
some horses you might just as well be hand
ling pair of mules on the towpath. They
are continually breaking, but if Johnston
breaks 1t is an accident. just like an engine
running off the track. 1t is the same way
with Maud S. and Rarus. They can always
be depended on. Now Rarus, especially,
was a model of uniformity. He was always
sure to make good time. Some horses make
a speedy mile to-day, but the next day they
can't come within six or seven seconds of it.
Now Rarus, while drove him, trotted two
heats at Hartford in 2:13% and
2:134 respectively. He then went to
Rochester and made a mile in 2:13sl.
From there he went to Buffalo and made
2:l34. The next record was at Cleveland,
| 2:14; the next at Saginaw, 2:144. Then he
went to California and trotted two heats in
2:t4 and 2:144. He also made a mile at
Minneapolis in 2:14. All those trials fol-
lowing each other, and all within second
| of his best record, is wonderful work There
is one fact about Rarus that may not be gem
orally known, and that is that his record
over a half-mile track still stands
unrivaled. He made a mile over the half
mile track at Toledo in 2:16 and 1t has never
been equaled, despite the fact that Maud S
has trotted over half-mile track time and
again. In fact all her training was done
over half-nile track, but she hasn't reached
the record OF Rarus"
In referring again to the approaching ex-
hibition at Cold Spring, Mr.. Splan explained
as one reason why he felt confident of bet
ter time than before that he had perfectly
''sized-up'' the slow track coming 70 the
three-quarter post. AS was stated in the
SSs,i1Id, after the race, the horses all lost
! ground on the last quarter. To overcome
this the drivers will travel the first half-mile at
4 speeder clip than was done before. Splan
always carries chronometer in his hand
when driving. His thumb rests upon the
| spring and when he gets the word he starts
/ the watch. During the heat he glances at it
! frequently aud knows just as vel, as the
] judges what time he is making As he drives
under the wire he presses the spring again
and stops the watch.