St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-09-08
Robert Bo,.ner,s Stables.

L have known him since / was a boy. /
have never seen him out of temper, al
though he has developed immense amounts
of energy at different periods of our ac-
quaintance. He is notable in several lines
OF life, partly as owner of the Ledger, partly
as the proprietor of the largest and most ex
pensive and most important stables in the
world, and partly liberal donor to worthy
theological and literary institutions; but in
this letter l am treating of the pecuiarities
of New York editors, more especially as they
take hold of their physical recreations and
pleasures.
Mr.. Bonner tells me that when he first be-
gan to push the Ledger, along about 81, he
was in very bad health. This was the time,
you rem ember, when he startled the country
by taking page of the New York Herald for
the advertisement of his Ledger, and, when
twitted as being sensational advertiser, he
hired another page in the same journal on
which were printed the advertisements of
Harper'S Weekly alone. That shrewd dodge
put the Ledger and the Weekly on the same
plane in the minds of all who thought about
1t at all and carried Mr.. Bonner's point. He
was troubled about thirty years ago with con-
slant headache and vertigo and troubles of
various sorts and kinds, and his physicians
directed him to try riding. He did so, but
the exercise was too violent, and he was in
duced to purchase span of horses.
The very first day he went up the road,
then known as Harlem lane, he overlook
Commodore Vanderbilt and Col. Harper,
who were the only two mer in town who
owned notably fast horses. They easily
passed Bonner whenever they cared to, and
he, finding health and rest in the exercise,
determined from that time on to own horses
that no one could pass, and the consequence
is that, going on from one purchase to an
other, beginning with Lantern and Mate,
way back in 1859, until to-day when he is
the owner absolute of Maud and the pro-
spective owner of Jay Eye See, he has ex-
pended, all told, not less than 100000.
In his stables, in addition to Maud, are
Dexter and three full sisters-a son and
daughter of Flora Temple, the three famous
mares, Peerless, Lady Palmer and Flatbush
Maid, and Pocahontas A record, you know,
is term applied only to the rate of speed
shown by horse in public race for money.
|
no horses owned by him or raised by him,
no matter how fast they trot, nor in the
presence of how many people they trot, ever
get while owned by him, technical record.
For instance if Maud S, within the ensuing
! six weeks, lowers her record second, so far
as the record is concerned she will continue
to be rated at 2:09$l. Mr.. Bonner expects
! to have her make a mile in 2:0S, and will
! he diSannOiDtnd IL in irnn no Il
| even better than that
/ asked Mr.. Bonner if he wouldn't give
me an idea of what he had in his stables, in
such language as would be of interest to the
general reader. He laughingly assented,
and with characteristic modesty began. He
said: SIN the first place we have Dexter.
with what is technically called a record of
2:1714, made on Buffalo Park when
| it was % feet inches over a mile
1t has since been reduced to an exact
mile, so some of its managers inform me,
and is now at least three seconds faster than
it was then. Five thousand people saw him
trot on another slow track (Fashion) in 2:l6,
without break or a skip. Then follow
Grafton, who was timed at Cleveland by
large number Of well known gentlemen in
2:151@; Joe Elliott, who trotted public
trial in Mystic park, Boston, in 2:1515;
Startle, who four days before he was five
years old, with Commodore Dodge, Robert
Fletcher and Simon Hoagland in the judges
| stand, trotted previous advertised trial in
2:1S15; he afterwards repeatedly trotted in
2:19 in Fleetwood park; Pocahontas, the
only horse besides Startle that has ever
trotted on Fleetwood in 2:19; she has since
then trotted in 2:1T4 on the three-quarter
exercising track on my farm; Wellesley Boy,
who has record as a five-year-old of :26%,
and who when seven years old trotted on
my track in 2:1915; Peerless, who carried
the great trainer and honest driver, the late
Hiram Woodruff, in 2:234 to wagon, the
fastest mile he ever drove any horse in pub
| lie or private; Molsey, with
record of 2:21M and trial in 2:1SI; Music,
with record of 2;211 = in fourth mile, and
trial in 2:204 on three-quarter track,
which is not adapted to her long stride; John
Taylor, with record on Fleetwood of 2:25:
Walton, the four-year-old, by Burger that
trotted a trial last August, several months
before bought him, at Poughkeepsie, in
2:2715; Eric, who has the fastest four-year-
old record, 2:2S14, and Lady Stout, who has
the fastest three-year-Old record, 229 In
addition to the above are the following who
have trOtted in 80 or better: Astoria full
sister to Dexter; Mamie B., by Edward Ev-
erett: Lady Hughes, by Jupiter; Ada Duroc,
by Messenger Duroc; Uncle Sim, old Lady
Moscow's grandson; Malice, by Woodford
Mambrino, dam by Alexander's Abdallah:
Billy Button, by Edward Everett dam the
dam of Lottery; Bruno, by Hambletonian,
and Prince Imperial, Flora Temples colt.