Connecticut western news., 1884-08-20
REDUCING THE RECORD.
HOW IT WAS SLOWLY BROUGHT
 DOWN FROM 2.3O TO 2.O9 3-4,
Along the Great Drive From the B0wery tO Harlem Bridge with the Fast Trot- tPrs.
From the New York Mercury.l

From the New York Mercury.l
 The recent lowering of the trotting record, first by Jay-Eye-See and then by Maud S., has excited universal inter- est, and lot of sporting men, the other night, got discussing the ''records, !" such as they were, of the olden time, and the way they gradually lowered them.
 The great drive out of New York in those days was from the end of the Bowery, where the Cooper Union now stands, to the Harlem Bridge. At that period the average gait of a speedy horse was put down at 3:30, and any horse who did better than that was put down as do- ing something remarkable.
 The first man to drive his trotter a mile in three minutes-which may be re- garded as the beginning of speeding and trotting-was MT. William Jackson, an Englishman, who settled down in New York and went into business. He worked hard all the mornings, and then in the afternoon he would devote his whole time and energy to lowering therecord' of other horses.
 He first reduced the rec ord to 3:22 then to 3:10; finally one afternon he trot- ted mile in just three minutes. What time there was over this time, to be sure. And really no man who ever lived did so much in the way of lowering the record as this man Jackson. He found the trotting horse at 3:30, and left him at three without the thirty. This was doing more, comparatively, under the circumstances, than any man has ever done since.
 This Jackson afterward set all New York to talking about him, by matching a gray mare he had to trot the whole length of Third avenue, from the liar lem river to where the Cooper Institute now stands, in twenty five minutes, under the saddle. No race in after years ever made the excitement this race did in old New York-and young New York, too. Heavy bets were. made that it was sheerly impossible to make the distance within the twenty-five minutes. Per haps it was, but at any rate Jackson made it. Then he went to Canada and got some new horses, among them a team of trotters quite peculiar.
 npA OF L Thumb, a small, shaggy horse, with long hair. The other horse was a pacer and was called Tremendous, ' being 0 tremendous goer. With this team he beat his own record of three minutes, and got it down to 2:55. Peo. pie held up their hands and rolled up their eyes when they heard of this last achievement, and everybody thought that ended it, till it was found to be but the beginning of going" Within ter years after, Jackson left this country fol England, having made this 2:55 time there were plenty of men in New Yorl that threw him altogether in the shade by making their mile with their trotteri in 2:40.
 Among the proud owners of 2:40 trot ting stock were John Perrin, Charley Pearsal, Johnny Armstrong, Danie Flynn, Steve Huested, John Bridges Henry Costar, Elias Deforest, Andrev Howe and other prominent butchers politicians, and men about town. Thes men were the Robert Bonner, FranI Work and w. Fl. Vanderbilt of thei time, from horse point of view, ant were the envy of their less fortunat brethren.
 Billy Bowe, the butcher, soon distin guished himself by making a mile, on fine day, in 2:3O, with his large sorre horse. It was proud day for Centr Market, where Billy had his stall.
 Andrew Howe, rival butcher, wen mile in one second better than Billy and that was another proud day for ol Centre Market.
 After a while, as "brushes" on tn Third avenue got to be the regular aftel noon thing, Charley Pearsall, the butch er-sport, and others, lot half-mil track put up near Cato's, that became
 sort of Gentlemen's Driving Park.
 Then Henry Costar, who was consid cred very wealthy then, worth ovt $50, 900, at the least, drove pair of bol
 tailed sorrel horses which one day mad a mile in 2;34, and that was ano; her bi day for the American turf and the Ne York sports. Harry went to bed thu night quite as happy as Vanderbilt di the night he heard of Maud s. s 2:09 B.