The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1884-11-29
Life and Pay ola Jockey.
A Good Jockey Earns More Than q Sea
Captain.
Nev York Commercial Advertiser.

AeU YORK Commercial AdCefUseT.
"Who are these jockiesa" asked the
reporter of an old turfman at Jerome
park.
"They are stable boys who show some
aptitude for riding, and have good pluck.
OF course, when they start, their lines
are not exactly cast in pleasant places.
There can be no more disagreeable life
than that of low-class jockey, hanging
around stables and begging for mounts.
Such an one is everybody's scapegoat,
everybody's butt. But for steady boy
in a good stable, who really rides well,
obeys orders and is honest, the life is
not a bad one. Such boy as Mr..
Pierre Lorillard's Olney, for instance,
who is quiet, respectful, reliable young
fellow, gets to be favorite with his en-
ployer, and is very we'll treated indeed.
For boy of that sort the pecuniary re-
wards are considerable. A salary of $50
or 500 per month, supplemented by
s2s for riding, $50 for winning race,
with occasional tips for pulling off big
event, easily runs up to $4,000 or 50, 900
a wear, or twice the emolument of the
average lawyer, doctor or engineer; and
fully up to the income of the captain OF
an ocean steamer, with his great weight
of responsibility. Great jockeys, OF
course, do much better than this. They
are paid like prima donnas or fashion
able preachers, but many of the inferior
Jockeys get much less than the figures |
have named. Then every employer is
not so good as the Lorillard's, and in
some of the purely commercial stables
the boys have hard time. But, after
all, an ordinary jockey earns better
wages than boy of his class and age
could earn in any other vocation, and
is regarded as hero and swell by his
own set.
"But the Jockeys life, of course,
along with the emoluments and honors,
has likewise its shadows. His nerve
may fail, when his occupation is gone,
for race horses are often vicious brutes
and livery quick to detect lack of courage
and decision on the part of their riders.
Even worse, the jockey may begin to
take on flesh, when he either becomes
too heavy to ride or is condemned to
pass life of martyrdom in the way of
sweats, diet and medicine to keep down
the growing corpulency. To this
forced wasting may be attributed many
shortened lives and broken constitu-
tons.
"Then, in a moral point of view, the
surroundings of racing stable are not
especially deIectable. There are temp
tations to drink and excess, destructive
to nerve and brain, and there are insid-
ious temptations to dishonesty. When
the unscrupulousness of many betting
men is taken into consideration, it is
creditable to the jockeys that SO few
succumb. Lastly, there is an everpres
ent danger from falls and collisions
The danger IS not very serious in ordi-
nary hat-racing, and even in hurdIing,
for but few deaths have occurred in the
past twenty years. Neither sort of rae
ing is so dangerous as polo. But &C
cidents do occur, and, if they do not
cause death, often have lasting effects
in fracture and strain.
"However, there are many jockeys,
both in this country and in England,
who survive all the accidents and temp
tations of a jockeys career, and live
very respectfully to good old ages. A
mans fitness or unftnesS is soon ascer-
tanned, and the money and fame, if
they come at all, come early in life,
when the capacity for enjoying them is
at its height"