St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-12-07
occident,s EventfuI Career.

The death of the trotter Occident, which
occurred recently in California, brings to
mind the peculiar circumstances which sur
rounded the history of a horse that after
ward made a record of 2:16M, and that at
one time was looked upon as rival of the
then queen of the trotting turf-GOldsmith
Maid. Since the days when Occident was a
fast trotter dozen years have passed. and
in that time there has been such vast num-
Der of horses that have beaten the record
made by him that the former fame of the
Californian is to-day unknown to tens of
thousands to whom the performances of
Goldsmith Maid, Rarus, st. Julien. Maud S
and Jay Eye See are familiar.
Occident was, like many another of our
fastest early trotters, of humble parentage,
and the early years of his life We're spent in
drudgery for which neither his physical nor
mental qualities fitted him. He was foaled
in 1863 being bred by Matthew Shaw of
Sacramento county, California. and all that
is known concerning his blood lines is that
his sire was Doc and his dam good mare
of unknown pedigree. Doc was son of the
PAGER st. Clair. horse whose prepotency
was so marked and who gave to his de-
scendants such marked inheritance of
speed at the trot, that for many years his
daughters have been in demand as brood
mares, and have already produced a num-
Der of colts with records ranging from $50
to 2:1SM. The breeding of st. Clair is I'M
known, and the fact that he was PAGER is
about the only one that stands out promi-
nently in his history.
That the colt afterwards known as Occi-
dent would one day show remarkable speed
as trotter no one connected with him dur
ing the earlier years of his life imagined,
and he was sold for nominal price before
he was broken, and at years of age he was
one of team that hauled sand On the
streets of Sacramento. His previous edu-
cation had been at the hands of Sacra-
mento butcher-a man who imagined that
brute force and cruelty were the only things
necessary in the education of a high-sirung,
nervous colt, that needed kindness and care
full attention above all things. The result
of this method of treatment was to make
the little brown colt so vicious that in sheer
despair of being able to make any use of
him he sold the horse to duck hunter, who
fastened him to his cart with harness COM
posed in the main of chains, nothing else
being
SUFFICIENT TO HOLD HIM.
1t was not long before the duck hunter
tired of his bargain, and the little brown
now Thoroughly versed in all manner OF VIC
iousness-began hauling a sand wagon, the
harsh treatment that had marked his life
thus far being continued, and at every OPP
portunity he would run away with the sand
wagon. kicking furiously at every oppor-
tunity that offered for such action. His
owner soon became as sick of Charley (for
the horse was then known by that name) as
his other owners. and sold him for $50 to
German grocer, who at once began a new
system of treatment with the hitherto-uli-
conquerable animal. He gave him plenty
to eat and in place of blows there was kind
ness and petting. 1t was not long before
the disreputable- looking and disreputable--
acting little beast became sleek, fat and
kind. and from that day until he died he
was always trustworthy.
1t was then that Occident began to see
the bright side of life. In front of the gro
GERS wagon he showed such pure trottlng
action that he was purchased by man who
could tell the sparkle of diamond wereyer
he saw it. On the day of the sale the horse