The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-12-18

Warrensburg that the Isaiah Wilcox
mare, that was traded off in 1889 to
Nathaniel Cliff and then to l.. Il. AID.
ans, the breeder of Princess, was got
by Nathan Burdick's Engineer; and
thus another direct and short line TO
the fountain head is added to the in.
heritance of Happy Medium and his
progeny" Further on we quote the
valuable lessons which are drawn from
these alleged facts.
Possibly no better illustration could
be given than this of the manner in
which Mr.. Wallace is accustomed to
build up and bring into common &C.
ceptauce a wholly conjectural pedigree
This method is an invention of his own,
but is as simple when understood as
was Columbus feat of making the egg
stand on end. AS he has no "copy.
right on it, perhaps it will be lawful
to explain briefly how it works.
Its foundation is a formula like this
All horses that trot have Messenger
blood. This horse trots; therefore
this horse has Messenger blood
But as the country was known
to be broad and trotters were seen tc
he springing up in all quarters, it be
came necessary to have an unlimited
supply of Messenger stations, and a.
the genuine ones were few, the next
best way appeared to be to seize upon
any stallion that happened to be well
spoken of and lacked pedigree, and
supply him with the desired Messenger
strains, making him either a son or 8
grandson usually, and then attribute al
the trotters that sprung up within q
days journey of his locality, either di
rectly or indirectly, to him. The plan
has worked so charmingly that large
majority of all turf performers are sup.
piled with the requisite Messenger
strains to entitle them to trot land thus
tae theory provided the facts, and the
facts in turn supported the theory.
Let us apply these principles to the
case under consideration, which is O
representative case, and see if it has
not proceeded strictly in accordance
with the formula.
We first call attention to the fact that
although some of these pedigrees arc
ancient, the compiling of them is very
modern work, the american Stu
Book having been published in 1867,
and the first volume of the TrottinQ
Register in 1871. The whole vast field
of horse breeding in America was I'M
explored and there were no records by
which the honest explorer could be
guided or the dishonest refuted. 1t
was noble field for an honest, careful
and unpartisan worker, but furnished
every facility for fraud by the dishon-
est and error by the careless or preju-
diced operator. In this field appeared
John H. Wallace, into whom the spirit
of the departed imported Messenger
seemed to have entered, even as the evil
spirits entered into the swine in olden
time.
We will judge of the value Of this
line of pedigrces by Mr.. WalIace's own
oft-reiterated standard, viz: A ped-
gree is of no value unless the breeder
is given. This rule is obviously sound,
and indispensable, as it is clearly i'm
possible for any man to know that an
animal is by given sire and not to
know by whom such animal was
bred. 1t will afford test practically
sure when the service books of the
horse are accessible, whereby the state.
ment of the alleged breeder can be
proven or disproven. But it is as nee
essary for the public to know the adj
dress of the breeder as his name; other
wise it is the statement of the editor of
the register only on which reliance
must be placed. "Bred by Gen. w. T.
Withers, Lexington, KY" is vastly
different statement from "bred by John
Smith, N. Y" Therefore, when we
say the breeder is given, we mean that
he is so given that any intelligent man
can find where he was at the time
of such breeding.
Beginning, then, with the pedigree
of Lady Suffolk, which was compiled
throughout after she had passed to an
honorable grave, the most famous trot-
ter of her day, we find that her breed
er is given, and are thus reasonably as
sured that she was got by the horse
called Engineer I'd. The name of the
alleged breeder of her dam is given
John Floyd, L. -; but to find his
place of abode you must search the
length and breadth of Long Island. 1t
may, therefore, be said that her dam
was possibly, but not certainly, got by