Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1885-07-22
DEXTERS FOR A DAY.
TRICKS OF THE FRATERNITY KNOWN
AS "coPERS."
Methods by Which Old, Worn Cat plugs"
Are Transformed into Gallant Steeds
of Youth and ylgor-"Adal1s"
and BObbIes."
fChicago Herald

chicago Htraldl
Horse sharpers are known to the police
| and sporting fraternity as "copers." Their
tricks and methods by which an old horse
or diseased one is rejuvenated and fixed up
30 as TO Look Xix, a 5-year-old until the
bargain is completed ara SO numerou, that
it would require a book to give an adequate
description Of them. In attracting custom
ers the "copper" resorts 70 the advertisement
columns OF the daily papers. He announces
TO "bona fide AMI cash customers" sons as
founding prodigy Of horsefesh which must
be sold for next to nothing on account of
the financial embarrassment of the owner,
the death of tho head OF tho family. re-
moval from the city, or some such plausible
reason. The wording Of the announcement
is such as TO make the average reader be-
lieve in the honesty Of the troubled owner
Of the horse without the shadow Of doubt.
The class of horses upon which the cooper"
operates is known to the -hor O. jockey by
the slang term Of adam" 1t is an aged
equine Of some blood, but Sc l!y betraying
the ravages of time. To cover up the latter
Temporarily, until the animal has changed
owners and until the price is paid. is the
scientific achievement of the "copper" For
instance, the horses teeth will slant out
wari at a most acute angela wellknown
sign of equine senility. He will
have deep dspres'ions over the
eyes, which also give him q
very ancient appearance, and finally
he will show white hair all over his
coat To get rid Of these signs Of going
DOWN the hill the 1coper' resorts to var.ou'
trick By means of file he speedily re-
l.
length of those OF 5-year-ol1, and by q
clever process called "bishopping' he man.
ages to initiate the dark marks or cavities
which are to lie found on the biting edges of
all young horse,' teeth. This i, done by
means of a hot iron, which burns out a cav
ity in the tooth. making the latter look like
the real thing, at least to the uninitiatet or
casual observer.
mixed upon scientific principles reduces the
white hair. which has been bleached by the
exposure OF years. to the prevailing color Of
the coat of the "hoss" The third process
INDUCED in by the "copper" is that Of "gyp-
ping" or putting the glims" 1t is as i'm
portant as tie manipulation OF the teeth,
because it gives the features Of the animal 6
youthful appearance The sunken cavities
over the eyes are treated in this manner.
The loose skin which in very old horses
nearly drops over the eyes, is punctured and
the cooper" proceeds to blow up the hollows
either with his lips or with a small bellows
constructed for the purpose. The fine
punctures close up readily, the depression j:
obliteratet and in its place a smooth brow
Of youthful appearance is seen. As has
been remarked, all these attempts to renew
the "old Adam" are OF q very tran>itOry
nature, but they last long enough to deceive
the purchaser.
Another kind Of horse on which the
cooper" gets in his work in great style is
known in the language OF the turf as
bobby" This i, the slangy term Of n fine
looking animal afflicted with a disease of the
vertebral column which is not apparent SO
long as the horse is led up and down, even
at run The defect Immediately becomes
apparent SO soon the horse is mounted.
To prevent a mount is q fine piece Of di-
plomacy on the part of tho cooper" But,
at all events, lie has Fingered" the Bobby"
that is, given him stimulants known only to
the exl erienced jockey, and the animal for
a short time is SO full Of fire AMI spirit that
the purchaser readily abetains from an I'M
mediate mount Knowing buyers pinch up
and down the spine of an animal before they
buy him. but then knowing ones rarely &C
to a cooper for purchase.
Two wrongs do not make one right" IS a
saying generally accepted as true. The
copper does not believe in the truism OF the
phrase. Ii he wants to sell horse which i.
knocked" or lame on one leg, he proceeds
to cure this lameness by producing a CORE
spending aIlment in the sound one This hs
does by taking the shoe OF the sound leg
and inserting a bean letween the foot and
tba Mt VII hQ l., faSta
again. With dexterous handling the hor,e
appears to 60 alright, because the lameness
il equal in each leg. 1t is needless to say
that this trick also is < Il only ss q temper
airy expedient. Lameless in horses offers a
wide field for the "copper" Any defect of
this kind which Is due to local causes is
temporarily abated 10y keeping the feet,
which have been placed In clay socket,
we'll saturated with stimulating solutions
OF the broken winded horses. which the
-coper' palms OFF as sound, there are sew
eral varieties besides the whistler, grunt-
ers, piperS, roarers cll high blowers, and
Whatever the consumptive animals may be
called. few days before the contem-
plated sale they are kept short of water and
hay and dosed with anthony, linsee1 mash
or shot, which makes them seemii gly sounl
for a day or two A remedy for lameness.
often resorted 10 by the cooper" is nothing
less than n surgical operation. II can
hardly be denounced as a trick, because it
effects cure in many instances, although
the animal remains cripple AMI is unfit for
any hazardous work. A small incision is
made about half way from the knee to the
joint OF the afflicted leg At the back part
OF the shinbone small white tendon OF
cord will be found. This is cut Off and til,
external woUni is closed with a stitch.
Some of the "copper" tricks work both
ways. In other words. tricks are no. only
employed To render an unsound horse tenn
porarily rresentable u cheat the purchaser,
but sound horses are frequently rendered APP
parently unsound to cheat the seller In
the latter instance the purchaser of course
must stand in" with the sellers jockey
Thus it will be seen that dishonesty is at the
bottom OF every horse trick. II fine wire
is fastened tight around the fetlock Of
horse, between the foot and the heel the
animal will within a few minutes have all
the symptoms OF being "founderei." The
lameness disappears soon the wire il
removed. The wire should no. be left in
place longer than nine hours. A horses
hair passed through the outer and middle
tendon by means OF a needle. and cut off on
both sides rs 20 avoid detection, will also
have the effect of tanning a horse temporar-
lily. To make a horse refuse food it is only
necessary to grease his front teeth and the
roof of his mouth with common beef tai
low. The horse will certainly not eat until