Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-02-03
THE PAGER.
! Correspondent American Cultivator

There is one thing in regard to the pa
Ger that am thoroughly convinced of
and it is this, that they have contributed
very largely to the speed of some of our
fastest trotters. In fact, will mention
some of the fast turf performers that are
out of pacing dams, or their dams were
sired by pacing horse. First on the
list will mention the get of Red Wilkes,
whose greatest success has been from
John billiard mares. Phil Thomson,
Whipsaw and others of his get must in
herit their speed from the PAGER John
billiard. Please follow down the trick
ling stream of the blood of old pacing
Pilot, and you will find that it will take
in the greatest trotters that have yet
come to light: Maud S. @ :0Sa), Jay
Eye-See (2:10), Noontide 2:2O4), Pilot
Knox (2:l9D, Emma B @ :22) and ma
ny others. Old pacing Kate, quartered
at the Bates Farm, Watertown. Mass,
some years ago produced George A.
(2:25) and jim (2:23D, by the veteran
stallion, Daniel Lambert. Old Pocahon-
tas while at the above farm produced
Pocabontas (2:2GaD, by Ethan Allen
@ :251), which was no mark of her speed
and was so proved after being sold to
Robert Bonner.
As have said, the prejudice against
the PAGER is fast passing away. All our
noted trainers, or nearly all. do not con-
slider their stable complete without a fast
PAGER. What would the old veteran.
Bowen, do without T. L. d? He would
feel like breaking up housekeeping I'M
less he could secure another. Then.
again, the gentlemanly. sleek John Trout,
the king of the finny tribe, with Joe
Howe, in fact, he could not keep house
without him; and | must not forget to
mention the old stager, Mosher, with his
white-legged mare Stubby S. Her own
err is on the lookout no doubt for Brown
Hal or one that will lead the pr recession
There is one more in the business. Charles
Iapp, the handler of George Lee, Fred
5. and others. He, too, declares, 81 wish
had fast PAGER No doubt but what
he will have one when spring opens. The
demand is largely in excess of the sup
ply. Pacing blood has done so much for
the trotter, and so many trotting-bred
horses. that no sharp line of division can
fairly be drawn.
1t may not be uninteresting to exam
inc these two points very briefly and i'm
partially. Blue Bull. a pacing stallion,
is second to no stallion, living or dead, as
sire of trotters. Five of his get have
records below 2;20. Smuggler, pacing
bred stallion, held for eight years the
best trotting stallion record, viz, 2:l5i.
Bonesetter, pacing-bred stallion. still
heads all trotting stations in number of
heats (SS) trotted below $50. Again
there are but four stations up to this
date with records below 2:2O that have
sons or daughters also with records be-
low 220. Bonesetter is one of these
(2:l9O, his daughter Flash having a rec
ord of 2 :l93. No trotter has vet been
able to equal the three consecutive heats
of Little Brown jug (2:lla, :lla, 2:l24),
nor to go three heats so near the top of
his speed, and in so nearly the same time.
A hasty examination of the , 80 list
as it stood at the end of 1855. shows that
twenty pacing-bred sires have contrbu-
ted to it LOG 2 80 trotters, ten of them
with records of 2 20 or better. In Wal
lace's short list of "Great Brood Mares"
no less than twenty-eight are pacing-bred
and five others are out of pacing-b bred
dams. OF these twenty-eight mares five
have produced three or more 2 80 trot-
tiers. During the past year the PAGERS
have advanced so rapidly in popular IA
vOr that it seems useless to make any ex-
tended argument on their behalf. Their
merits as road horses are pretty gener-
ally recognized. 1t may not be out of
place to speak of the opportunities and
performances of the pacing-bred horses
Of Tennessee. Ten years ago there was
hardly a training stable for trotters and
PAGERS in Tennessee, and today there are
very few, yet in that time this State has
sent out Little Brown jug (2.lla, Mat
tie Hunter (2.12D, Brown Hal Glib,
Argyle (2.lD, Joe Braden (2.l5a), Du-
pick GID, Joe Bowers (2.ls), Sam
Jones (2.lsD, Warrior (2.22D, Cora
Mack (2.22a), Thunder (2.23D. Nettie
Herman (2.26t), Bay Tom (2.23), Rather
Brooks (2.23D, Henry Drane (2.23t), Re-
bellion (2.25), Black Frank (2.27), Matte
Bond (2.27D, George Gordon (2.27A)
Sleepy Lie (2.29), Matte Harris (2.29a).
Moreover, the following Tennessee trot-
tiers are of pacing blood: Bonesetter
(2.19), Flash (2.194), Molsey (2.2ls), Joe
Rea (2.23) Frank Reeves (2.23t), Rival
(2.29), Blue Jay (2.29), Red Nell q. 294).
l will close by saying that the PAGERS
hold the fastest single heat to pole
COD, made by Westmont; the fastest
single heat to harness, made by John