Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-02-24

Archy himself. Hundreds of colts in
New Jersey and Long Island have found
their way, however, into New England,
including many sons of Messenger, Man,
brine, Duroc, Expedition and Eclipse,
and to this circumstance are the Northern
States indebted for their present fine
breed of road horses.
The establishment near this city and
Philadelphia has given fresh impetus
to breeding horses for the road; and it
having become fashionable to drive fast
horses, the price has advanced beyond
precedence for good performers on the
road. Several extensive farmers in YER
mont and Massachusetts are now en-
gagged in breeding horses expressly for
the trotting turf, and one gentleman in
the former State (the owner of Washing
tom has met with great success. A pair
of handsome carriage horses will COM
mand in this city, Boston or Philadel-
phia, from $3.50 to $1,000, while pair of
very " fast crabs" will command from
$1,000 to $500.
For the reason given in previous para
graph majority of the horses on the trot-
ting turf here as well as in Philadelphia
or Baltimore, were bred in New England ;
to the city of Boston is due the credit of
"setting the ball in notion" Some four
teen years since a horse called the Old
Boston Blue, after beating everything in
that section, was brought on to this city,
where he won a heavy match by trotting
a mile under three minutes 1t was con-
sidered at the time as an extraordinary
performance, and attracted considerable
attention. Up to that day very little at
tention had been paid to the subject of
trotting, but public attention being ex-
cited it was not long before other horses
were found quite equal to that rate of
speed, and from that date to the present
it has been constantly improving, until
there are dozens of horses at our livery
stables here and in Boston that can trot
their mile in harness inside of three min
utes. On our third avenue, the Boston
Mill-dam, or any other fashionable drive,
a horse would be termed "slow" and
would be voted mo account" that could
not in harness get down very close to the
forties.
Without making great pretensions of
extraordinary speed, the citizens of Bos-
ton have an immense number of very fine
horses; their carriage horses are equal
to any, while those used in the truck ="
or dray are UNNECESSARILY superior in
point of size, strength and beauty to any
in the Union: indeed, many of their truck
horses are equal to those used on the
road, and some of the finest carriage
horses we have ever seen were bought
out of the truck in Boston. The anna
teurs in horse flesh, the whips and know
ing ones of the literary emporium, are
very much inclined with our friend
"Boots to "lie low in tall grass and
pull pOke-rOotw We are not at all sure
that they cannot beat us into fits now
that Dutchman has been "sold to the en-
envy" in Philadelphia; we are confident
they have as many horses whose rate is
between two minutes and thirty-five sec
Onds and 2: 40, Notwithstanding they
shake their knowledge boxes and appear
to be looking divers ways for Sunday
when the subject is mentioned. At the
last match between Dutchman and Aw-
full, one of them having got his Ebenezer
up, offered for one thousand dollars each
match to produce from Boston horse
that should trot mile in . 80 and mile
in 2 :2S-or he would take $4,000 to $1,000
the same horse could trot his mile in
2:25.
In 1887 several spirited and wealthy
individuals formed an association and
purchased the site for handsome trot-
ting course at Cambridgeport, a few miles
from Boston, upon which several meet
ings were held last season. The soil of
the track being sandy and deep, it is I'M
possible to make New York time, but the
performances on it are such that all the
"Bosting Boys" require is IA fair field
and no favor" They have great adj
vantage over US here and in Philadelphia
from the fact that there 'trotting men"
are gentlemen, while in the other cities
alluded to the term is one of reproach |;
so much roguery has been practiced be-
fore now on the trotting turf that gen.
tleman is ashamed to acknowledge the
ownership of a public trotter. 1t never
will become respectable until half doz-
en- or more of the "Fergusons" and such
scamps are ruled off, and it is incumbent
on the great majority of trotting men to
clear the course of such characters.
1t will probably be a matter of sur
prise to many of our readers to be in
formed that the Spirit of the Times has a
circulation in the city of Boston nearly
equal to that of any other in the Union in
proportion to the number of its popula-
ton; the list of its subscribers would be
considered a very HIGH cOmpliment IN the