Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-04-10
JOSEPH BATTELL,
Middlebury, VI
BLIND LEADERS,

BLIND LEADERS.
"Eor indeed, my dear teuooo, the design 'chich you
neditdte Qftedching rhdt gou do not kno'c, and
hare not taken any pains to learn, Is dochrtght
insanity.
The following is clipped from the
Lewiston (Me.) journal and seems to
have originated in that blaze of knowledge
which illuminates the modern Athens. 1t
is taken at random from the thousand cur
rent illustrations of the teaching to others
what the teacher himself does not know.
The object of the article is to commend
Gov. Benton, a chestnut stallion 10Y nine
years old that has a race record of , :234,
which his owners, unwisely as it seems to
us, have seen tit to exchange for a So
called ''time" record Of :224. His trotting
career has been creditable. he having
been on the turf in 1883 and 1890, trot-
ting in all Is races, five of which he won.
None more readily than we will acknow-
ledge the merit of Coy. Benton, and none
more keenly appreciate the remarkable
success of the family from which he
springs. But the fact is that the family
sprung up, as it were, by accident, as did
the famous family of The Moor by Clay
Pilot. in whose case, as in the present,
splendid results have been achieved by
following paths other than those pointed
out by the recognized guides of the day.
Now, as oon as these results appear on
the record, it is the fashion for the guides
to point out, with whatever of unwarrant-
ed assumption or actual mendacity the
case may require, that the paths followed
were, if not precisely their own, at least
parallel ways, having the same source
and the same direction. 1t is for the
purpose of illustrating this method, that
we propose to dissect and examine
this article:
H BENTONs.
There is a greatness to Hambletonian.
says Spirit of the Hub, which cannot at
the present time be eclipsed, as a pro-
genitor of speed, but behind stands i'm
ported Messenger, IA thoroughbred, a
winner of races at running, but a trot-
ter. and the founder for the most part of
our wonderful creation, the t~rotting
horse of America. Without stopping to
inquire what part Justin Morgan, Grand
Bashaw and Diomed had to do in Great.
ing such a marvel of excellence and good
to the world, let US run back to the be.
ginning and see if all the potency to trot
and go fast. and to breed on, came from
Messenger through his son MambrIno,
who got Abdallah, sire of Hambletonian
and Mambrino Paymaster, sire of Nam,
brine Chief. Almack, son of Messenger,
founded the champion family, quite
large and well known. From Winthrop
Messenger. his o n who partook largely
of his wonderful qualities, there came {
class of roadsters which the world ha,
never seen equaled, and among then
some game
GRAND TROTTERS.
Belle of Portland, 2:2G, Belle Strick
land, = :26, SAM Curtis, 2:2S, Stranger
2:30, foaled in 1850; W. ii. Taylor, , :294
foaled in 1857 Zac Taylor, 2:29 to sad
die, 2:324 to wagon, Lew Pettee, 2:29
foaled in 1850, and Fanny Pullen, dam OF
Trustee, the twenty-miler, descended
from him. These were old-timers. Wher
they were foaled it was not fashionable
TO breed , 80 trOtters, and Maine in those
days was not eXcelled by the number
which il put into the , 80 list. 1t appears
that there are other Messenger channel.
other than through his son Mambrino.
Now let us inquire if Mambrino's sol
Abdallah gave all his potency to Ham
bletonian 10. We find first that he begat
four horses which entered the 2 80 list
and that seven of his daughters were the
dams of trotters having marks of 2 80 OF
better. We also find that his son. Spaul
ding's Abdallah, got Rich's Hambletoni
an, and he got Jim Scott, who from La
dyi Benton sired these four stations. Gen
Benton, Jefferson Prince, Major Bentor
and Sir Walter Scott, all -four prOgenitors
of speed. Gen. Benton, as is we'll known
got Sallie Benton, 2:l73, Lord Byron
2:lS, and The Seer, 2:22i, which record,
were all made at -four years of age. III,
is also the sire of the dam of SunOl; alto
gether be has fifteen in the list. Jeffer
son Prince has four and is noted as tn,
sire of fine class of carriage horses
Major Benton has two and one of thes,
is Governor Benton, 2:224, out of a mar,
by Gen. Benton.
TRACING TO n FOUNTAIN HEAD.
The dam Of Abdallah | was AmaZonia
by imported Messenger. Spaulding',
Abdallah's first dam was by Star GaZer
by Engineer, son of Messenger. jim
SCOTS second dam was by Greenbusf
Hambletonian, son of Mambrino, by Mes
senger; Lady Benton's sire, Gray's Ham
%bletonian, was by Boomers Hambleton
ian. by Andrews by Judson's by Bish
ops Hambletonian, and he by Messen
ger. The dam of Gray's Hambletoniar
was by Judson's Hambletonian; the sec.
ond dam of Lady Benton was by Busl
Messenger; the dam of Governor Benton
was River Lily, by Gen. Benton, and
here the lines to Messenger are duplicat,
ed, This makes no less than eighteen