The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-10-18
Ia DEFENSE OF RoBr. BONNER.
Trotwood Called to Taw for His Criticism
on the 81 900 Purse Question.

on the $1,000 Purse Question.
To TROTwOnD:-It seems to me
YOU take IA. row, partisan and un-
iust positiOn in regard to Mr.. Bon
mer's $1,000 offer. You say you tie
H. iawS ~, and yet you magnify your
sid Of the Gaze and suppress any
thing ia orable TO Mr.. Bonner a il
you were all attorney paid TO prose
cute hin. AS q DISTINGUISHED turf
writer, it seems to me you should
present all the facts, and throw light
or the subject tr"ln all sides, so mat
your readers could form an inteIIl-
gent opinion for themselves.
Every man is entitled to fair
hearing b. fore he is condemned, ana
Mr.. Bonner espv cially should be
fully heard before adverse judgment
y onounceI upon hnn. For more
than 4 Lrlf century he has been
known to The American pubic aS ali
editor a q Il horSeman. In ali that
time there has never been blot
upon his record. Particularly has
this be-u true il regard to his faith
fulness 10 his promises. To keep "a
cred his words auu his promises has
been the most prominent trait III his
character. Never before has he been
.claIgeI with the least deviation
from Iueln
Thee f.cts furnish the strongest
pc sible pc umpli"n in his favor,
and the evidence to Overturn them
sh, lid be of uuquesiioned strength
and validity.
But without relying on this pre-
sum ptiOu, As there Is we'll warranted
reason for doing, lcok at the matter
purely on its merits.
What was his offer? You say that
his otf;.r published in the New York
Herald October 70, 1891, was as fol-
lows:
awe hear a great deal said about the
two-mInuJe trOJter. L DO not expect
ever to see any horse trOt mile in two
minutes. My good friend, General
Tracy, Secretary OF the Navy, says, il
he is correctly reported, he expects that
within TWO years the two-mInute trOL-
ter will nave arrived. L cannot agree
with him, and as proof that have the
courage of my convictions, Will give
50, 900 to see any horse within two years
trot a mile in 2:O5 on regulation track,
such as cleveland, where Maud >. trot-
ted, or any other regulation track, such
as Buffalo, Rochester or Hartford"
Here is what Mr.. Bonner says i'll
the New YORK Sun OF the 18th inst:
zone year ago, IN discussing the ques-
ton of the twO-minute troLLer, LOOK
the conservative view, and stated III
published letter to General Tracy,
Secretary of the Navy, who was the
first man, SO far as l know, to predict
that a horse would yet trOt in that time,
that L had offered TO give $1,000 to the
owner of any horse that would trUt
within two years in 2:O5-to say moth
ing oftwO minutes, on any of the.Grand
Circuit tracks from Cleveland to ii art
ford, inclusive. 1 was careful to specify
the Grand Circuit tracks, because l
knew then what n well-lntOrmed writer
stated III the Tribune week ago, that
The nature of the land-Lhe prairie SOL
had given Indiana and Iowa what he
terms marvellous tracks, My Oder
still holds good; but The performance
must be made, OI course, to one OF the
old regulation sulkies, the only ones
that were in use At the time the OTTER
was made not to ii sUlky with the ball
bearing sXles and pneumatic tires
which have only come into use during
! the past two months, and when nave
reVOIuJIOniZed all harness records, IN
Guiding botn pacing and trotting."
Nancy Hanks trotted mile at
! Terre Haute, Ind, on Sept. IS, III
2:O4 70 a pneumatic sulky with ball
| bearings. Terre Haute is Tegula-
| Uion track, but not III the Grand Cir
cult. AS soon as the wonderful time
was announced, everybody jumped
at once 10 the conclusion that Doble
| would get the So 900 promised by
! MIR. Bonner, AS he above states
{ Very few knew that there were any
/ conditions attached to the offer, and
many seeIn 10 think the money ought
| to De handed over, even II there were
! conditions, simply because Mr.. Bon
ner could easily afford TO give up
! So, 900 and DOble has driven a won
! de rful mile.
Mr.. Bonner is wise and expert
enced man, not only in respect to
horses, but in respect to affairs in gen
eral. He knew exactly what he was
saying when he made the offer. He
was backing his judgment upon the
powers of horse flesh and not upon
! the powers of invention. From his
| knowledge of horses, under condI-
tions as they then existed, he did not
bt lieve any horse bad the physical
force to 60 mite in 2:05.
| That the offer was limited to the
Grand Circuit cannot be reasonably
denied, after a fair perusal OF the
offer as you give it and Mr.. or Bon
ner's letter in the sum.
The only ground left for you to
stand on, therefore, is that the pneu-
matte sulky did not come within the
conditions. Now you Will not deny
| that there sulkies are two or three
seconds faster than the old sulkies
and some place it as high as five
seconds faster. They were unknown
at the time the offer was made. !
ask YOU, in all candOr, if it would not
be taking snap judgment to spring
this on the veteran horseman and
win his purse by insisting on the use
of an invention which was utterly
unknown and unexpected at the
time? Would this not be plain VIC
latiou of the spirit of good faith tOl
ously? While you are cOndemn:ne
what you argue to be techhicalitles
you must moi attempt to win on tech
nicalities.
Other arguments could be brought
to bear against you, but, as this arti
Gle has already exceeded the space
allotted it, will close with just this
one further question: Why is it thai
Mr.. Doble is not demanding the
$1,000?