Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-11-13
TALES of THE TURF.
THE oLD.TlMe TYPE OF RAcINc.MAN
HAS DISAPPEARED.
Strict DIscipiinnrIans Of the Mcdaniel
School Have Passed Away-The Tem-
per of the Thoroughbred.
New York SUM-


with US any longer remarked a MEM
Der of the Jockey Club a few evenings
ago. in Delmonico's cafe. Il mean men
of the stamp of Colonel Mcdaniel, VINO
were peculiar to their own day. His was
a character which would play promi-
nent part. in history or. fiction where
racing is concerned.
with never n through of the morrow
he was content 20 let the day bring lorth
what IL would. No man in his employ
dared to question the why or wherefore
OF his commands. and he was feared ana
loved by all. All knew that disobedIehee
invariably meant punishment. ana IN this
respect Colonel Mcdaniel had the IN
genuity OF a fiend. Harry Bassett. 'he
best race-horse that the old turimah
owned. was n vicious brute, that mated
the sight of a colored man, ana "oui"
both bite and kick whenever the oppor-
tunity offered itself. The favorite mode
of punching any Of his colored men was
To place them astrde the bar OF the DoN-
stall in which the savage horse was
housed. Another negro. with revolver
or shotgun in hand, would stand guard
and keep the terrified culprit IN hlS place
on his uneasy perch. Bassett would snort
and display his rage In various ways pe-
fore making n dash at the arm or leg Oh
the luckless boy astride the bar. Beatihg
the hone over the head with MS hahus
or kicking him with the feet sometimes
kept him at bay. but anybody ever
having five or ten minutes Of the exercise
OF keeping such an ugly brute as Bassett
at a safe distance did not banker for
another session with the famous descend
ant of Lexington and Canary Bird.
PUNISHMENT.
Jimmy Rowe. now the starter for the
Jockey Club. began his turf career with
Mcdaniel, and while Mcdaniel idolized
the little Virginian. he was quite as strict
with him as with any Of the other men,
bers Of his staff. Rowe used to ride Bas-
sett In all his races. and then. as now.
was fond Of n joke and fun. Whenever
Mcdaniel went away from home he
always left strict iniunctionl with MS
head man to report any insubOrdination
on the part of the boys TO him upon MS
return. Sometimes all Of the lads would
be under the ban. and then their punish
ment would rival some OF tn fortunes 81
the Dark Ages. a fevorite plan was 10
place the culprits I'm q circle. The Colone!
with his stout walkinG-st.ck would SIT
in the middle OF the ring and the boys
would face him. After those who could
afford the luxury OF shoes ard stockings
had removed the covering OF their feet
the old man would make the rounds
rappins each boy sharply on the tops Of
the toes with his stick. If you think there
Is anything more exquisite IN the line Of
l. Ia l..
convinced that there isn't.
81 remember another thing he did once
II was a year he wlntered in the vicinity
Of Elizabeth. y. J. He had been away
South for a month. and coming home
Unexpectedly found all OF his help dis
organized and long report Of the wick
edness Of nine tenths Of his employees
awaiting him. The night was. bitterly
cold. but he marched the wrongdoors out
I'm a line TO the high gate which led into
the stable-yard. Without any jackets
the boys were compelled to mount the bar
rier. and then placing an armed negro
as sentinel he returned 10 the house
trimmed his lamp afresh. placed II at his
window whore he could see all that passed,
and pretended 10 be reading the news
paper that he held in his hands but all
the while he was chucking 10 himself
The youngsters shivered in the cold night
air ard would have much rather have
taken n good toe-cracking and have IL
over and done with.
AMUSEMENT.
"a favorlte form Of amusement with
the boys in McDanie's stable was TO
crack corn-cobs. There was always n
champion corn-cob that could break any
of the others, the game being Played
by cracking them across each other
Rivalry ran so high at one time that
all Of the corn was removed from every
cob while the old man was absent and
when he came home he was in n towering
rage. Calling every boy In line, he had
them roll up their sleeves TO the elbow.
and then. taking their cobs from them
broke them across their arms, grinning
the while. and asking each lad how he
liked It,"
The conversation then turned upon the
temper displayed by celebrated race
horses. and a follower OF the turf for
many years voiced the opinion that many
of the best performers had bad DISPOSE
tons, and advanced the argument that a
horse had to have a dash of the devil
In his composition In order to b. first
class. There were warm arguments on
both sides of the question. Some main
tained that treatment had q great deal to
do with the moulding of the character OF
every thoroughbred. and that few were
naturally vicious.
HARRY BASSETT
Take the case OF Harry Bassett as an
example," said the first speaker Il hap
pen 10 know all about him. There is no
doubt he had bad temper as a colt.
and 1t has not improved very much by
the tantalizing he got while instilling
fear into the heart of McDaniels boys
But you would think that he would be-
come attached to Rowe, who rode him.
and was very fond of the horse and was
always carrying daintIes to him. One day
the jockey was feeding him some sugar
out Of his hand. When only a few
crumbs remained Rowe dashed them into
the straw, and stopped to unroll
bandage on the horses front leg. He
knew nothing more until the doctor had
finished putting fourteen stitches in his
forehead, and II you will look at the
starters forehead any time you will see
plainly where the sharp shoe tore away
the scalp. cutting the skin in n semi-cir-
Gle for several inches. The brute had
jumped on him. and would have killed
him had help not been at hand. On an
other occasion. while working around his
hind legs. Rowe was kicked back of the
ear by Harry Bassett. and hoisted
through the door of the stall. 1t took
several stitches TO close that up also, and
the scar Is discernible.
But on the other hand, whoever saw
sweetertempered horse than Kingston.
and the years OF hard campaigning he en-
dured were enough to sour the disposition
OF any horse. He passed through 1t all.
however. and took his medicine like the
philosopher he must be, II horses can be
said 10 know anything Of philosophy. For
many years an Irish terrier shared King
ston's box with him. and the friendship
between them was touching. Exile was a
devil, and Onondaga vas such a fury that
his eyes had to be put out
'Panique was also a demon. When the
Dryers had him II took several men TO
handle him. and the process OF sadding
and bridling him was quite a complicated
one He always wore a halter. and when
he was to be worked or raced he would
be driven into a corner and kept there
until a stout pole could be snapped into
the ring OF the halter. Two men would
then seize the pole and hold his head so
that he could not bite those who APP
preached him. Four men would then
enter the stall and put on the saddle and
bride. Panique kicking and striking all
the while and snorting defiance at his
captors. Mclaughlin would be put up on
the horse In the stall, and when the door
was thrown open the son of Alarm would
bound out Of the box like n lion He fro