New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-05-12
THE RISE OF THE PAGER.
HIS GROWING POPULARITY DUE TO MANY
CAUSES.


BRED HORSES THAT PAcE-vARIous
THEORIES AS TO THE cAUsE-ARE
THE TWO HARNESS CATS
INrERcHANGEABLE7
The rapid increase OF late years In the nui'oe'
OF pacing horses and pacing races Is one Oh INC
most Interesting and remarkable phenomena ~
connection with the peculiarly American sport VI
harness racing. Twenty years ago there We.
virtually pacing races except an occaS'o""
speciaI contest between the fastest OF the mere
handful Of lateral gated flyers then IN traihins
Even then purses were onered 1or the si'e
wbeelers outside OF a few minor meetings In Ohio
Indiana and Western Pennsylvania the region
which seems have been the home ana stamping
ground OF oldtime hackers. 1t was there tnat
Sleepy George, Bay Sally. Sweetser ana Lucy the
afterward famous big Four OF the Grahd circuit
ers, attracted attention by their fast fierce split
heat struggles In the early los. but 1t was not uh'
1877 that these harness racers OF piepeah oioou anu
gait commanded recognition In the high soc'e'y Vi
the Grand Circuit. In that year the Cie'eia'u
Driving Club offered what is believed to have been
the first purse ever hung up for a pacing race III
the Grand Circuit. 1t brought out big neid ana
| resulted in the fastest time made at the meetins
Sweetser winning the and putting In neat
in 218. -
This was the entering wedge. So popular ola
the new feature prove be that In 1878 Cleveland
buffalo Rochester Utica and Hartford all had the
free-for- all pacing race part OF their Grand
Circuit programmes with the Big Four as the
starters, and sensational time and divided meats
as the result At Rochester Counsellor W. II.
Crawford's Sleepy George paced heat In 10
beating the best time on record, and winning per-
manent popularity for the sidewheelers
CLASS RACES FOX PAGERS.
For several years afterward. however. the free
for-al was the only contest OF the kind arranged
by the Grand Circuit stewards. and until 1852 there
was no other class for PAGERS at all OF the
Grand Circuit meetings Trotting horses then out
numbered the PAGERS in training more than fifteen
10 one but within the next three years fast SIDE
| wheelers seemed spring from the bushes in
Ohio and the hawpatches Of Southern Indiana In
| 1885 there one PAGER to every eight or nine
trotters on the turf Since then the odds have
| been reduced until about one in every five
harness racers goes the lateral gait and fully one
third of the races the leading meetings are ior
| pacers Nor has the end of the invasion been
| reached apparently for the present season VIII
| be a larger proportion Of pacing races than ever
before with more fast PAGERS to take part in Them
| Indeed II seems to be question or snort time
| when the once despsed PAGERS will outnumber the
| trotters unless there Is soon a sudden check 10
the growing popularity Of the harness horse ina.
moves both feet on the same SIDE al .he same
| time instead OF picking up and setting down 'he
diagonal members simultaneously as IN uotuhs'
| The surprising Increase in the number OF PAGERS
| Ia due to many causes the most potent OF which
| probably is the comparatively slight expense IN
| voved In training them. AS general rule ho's
will learn to go fast at the lateral gait III "uc"
less time than Is required to develop the same &C.
gree of trotng speed, and he will do IT Win much
less artificial rigging In the way OF poots' mop
| ples. ETC. AS a rule. too the PAGER wears better
than the trotter as campaigner. because ne goes
with greater ease to himself. carries less weight
| in his shoes and Is therefore In less danger OF
| breaking down. From the point OF view OF 'he
hoa IN q
time 10 OF the Of the enjoyment IN ha1hess
racing and the PAGERS seldom fail to beat the trot
ters on this score. Another attractive feature OF
the typical pacing to the public generay ID It's
| uncertainty from start to nnsh Inc MORSE ',,a'
| wins the first heat commonly enough gett'hs uis
| ,anced in the second through bad break whlle
| the next favorite loses In the END 10 some 'anA
| outsider from the backwoods to the grief OF the
| betting fraternity,
FROM ONE GAIT TO THE OTHER
| Perhaps tho notable feature In connection WIN
| tbs growth OF pacing 10 The Increasing hu"pe' W
| trottine bred horses mat nowadays 'aA' '" we
| lateral habit ~ action, When sleepy ''eo'sp ana
The tg -Four wers on Tho 'hff' an" '"' mani 80 -
| anerwari all the last PAGERS traced 10 w" Hea
! u,,ehs Tho Tom iials, the Tom cfowdefH ana other
slmons pura psolng tribes OF unknown ofalh IN the
| West aud South When the sat besah W ""'
favor however. horse trainers discovered hat h"ny
| Of their fasbionnby bred tfoiers could be tausht
| making slight changes IN their shooting. They came
to their speed quickly. and, as rule earnaa no 10
pace faster than they could trot before. , ho
fast PAGERS on me turf descended from tro
a%i o an" or S Ss ter oy EIGHT OI trace back
recognized pacing stock In the paterna line noper
M %sC r sGas saon Rs s son the
ons sire Harold that got sv 'es o iam ss %So
81 s Sc a he c fs record Tor trottS stations
John r. GENTRY 2o3 the champion pacing stallion no
BE- SAID pi' Of pretty sc7 onne 2Oi DgeStIy
BY Of G & and 'Gs
onward T BY George w Sf s sna
Onward is also the Sire OF. the champion yearng
PAGER Belle Acton 2?e and at one time or an9 9e
year-oids. two-year-ods and yearngs at the lateral
gait. ,.v. ,.or advanced from time
to time by the students Of horse breeding and har,
ness-racing to account for the singular isct 'na r
.hrcus sire md
e paSSF either
John H. Wallace was one OF the iirst writers err, TO TO
by asserting that the trot and the pace are yr,u-
ally Identical. or. more correctly different mani
be in the i Individual and to his
o for h sOssss ike an
3 r @ s'H
ney (siSSV natural PAGER and sire Of both
and and hs dam as Ellis fast
| trotters without known pacing ancestor near
| ,hom on either side and for horses like Browns
| Tom Crowder. pacing-bred PAGER whose only
| descendants In the 23o list are trotters
| Other wriery OF more practical knowledge than
wallace have rejected this theory attrbutlng the
Racing habit OF action in trottng bred horses to
structurai pecuiartles and to other mechanical
| causes such ma faulty shooting and abnormal con-
| dillon OF the feet. This hypothesis, however
seems to fall short of accounting for the vast In
| crease in the number OF trottng-bred PAGERS that
| have made fast records In the last i've years.
Thcrc is no reason to believe that structural ncon-
gruities or faulty shocink, or uniformed Feet are
| IN
rotting bred PAGERS on tho turf to-day for every
| ono that was In training fifteen years ago Lake
| the trotters they 40 fast In all shapes and all
ways rugged even to the wearing OF toe.weights
| and hoppes and the man who can satisfactorily
| solve tho problem OF why they pace Instead OF
| rafting seems to be a good deal furthcr OF than
| The two-minute harness horse.