Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1895-05-03
A RACE WITH DEATH.
q BET THAT WAS MAOF BY FOUR
CONSUMPylVe GAMBLERS.


"ne Who survived the other Three Wen
Nnown New York Characters.
In the year 1851 there were fcw men
better known ia the sporting world thar
Billy Emerson, Jack sheridan. johnny
Pratt and Ninnip.1 ~ one ever seemed
&" know just what Winnipeg first NgmC
was, but, like the otttg tar,c, lac Was %
nian whose nerve WHOM 10 came 30 max
M heavy wager ca cau ur horse. was
neFcr questioned Among racing people
IA the east ana W'-i those iour lH'' wore
known and respected, f.r. ia aoIiI 81 {,
being heavy gambler, t. = WDir mo-
who had never been ia any 81, s. Identified
with any scheme ur G.I ,l "t7 NOT o.
use race track c@i .t.-lou. 'oa tAu level.
II wa, during the y.9r tlat they
W'rc at the top notch ut prosperity
Although different in nanny ways, there
was ono common lilmcnt among thyln
and II was probably thi, that made them
such fast friends. All four Were con
sumptives, ana although at that time the
disease had barely moro than shown itself
they got worse and worse as the years
rolled by until one by one they died. Al
though they must have known what was
the trouble with them, II was utterly I'M
b'774"'' ~ -'N any Va 'i''i'' ~ 81 Ni''NA-
edge that he had consumption If 1t was
sald 10 one oi them That nc was looking
Ill, he would simply laugh and say; 'Nev-
or was better IN my life May have been
drinking a bit ana st1ld up too late, but
elckf Not blt Never lclt 80 well be
fore, and he would slap himself on the
chest and give vent 10 hollow cough.
Every once IN awhile nowadays when
bookmakers get together ana begin telling
stories the story 81 the four cons, as
they were called, comes up In the ioh-
man House one evening oo"hihaher was
telling the story 10 number OF acqualhf
ances
\ peculiar thihg about those men, M
sald' was that' athough mono OF theh
would ever acknowledge that he was on
the brink OF the grave they would take
great pleasure IN guylng one another about
tholr III heaIlh' fieraoh' pai' ana eilldCl-
ated ana emitting hollo" coughs would
walk up 10 Pratt VINO was IN similar
cohultoh, anu say LOOK mere ON poy'
you re SICK man. "o away somewhere
anu recuperate' YOU heed rest men
fratt would prace up ana reply ihdl ghaht-
ly GU go 10 - What 90 you mean by
teIiihg me III sIcA anu 'Htii hc "oulu
s'rtuo away ihau gear 'nrous"
Inns soTO Oh thlng went Oh ior SOM
tiil'' lh'Il ono udl EHlers"h r'"'arAeu 20
,he other' thau ne was going 10 nave ms
ne insured na'' u"ey H"9P'u 'ogI, nIr.
gu uoh tnlnA any Coh,l ''ny "ouiu 'lN1
hCHai'Vc y" w. w YOU, iIoiSo" Sioieu
inc Hi'l" u'''oH' an" 'ho iioAO Gay ''''' az
examination ior ne INSURANCE W couiSo
ne "iu" pass. MN III stooiiii'S 'olu 0'',
o0'et' opou' H. 'i'' S"'o ~" va. Si"ii'
laus"' non 'acn "iI' ~ V"In q"i''if IN
lotiheu emerson oia' ne HiHlS'i was soins
% pe lh9ureu' Ancy ai' '''cu' anu al "oio
Rejected
Oilo Jay ohGy met at 'l'e race 'raoh anu anu
Emerson remarked, say boys, "ccouiuh
eet Insured put We gou pe''vr eainS
tAah 'ha'' Lc. PuL uP Fi''oo "piToe' anu
the ono VINO lives inc longest taAcs Vne
pot
ny you poor i"ol reiilarheu " III
nipeg' VINO was AZ that tiihe ne worst casa
Oh All, 1t a ueau certain VIII lor me.
Oh' you uoh say So put III Tra'C'
ny one oil your lungs Is missing ho"'
ana uoh tillhk you Al i've hloi'h,
Alter al hour oi Vhl' sort 81 chaiiihs
the Tour men agreed 20 put up 'he money
IL was given 20 Oily Elliot poohHaAer'
ana ne deposited IL IN Ne" ofH pahK
Al was deposited III such a way thaO any
one ot dozen Dookmakers could draw 10
out at any time. This was done SO as To
be sure that the last man would be able to
got the money without any trouble.
At this time poor winnipeg was an
awful sight, and people thought he would
die any minute. HIS cheeks were pale ana
sunken, his eyes shone like balls OF fire,
he coughed lncessantly' ana he could
scarcely totter along he was so weak.
Yet he would come To the track every day
and whenever he.d run across one oil the
other three hed gu. nlm about the money
they had put up. You fellows VIII be
dead ana gone before th'y put me In bed'
he q say hose who knew hllh used to
smile pityingly on HIM whenever he made
TINS boast
Wo months after the money had been
deposited Emerson physician t'ld MN
THAT he must go away or he dle III
week. - Billy took MS money ana went
20 Texas Whcn he bought ranch ana
tried 10 settle down In SIX months he
was dead. fArly IN 1857 sheridan dled'
and this lett only Pratt ANA winnipeg
who wa, verify living cufp~D, 70 contest