The sun., 1896-10-18
THE RISE OF THE PAGER.
ovor .y oUTcAsr IN TIE HORSE
onoI o,,D. HE SOW HAS THE GALL.

~,
w ,,o-e,,.' the Popularity OF
h,,'a,.rNsp-eaI Ia the ThinG nnd the side
h.e,rra Have It-Why Trot"nE-'ree
,,nr,.. Adopt the Lnterni Sa't
o,e NJ the most remarkable and interesting
nhcnonena In connection with tns pooui"ry
,n,.rcan sport of harness racing is tho grow
a.. dominance OF the pacing horse. and tho
It'll ,n,rense OF late years In tho number
.nl nonularity Of pacing raros Many -turt-
-, who arc vet young can remember the
,,,,e when tho horse that moved oo'n lset on
On, same side at the sarne time was htuo OCT
Tar than an outcast In the horse worlo. racing
.o,,o,,. vcre unknown In tho Grand Cirouit
,wenty years ago, and the slde'"neeiers
.nhere Of usefulness was virtually connned 10
matches and an occasional purse race NJ tho
miner meetings In Ohio, Indiana, ana west
.rn Pennsylvania. the region which seems to
h.,o h,.n the stronghold AM stamninE ErouId
~ tho old.t,me rAekers. " was there that
SIe,py George Bay Sally, = Seetser. and Lucy,
th, oriai al big Four" first attracted alton
t,o, nv their fast, fierce. split heat struggles
away back In tho early seventies. but It was
mot until 1877 that these harness horses OF
p,ebeian blood. gait, and names commanded
recognition in the high..sooiety of tho trottinE
turf. In that year the Cleveland Driving
Ciub offered what is.belevcd to have boon tho
first purse ever hung mp for pacing raoe In
Tho Grand Circuit. The. .ainount was u. 600
only..one- third as la-ge.as the sum Given to the
free-for.alI trotters AT the Same meeting
Il brought together eight starters. including
Sleepy George. Bay Sally, .Rowdy Boy. aorrel
Billy, Sweetser, Lucy. I. A. Hendricks, and
John. McNair. Sleepy George was then
looked upon as the best PAGER that HAD ever
come out Of the Indiana hawpatch.-and tho
blind horse was accordingly handicapped by
being called upon to pull a wagon. while tho
others went to sulky. In spirited race
Sweetser-deteated Sleepy George.and the field,
pacing the first heat in 2:1s-only half 500
ond slower than:the champion record Of Poca-
hontas which had stood.since 1855.
This was tho entering .wedCe, and so popular
did the innovation prove to be that in 1878
Buffalo, Rochester, Utica. and Hartford FOL
lowed tho example set by Cleveland. and for
the arst time a field OF pacers went.down the
line of the Grand Circuit.
Sleepy George Swcetser. Bay y. and
Lucy were the only starters. and they soon
came to be known as the big Four" Their
contests were fast and furious, Sleepy George
cutting tho pacing record down to.2:15 In q
nve-heat race at Rochester. while the time
made blythe sidowheelers was In every In
stance faster than that Of the free-for all
trotters after the circuit horses left Cleveland.
Tho two ..alterns ted -as.wlnners all the
way down the line, and at the close Of tho
campaign the were second onlv - the crack
trotters Rarus and. Hopeful In popular favor.
When John Splan put together stable OF NY
ers for q starring tour in California and the
far West that fall. Sweetser.went along with
Rarus to the coast and on Christmas Day. at
Oakland. CAL. a vast crowd saw tho jaunty
gray son OF Gosnell's Tom Crowder equal the
champio record of Sleepy George. 2:15.
tha
year. when tho open race for PAGERS was re-
newed throughout the Grand Circuit. Sweet
ser, Sleepy George. and Bay Sally having dis
appeared from view, only Sam Keyes and hil
game old gray mare Lucy remained Of the
original Big Four. Stove Phillips's blind
horse. Sleepy Tom. by Tom Rolfe, son Of ths
famous old Pocahontas, TOOK tho place OF
Sleepy George. Ed. Geers came up from Ten
nessee with the little white-fa faced, te-leR
ged chestnut marc Matte Hunter, and Char
ley Forth dropped into the game with the
sporty old ack.geldinz., .,Rowdy Boy, by Bull
Pup who had taken to tho woods after
his defeat bY-Sweetser at Cleveland In 1877.
In one of the opening skirmishes Of this
campaign Sleepy Tom lowersd the pacing REQ
ord to 2:14H. and in another he cut the
champion mark down to 2:12A, placing Il
for the first time in many years ahead Of thu
best record for trotters.
The speed OF the sidewheelers was daz
.aa. 49,. crapd Ciror,, r,.a,jn. ~. Nat ,-,,
~ ,ha nao,na raoo.ssIdor, ,aIIJna to srr
na.s nv ,ra or thr.s -s.cond. tb. hs.t tim,
- h., 81. ,,..,o. Iii .ro,,ar. MI. ,vni
al ,ooi,a r.oa =, mi. -oriod v.. Ione
d,a,rn-o,,, = W. ~ siv or .iyh, b.,t. mil -
,rrnrisos and generations and wb.n I,
vas over tb. summarv nsual1v abova,
,h., tba ,avo-ito hoa a,i.hod h,b,nd N,
d,.,,,ca e.a and tba, tho rank onts,d.
-, ,he 1sid b.d rotad IN tba nnra
and rho nool bo1 II c.ma IN he a stock .av
inr or,r. c,ror,..solIoy.-s ,b,t,, w.. a,
w,vs s,fe ~ huv tba eo,d ooain.. the tavor
ito IN tho nacing raca for m. horse that IN,
talent nicLed out to win som.bov had a babi
of making inst At the critical momsnt on. n
tbos. "Jimtown,, heal. sucb "a onlv an o,d
tim. racter NJ orthodoY bread,n1 from tb
h.ckuood, NJ Indian, or Tennessee copI,
maks. and nv the Tin be recovered bi, At rid,
A. - - - '..-..-,i -. -. -.