The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-05
HAMLlN AND HIS HORSES.
views or 4 MAN VINO mas BRED
TRO1TERS FOR FORTY YEARS.

Hsrseman-He Thlnkh That Under Certain
Conditions the Record IL Bound to Go-An
Advocate or Beauty OF Form As W ell as sposd
The viows OF a man who has stuck to a hobby
In horse breeding forty years through thick and
Thin are likely 10 DO OF interest to horsemen, tho
more so.whon they reflect the observations OK.
Perionces and opinions of a mar who Is at once
probably the oldest, most extensive and most
successful breeder of ~trottinR horses in the
world. Besides being the foremost breeder and
turfmAn Of the day. c. J. Hamlin is ono OF tho
most picturesque characters among tho rich
men Of the country. At 10 years OF age he is as
straight and stalwart OF form, firm Of step,
strong OF voice. ruddy OF face, sharp Of eye and
active OF body and mind as most men are at 90.
Even his snow.white hair and board would
never lead a stranger to suspect that he Is al.
most an octogenarian. A genial. cheerful, opti-
mistic. up.to-dRte and up-to.snuf old man who
lives In the present and tho future. not In the
past; u rock'ribbed American Of sturdy New
England stock; an outspokcn radical in horse
breeding, politics and religion. whose idols are
Mambrino King, Ed Gscrs, Abraham Lincoln
and Tom Paine; democratic to the last degree,
knows all the bright bohemian camp followers
OF the Grand Circuit rs we'll as they know him;
. hater Of everything illiberAl who will give
you a strong argument that buying a pool on q
horse race Is just as legitimate as buying May
wheat on the Board OF Trade. and that both are
al hlNht III Jaw anu mOrAlb, u DOlu SPECTATOR
himself who will bet more money. 30 the book.
makers say, than anybody that follows the trot-
tiers when no likes the chances OF one of his
Village Farm horses that Ed Geers is driving in
. race; n keen, close. hard-headed man in q
business tranSaction who has learned the value
OF a dollar in accommodating several millions Of
them; not n promising customer for gold bricks
In any form; drives q hard bargain, some per-
sons say, but lives up to his agreements with
NUT n ~ olthOpnh hn dnaunif a1rar a pn-
Quire those who deal with him to do the same;
q good judge of men and horses. with strong
likes and diBlikos concerning tho different fami-
lies of %trotterB, pronounced theories about
breeding and an abiding faith that Ed Geers is
the ablest trainer and driver who ever mounted
. sulky, as well as an absolutely honest man.
His love-no other word fills the bill-for
Geers 10 ono Of the shining features of Mr..
Hamlinis character. He will tell you that this
big, braWny, bronEod backwoodsman from
AaurJ county, Tenn, IL an undiscovered Lin
coin in his goodness OF heart, wealth of com
mon sense, and loyalty to truth.
Thoro Is nothing ostent2tious In the manners
or the dress Of Mr.. Hamlin. He might be taken
for q prosperous merchant, which he was some
thirty years ago, but no stranger who saw him
OIL the quarterstretch ut the races with his fa-
miliar green umbrella, straw hat, and Linen
coat would be likely to pick him out as a man
whose wealth runs away UP into the millions.
Tho veteran horseman docs not often miss O
meeting whore his ~urotters are engaged. His
largo business interests in Buffalo are looked
after by his eldest son, William. while he fol.
lows tho circuit from juno until November.
Drawing the heat and the hotels for the pleasure
OF seeing his horses perform. OF late years he
has had in his son Harry an able lieutenant in
his breeding and campaigning operations. Old
circuit followers were not disposed to take the
younger Hamlin very seriously whom his father
made him . partner In all hS horse interests
four or Ave years ago, but time has proved that
the son is . chip Of the old block. and every
body that follows the ~trotters will tell you now
that Harry Hamlin is ono Of the cleversst all.
FOUND horsemen in America. He has carried
the colors of Village Farm into q now field by
taking the abandonment Of tho we'll. bred .trot-
tore that are not fast enough to win on the
turf, fitting them up In hackney style with
docked tails, pulled names, and curbed bits,
and showing them In heavy harness at the
leading horse shows, whore they have beaten the
best Of the imported English high.steppers at
their own game. It Is said OF Harry Hamlin
that he would rather win with ono OF his
dock-tailed ~trottors in the hampton class for
high. steppers at tho National Horse Show than
Quit. With their ~trotters and their trottinR-
bred park horres the HAmlins are usually the
largest exhibitors, and they are frequently the
Madison Square Garden. That event Is the
Wind-up Of their campaign.
90 the breeding farm, at East Aurora, IN Eric
county. whore he and HE employees pick out
tho 400 or 500 animals on the place. These are
8hIppod down to Selma, Ala, to be conditioned,
pAign. About the drSt Of May Goers selects a
carload Of the best ones TO take through the cir
cult. Shipping the others back to the farm. he
moves norLhward with the season, stopping a
ono q the northern tracks to await the open NJ
ing Of tho Grand Circuit, Wintering in tho
the, campaigning operations Of the HSmlins,
their stable having headed the liSt OF owners
Prsob"Siy the elder &amltn has MS' worn more more
Important races in the Grand Circuit than any
q stable Of %trotters. but his greatest triumph as
e horseman came 70 him out at Independence,
tsrs Of i his own MnT rais sin Eoi Belle 'PHk smiin AND s%S t JSs:
tina, and, mounting the skeleton wagon, him;
M mares s. n miiis s1 IL a q sso' beating esIES the the t wor| sPif reei
ord for double teams. The next year Mr.. Ham:
%trot seneu GLOBE sS se0 tSSn at ep cIavels al h' Ge SSmG dp HpTe
the novel three-abreast hitch a mile in 2:14, the
nfrst time It they ,Ey,t turned nrnn.seddrrOo round IN public; One Of the
a.! 'hEse horses TeIG BY aenlln's Aimont, Sr.
raised at Village Farm.
Ha sSf m S". than tns ls 9 32iHSFt spirf IF IN a t sssDt Ssns Ms:
ment Of harness racing at Buffalo, He owned
z majority interest in the old Buffalo Driving
Park, which was the leading trottinR track Of
the country as far back as 1867, wheu Dexter
made his memorable record OF ,2:l?l4 there. He
was one OF the organizers of the National Trot.
ting Association in 1870. and later led the
movement which resulted In the formation Of
the Grand Circuit.
Whom Mr.. Hamlin came to New York the
other day on his way homo to Buffalo after a
winter in the south. he talked entertainingly to
. reporter Of THE SUS about his own and other
peoples trotters and, about mis- theories of
breedinR Tho harness horse. He said
II bought my first trotters in 1887. The
horse world has moved since then, young man.
just think OF II! At that time Rysdyk's Ham.
BILE oman hadn't been heard OF outside OF
Orange county. The great Hambletonian fam
lily. (which now OyershRdows all others combined
in point Of numbers. was not in existence. The
MorganB, now so nearly extinct, were then per-
haps the leading family. II II can be said that
there were any recognized families OF ~trotters
In those days. The best time on record Was
2:24ls. made by Flora Temple, Ethan Allen
held the cham Ion record for stations with a
mark of o.-a. No four: WON'T. nLl md IEnIInl as