The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-07-02

affairs is the hope that he will quit even.
Mr.. DwYeF began his varied career with
the remarkable horse Rhadamanthus. At
that time the Brothers Dwyer, Michael
and Phil, were in the butcher business in
Brooklyn. They were lovers of horse
flesh and instinctively saw the possibility
of the racing stable as perfected on mod
ern methods. Rhadamanthus was a win
ner, and it encouraged the brothers to
enlarge their stable.
They were winners from the start. The
Brooklyn business was disposed of and
the brothers became members Of the va
rious racing associations, of some of
which they are still henored members.
For instance, the old American Jockey
club, the Brooklyn, the Coney Island, the
New York the Westchester Racing asso-
citation, the Monmouth, Saratoga, Bright
on Beach, Aqueduct and New Jersey r.
A, of whose tracks in Elizabeth Mike"
Dwyer was the owner.
Horse racing was then at It's heyday of
craftsmanship. The Belmonts, Withers,
Lorillards and others were representative
men on the track, and they gave it high
standing among the best people. A handi-
cap was an event which brought hun
dreds of thousands of dollars from under
cover, and million dollars was not an
uncommon thing to change hands, far
and near, on a great race.
Michael Dwyer," said a well-known
hCrseman. soon rose to stand at the
head of the profession. His integrity was
unimpeachable. His word was as good
as his bond, and while he plunged reck-
lessly, so it seemed, it was always on the
wisdom of intimate knowledge with the
stable. He never drank a drop, kept
close company. and was a man Of great
energy and few words. He made money.
I,
seemed to know it; when he won he won
like a true sportsman, very quietly, and
kept still about it. He amassed a large
fortune.
1T was at this time that Mr.. Dwyer
was possessed of the idea that bookmak
ers were prejudicial to honest, sportsman
like racing. He took a great dislike to
the bookmakers and determined to drive
them from the track. His brother disa-
greed with him, and there was afterwards
a split in the Dwyer combination, which
was then the most formidable in the
world. Philip Dwyer and his brother
Michael went their respective ways, and
today Philip owns the Graveseud track
and is reputed to be worth 81, 900 900, which
is not many thousands from the truth.
Philip always enjoyed the best of eV-
erything in this world, while his brother
lived an almost ascetic life. At daybreak
he was always seen at the stables, work
ing the men and mounts into condition,
and after races taking a quiet rest. His
life was very secluded and even auStere.
He would see no one but his old init
mates. He won and lost. His plunging
was the talk of the world. Al Monmouth
in 1887 he hazarded a clean $4,000 on his
favorite. Hanover. The wonderful record
breaker failed to land, and Laggard. own
ed by D. D. Withers, won the day. This
was a sample of the plunging of this Ma
poleon of the paddock. And still he won.
season after season, and the best peo-
pie of two continents were glad to do him
honor.
AT that time, had Mr.. Dwyer retired on
his winnings. he would still have been
81, 000,0G to the good. Why he did not
Go so is one of the unexpIainable things
to which you must go to higher authority
than finite minds
&c Small returns and quick profits was
the shibboleth of Michael Dwyer, and
even as far back as 1899. and again in
1890, the query that ran through all ranks
of the turf fraternity was, Can this sue
cessful career last, or is Mike" Dwyer
nearing his end? Because he lost $500
on Raceland that latter year, Tristan win
ming by a neck. everybody predicted the
close of the plunker'S day of prosperity.
It was not to be. The next year Mr..
Dwyer made a stupendous coup on short
great fascination for him. He has been
known to send his right hand man, Joe
Vendig-Circular Joe he was called on
account of his gyrations around the ring
of bookmakers, taking everything in sight
with hundred thousand dollars bet
ting such StupendOuS odds as one to
twenty, or even one to fifty, and winning
at that. 1t simply staggered the ring.
There was Dwyer luck-nO end of it-but
Dwyer pluck. that was simply colossal.
IN DAYS GONE BY.
1.-THE old time methods were more con-
ducive to the quick placing Of large bets.
The local poOlrOOms of Chicago, San
Francisco Cincinnati, New Orleans and
all the Eastern cities received and ex-
ecuted Geographic orders up to the very
hOur-yes, the very mOment-Of the race.
1t was easy to scatter a hundred thou
sand dollars about the continent. More
than that, the turf methods were eXen1-
pIary The turf was a gentlemans sport,
patronized by the best people, and not
held up by the highwaymen boOkmakers
Mr.. Dwyer was always a gentleman, a
matchless authority on hOrsehesh, man
of unimEeachable integrity and ha+ er
of cant and hypocrisy. He was never
ashamed of his origin as witness the time
that Fred Gerhard, who was racing E0le
at the time, met Mike at the track side
TIindoo can beat Eole come up to my cub
tonight and I will bet you $500 or $1,000
even money DWyer smiled. Very busy
man. he said very quickly. But say,
Gebhard, if you think that Eole can beat
Hindoo come over to my butcher shop to-
morrow morning, and l will bet you $780,
600 or $500 coo at odds of five to one HOw's
that? That was the day of the plunger' 5
paradise which saw the grand cOups of
II. O. Bernard, otherwise the Dipper,
Dave johnson, Butch Thompson. Dave
Pulsifer. Jack Mcdonald and others of
the rash and reckless guild, who thought
nothing of handling $4,000 in a day and
going home broke. But Mike DWyer was
! king of them all. There was none of
the daring Of the man who put up $6,COO
| against s., 600 on Joe Cotton, $4,000 against
s. 600 on Hanover, SIS ,OC0 against So C0 on
! fremont. as happened within a short
space Of each other, and won them all.
Mike Dwyer was a power in the
world of true craftsmanship He banked
on what he knew, and his knowledge was
deadly accurate. The bcOlImakers began
to realize this, and offered shorter and
shorter odds Still the king plunged. His
largest days profits reached $l!0, goo, but
within week nearly all of it had gone
back to the 'toOkies' He conceived for
them a deadly hatred. He declared war;
and war to the knife. They cOmbiued
and in union there was strength Philip
DIVER advised his brother to retire, but
there was no beat in him till he had
driven the boOkmakers from the track.
He fought bTaVely against a losing game.
then in company with Mr. Richard
Croker, Mr. Dwyer went to England with
$1500G seventeen crack horses and four
Jockeys, including the colored wonder
Simms.
This combination tried the British