The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-06-15
AN INDEPENDENCE DAY rRoT.
Picturesque Racing ut an Illinois
Prairie Town.
lFrom the New York Sun.

| Prairie Town.
From the New York SUM-
IF you never went to an old-fasioned
Fourth of July trotting meeting in coun-
try town you haven't seen the picturesque
side Of harness racing said Charley
| Thompson the other day in group Of
horsemen who were Willing away rainy
afternoon at Empire City Park. "Of course
| the best horses and the big prizes are in
The grand circuit, but those meetings are
/ like the three-rng circus 10 Madison
Square GARDEN. For genuine enjoyment
give me the little tent show that creeps
| from town to town over The wagon roads
/ likewise the horse-trot that comes off at
the county fair or the Fourth of July cele-
| bration.
Il shall never forget one of these local
horse trots that | saw out at Galva. ILL.,,
good many years ago. Galva was one OF
those peaceful. prosperous prairie towns
that never was heard of--at least I never
heard OF 1t until enc day somebody brought
handful around to Hy training stable
at Jim Graham's farm near Biggsville,
saying there were going to be some trot-
ting races at Galva on Independence Day
There wasn't word on the bills about the
rules or the conditions which were to
govern or anything at all excepting Just
the purses and the classes The town was
right up the railroad few miles, so we
got box car the day before the Fourth
and put Earl McGregor AMI Tribune and
two or three other trotters aboard ard
started of to Galva, after -aiegraphing the
secretary OF the meeting that we were
coming. / guess We were the only people
that went on the cars. fer when We got
there the mayor of the town came down to
the siding to meet us with delegation
of prominent citizens and rendered us the
freedom of the town. The freedom of the
town in this case meant an invitation TO
put our horses away in the mayors private
stable, where there were box stalls so big
that when you turned a horse loose you
needed a lasso to go in and catch him.
Come to find out. the mayor was the sec
rotary of the races and was running the
fireworks. the speech making. and the
whole celebration. Dick Oglesby, the old
war Governor of Illinois, and The father
OF the young man who is now running for
Governor was billed 10 fly the eagle from
the judges stand just before they started
the free-for-all race. oh. they had big
time mapped out, all right.
After supper the Mayor said to me:
Mr. Thompson. have you ever seen our
track? hadn't seen it. so We took a walk
out that way to look it over. When we
came to the public square-every prairie
town out West has public square. with
rail around it for the farmers to tie their
horses. a double row of cottonwood trees
for shade. and kind OF little kiosk over
on one side where the band plays when
there is mass meeting or the circus
comes to town-when We reached the
square the Mayor stopped and pointed to
road that ran around 1t, where the grass
had been kept down, and he said: Here
it is. l guess it's little mite short, but
we call 1t half mile. Twice around is
heat, anyhow They had rounded off the
fence corners little and thrown up the
outside Of the road at those places like
the turns on a racetrack. but 1t was just
about like trctting horses around the out
side of Madison Square Garden.
I'VE trotted there just the same. how
ever, with people on foot and on horseback
and in wagons and buggies lined up ON the
inside and the outside all around the
course The whole thing was free; even
the races The storekeepers about town
had Clipped in and made up the purses. |
and anybody who thought he owned a trot-
ter was welcome to start him. I had Tri-
bune in the $40 race and / was lucky
enough to get the pole in drawing for po-
sitions before the start. When the bell
rang for us to get together and score down
the bell. by the way, was an old-fashion-
ed dinner gong brought over to the square
gan. Besides my colt there were three or
four country stud horses and little rab-
bit OF a mare, fourteen hands high and
forty years old. driven by wizened wea-
Their beaten granger with whiskers longer
than the little mares name Anybody
could see he was a POpulist of the Mid
die oft he-Road variety, and knew he
was looking for trouble when he logged up
in front of the judges stand
ar
don't propose to be robbed out of this race !
before the start. I want you to understand |
that pay my taxes in Henry County and |
I'm going to have my rights. This mare |
was the first one entered In this race-r !
saw 1t on the secretary's book this morning /
and she's entitled to the inside track |
according to rule OF course. there wasn't |
A book of rules In twon, and SO the old man
had a clear track for an argument. I
guess he was honest about it-actually be-
lieved that because his mare was number
one in the entry book she was entitled to
the pole Anyhow, she got it. and / had |
to take what was left.
THE trotter / had to beat that day."
continued Thompson. was Il raw-boned.
slab sided dun mare called Lady Spanker
one of these big. heavy-headed, fiat foot
cd Founders that wolloped the earth and
hard she could hit the ground when she
Her driver was a long gangly. |
)arefooted country boy. dressed up for the
occasion in a new pair of overalls and
,alico shirt / suppose he had trained his
mare o. some smooth stretch of country
road, a1d it seems he had been used to
irving her with his hands held out wide
apart, after the style of Bob Stewart
whenever he wanted her to go. Perhaps
lie didn't like to spread his arms out like
hat in the race for fear he might not look
lice. for he sat perched up there on that
lid, straight-axle sulky as stiff as a major
with one eye on the pretty girls
rhe mare wasn't accustomed to that kind
If driving. She didn't try foot of the
way the first time around the square. She
vas fifty yards behind Tribune as we went
Town the stretch. Just before my horse
got to the wire on this lap l saw an old
'armer hog out of one OF the lumber
wagons. break through the crowd and rush
tut to the track. AS Lady Spanker came
,long he threw up his arms and yelled to
he boy:
Ia ,-Ip' ri her