The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-01-03
HE STARTED HERE
Johnny Reiff Won His First
Race in Wichita in 1892.
HOW THE BOYS ACT
At Home and the Difference
Between the Premier Jockeys

To see Lester and Johnny Reif, the two
great American Jockeys, at home on
North Main street, one would not recog-
nize them as the boys who have paled
Tod Sloane's star in England and driven
the English riders almost out of business
| Their little homo at Cygnet. little
town Of about six hundred people, is
about the most unpretentious in the vii
/ lage. 1t is a fat-roofed, one-story frame
affair. and resembles the training sheds
at the big race tracks to some extent.
1t was not selected for this reason, how
ever. as neither Of the boys ever had any
particular love for the town in which it
is located or for the building itself They
| like 1t because ii is the home of their
mother. their father and their only sis
ter. The place is modestly furnished,
and is in keeping with the plain ways
of the father and mother
Their father. J. H. Reiff, is a hard
ware merchant and timer IN the town
where he lives. He hands out the nails
over the counter, uses his soldering iron
between times, and makes a dollar and
half a day. while his fourteen-year-old
boy is making five hundred or q thousand
dollars a day for the time he works. This
sort Of thing does not suit Lester and
Johnny Reiff, and they have persuaded
the father to close out his store at once
and live In ease the rest of his days.
Lester has visited Findlay, Ohio, where
the family lived for two years before go
ing to Cygnet a little over a year. ago,
and picked out one Of the finest homes
in the city for his parents. He will fur
nish this throughout with everything that
money can buy and have the parents live
there. He wants his sister, Mamie, who
is sixteen years of age, to be where she
can attend college.
II never had much schooling myself"
said Lester, in speaking about his sis
ter, land you can bet 1 feel the loss of
it. 1 want my only sister to be as smart
as the smartest. There is no place at
Cygnet which is just the thing for her,
and I am going to have them move away
five days and it is the worst old town
I ever saw. There's nothing about there
but a lot of greasy Gid oil wells and
plugs Of horses.
'Give us two years of good luck and
that is all 1 want" said Lester. with
what 1 can earn, and all that Johnny.
the king of them all. will be able to get
this season and next season, you can
rest assured that none of my folks will
have to work any more unless they want
to-"
Lester is considered one of the best
judges Of horse flesh in the country,
and is always hunting out the good
qualities of the farm horses that come
to town He stood around on the streets
during his five days stay in Cygnet and
tried to make himself believe that there
was some redeeming point in the slug
gish moving draft horses that passed,
drawing heavy loads. He is extremely
active, in fact most active of any of the
family of four boys and one girl. and
cannot sit still a minute. During his
stay he was all over the town all the
time, and left some days ago for San
Francisco.
Bowling Green, Kentucky, correspon-
dence in the Cleveland Leader says:
Johnny, the baby of the family, is of
a more contentetd disposition. He likes
to be with his mother, and says that he
will go as far as Wichita with Lester
and visit there at his brothers home for
about three weeks, after which he will
be back and stay with his mother till
it is time to go back to England. He
loves books, and will SIT for hours buried
in a book of some sort. Up to the time
he began riding, three years ago, he was
first in all of his classes in school, was
always on time, stood 100 in department
and never made any undue demonstration
over his less successful classmates. His
mother says that he can be coaxed to do
anything, and through her teaching has
learned to govern fiery disposition. She
says that she used to hold him on her
lap and make him count 100 when he was
spunky about something. and he now fire.
quently finds himself counting 100. This
reminds him of his mother and her
teachings, ne says, and his anger is con-
quered without showing itself.
lit is awfully funny here said
Johnny, when you take London in com
parison. Awfully dull you know, when
you come to think about x, but 1 don't
mind it. 1t seems sort Of good after the
lively times we have had for the last few
months. Ike to ride, and intend to get
ali Of the mounts I can in England this
season. have not signed any contract,
and Lester says I shall not. He looks
after my affairs. and thinks I can make
more money riding Independently. You
see 1 can ride at less than seventy
pounds. and Lester says II won't be any
trouble al all for me TO get all OF the
mounts 1 want at 800 apiece. The past
season I took anything I could ge; and
some OF them were mighty poor ones I
took what was left and I think l did
pretty Well
Johnny can get anything ne wants
this season over in England, said Lester.
They think more Of him than they DO
OF all the rest Of Us. He does Just IS !
tell him I have learned that he cannot
be driven. just as mother says. lie can
be coaxed 20 do anything. Johnny. I
think. will lead all Of the riders IN Eng
land this season. as he has got the nerve.
the muscle and the skill. He viii be able
70 make more mouey riding independently
than I or anybody else can earn riding
IN any other way. ] shah ride for four
stables. I hare closed a contract with
thru and fourth places.
From the third man wifi get SALARY
q 8 90 So for winning meunSs. and s15