The sun., 1900-06-10
JOHNNY DROVE HER FLARIN'.


JOHNNY DROVE HER FLARIN'.
Picturesque Harness Racing Around the Pub.
lie square at Gslya.
IF you never went TO an ld-fashioned Fourth
Of July rotting meeting in Il country town
you haven't seen the picturesque side OF har-
ness racing" said Charley Thompson the other
day In a group OF horsemen who were Willing
away rainy afternoon at Empire City Park.
"0f course ths best horses and the big prizes
are In the Grand Circuit, but those meetings
are like the three-ring circus in 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 on at the county fair or the Fourth
of July celebration.
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 never heard OF 1t until one day
somebody brought handbil around to my
training stable at Jim Grahams farm near
Biggsville. saying there were going 10 be some
trotting 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 Glasses. The town was right up the rail-
road a few miles. SO we got a box car the
day before the Fourth and put Earl Nc
Gregor and Tribune and two or three other
trotters aboard and started of 20 Galva after
teegraphing the secretary OF the meeting
that we were coming. guess we were the only
people that went on the cars. for when we
got there the Mayor OF the town came down to
ths siding TO meet us with delegation of prom
inent citizens and rendered US the freedom
of the town. The freedom OF the town In thus
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
retary Of the races and was running the fire.
works, the sp ,ech-makng and the whole oele-
bration. Dick Oglesby. the old War Governor
of Illinois. and the father Of the young man
who Is now running for Governor. was billed
to fly the eagle from the judges stand just be-
fore 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 trackY
] hadn't seen IL, 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 II for
tho farmers to tie their horses, a double row
OF cottonwood trees for shade, and a kind OF
little kiosk over on one side where the band
pays When tS See the cps
the Mayor stopped and pointed TO road that
ran around IT, where the grass had been kept
m a little % mite IS short but we cali it hall mile
Twice around IL heat. anyhow They had
rounded of the fence corners little and thrown
up the outside Of the road at those places like
the turns on a racetrack. but it was lust about
like trotting horses around the outside of Madi-
son Square Garden
I'VE trotted there just the same however.
with peorle on foot ard on horseback and In
wagons and bugsias lined up on the ins ide
and the. outside all around the course The
soqs s hnd ns ss
made UP the purses and anybody who thought
he owned trotter was welcome to start him
enough 10 get I the % IN mar draWns SH for So.
tions before the start. When the bell rang
for Us TO get together and score down the
gong brousbt over to the square, from the prnS h
pal hotel the trouble began. Besides my colt
there we're three, or four country stud horses
and 20 rSse sssls S sf.n Grs. SH %lSs
weather-beaten granger with whiskers longer
than the little mares name. Anybody could
sso5 Re- he vnys,r wss of the
trSSsie tnSHs v,s yhe5 he logged up in front OF the
,ronLoo LOOK = ahsrs; h jsdses he bswled I don't
the start. 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 entsred IN this race--I saw II on the Secre-
tarys book this mornnR-aDd she's entitled
to the inside track according TO rule OF
course, there wasn't book OF rules In town,
argument. guess he was honest about Il"
actually believed that because his mare wa,
number one In the entry book she was entitled
20 to ,ne poe, "a hhynow ,, she aot IT, and had TO
wi The sIotter had to beat that day" con-
tilued Thompson. was q raw-boned, slab
that wolloped the earth and tried to see how
s csa shs s9 f9uS q. seD and how hard
Her driver was a long. sansly s bsrefooted eeTs
country boy. dressed up for the o-cason in
a new pair Of overalls and a calico shirt /
suppose he had trained his mare on some
he had been used to driving her with his
hands held out wide apart after the style Of
Bob stewart whenever he wanted her to go
like that IN the race for fear ne might not look
nice, Tor he sat perched UP there on that old !
strsisht-aIle sulky as stY as a Major Generai,
xasn soeysomed eys Dc 70 tsy @ srVnS %nIs
She didn't try foot Of the way the f,rst time |
around the square. She was fifty yards be- |
just before my horse rot 20 the wire on this lap
saw an old farmer hop out OF one of The ium- |
Der wagons break through the crowd and |
along he threw up his arms and yelled TO the |
4..Drive her narip'. Johnny drive her narinr |
ohsng fooxsd and ss her co.
HE Wings When he drovs her sarin HnP tbs bpeJiSS oiS
mare was hard 70 beat. By the way. Myron
sMcasnsy % Sss me ne e droSs he arst race around