Evening star., 1901-05-17

was true little more than ten years ago
when the use Of drugs was introduced first
on the winter race tracks, the South Jer-
sey track at Gloucester and the Gutten-
berry track having the distinction of being
the first to give unduly shrewd turfmen the
opportunity to get more speed out of GER
tain horses than the betting pubic and the
bookmakers believed they had. Then none
believed for an instant that the use Of any
form of stimulant was either discredttable
or dishonest. The secrecy observed in the
dosing Of horses was simply a precaution
against the spelling of contemplated coups
by having the knowledge that a horse had
been specially prepared to win certain
race become general and so reduce the
odds that the bookmakers otherwise might
have been willing to bet against his chance.
First Use of Drugs.
The first use of the dope" went un-
noticed by the winter track officials and
attracted little more than passing attention
among the frequenters Of the tracks. The
betting men regarded the gossip they heard
as only idle chatter, and it was not until
"doped' horses actually had won races,
and their several followings had taken
enough money out of the betting ring to
make the layers feel that new influence
was at work among them, that the Idea
that drugs could bring about such results
was considered seriously 1t was about
that time that Doc" Ring came into prom
nence at the New Jersey winter tracks
Ring was the real inventor of the first gen.
orally used stimulant, which, however. in
his day was not known as dope" but was
commonly described as the Injection" and
was much mystery to the men who
employed it through Ring as 1t was to the
general public. In a short time. though,
the term dope" was coined, and dope
1t has been ever since. AS used by Ring
the new agent was hypodermic injection,
the component parts of which were known
to Ring alone. He refused to accept pay
fov to- ,tonc IN fhn nf ~fr,r
and stipulated always that his only recon-
pense should be bet made for him by the
owner the horse treated. Rings profit
thus being conditional on the success of
that animal.
OF Rings medical title there has been
doubt always, but about the New Jersey
winter race tracks he was known by every
body as Doc" and was very popular in
dividual in his time. He was said to be the
son of a once wealthy pork packer of St.
Louis, who, having started out as patron
Of the trotttng horse in the days Of his
fathers prosperity, lost a great fortune
and was compelled to take to the runners
as a means Of support. His secret did not
go long undiscovered, for avaricious horse
men who did not like the idea Of dividing
with him managed by stratagem to learn
what drugs he used. 1t was only few
years after Ring began his peculiar prac-
tice that he had so many rivals in the art
of getting speed out OF sulky horses that
his occupation was practically ruined.
The prescription that the inventor used
with such success at the beginning of his
career was composed Of nitro-glycerine,
cocaine carbolic acid and rose water, the
o-glycerine having the stimulating quail
tiles Of the dose, while the other ingred-
tents were used as safeguards against the
dangerous effects Of the first. Nitro -glyce-
rine was found after much experimenting
to leave results that were permanently
damaging, and in later dope" formulae
strychnine, capsicum. ginger and other
things were substituted for 1t with quite
as much success as II the original dose
had been used.
Use of Injection Dangerous.
With the experience Of later years, even
the use Of the injection has been discon-
tinued as too dangerous and too difficult
to apply under the eyes of a paddock de-
tective, and fof the last half dozen years
the users of dope have been confined to
giving it in the shape Of a capsule or en-
ema the users getting results quite as GER
tain, without the risk Of the damaging ef-
fects that followed the old-time injection.
one effect Of which veterinarians found by
careful investigation to be that it actually.
caused peculiar form of decay in the
bones of the animals treated, this frequent
ly being followed by fractures that might
be caused by very slight exertion on the
part Of the horse.
When the outcry against the use of
dope" was first made in England Sir
George Chetwind, in widely published in
terview, was quoted as saying that to his
personal knowledge dope had been in use
in that country for more than twenty-five
years. AS an instance, he mentioned the
case Of his own horse Chypre. which. he