The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-08-24
TALKS ON LIVE TOPICS.


for race horse to be QUILTED with exact
ly the right kind of shoes?" said n horse
man. VERY few people realize what
difference there is between the old-time
blacksmiths and the horseshoers of the
present day. The greatly improved meth
DDS employed nowadays in shoeing a race
horse have much to do with the remarkable
performances of the great trotters and
PAGERS. When Cresceus is turned over to
the farrier several hours are required TO
perfect his footwear. and the trainer stands
beside the sheer all the time. scarcely TAX
ing his eyes off him. Often a forward or
hind shoe will have to be made thinner at
one place than al another in order to keep
the horse away from some point of contact
known only to the trainer or driver.
THE famous trainer. Ed Geers, was the
first TO discover that a horse shod forward
with a somewhat square-toed shoe
sure to he better balanced and much faster.
Sometimes forward shoes are rounded
the inside toe, with the outside corner
square, thus keeping the horse away from
the knees Other shoes have a narrow
rim all around the outer edge, and some of
them are conceived all around, giving the
horse firmer foothold. In fact, so much
depends upon the correct shoeing of a race
horse that all Of the leading stables have
their own farriers accompanying them on
the circuits, and many Of them receive as
much as 81 500 for their seasons work.
"A blacksmith in Wheaton, ILL.,, once made
a set of shoes for Star Pointer that i'm
proved that great horses speed from 2:o21z
to 1:59A, and he was Immediately engaged
at big salary to travel with the wonder
full animal, giving up his shop and patron
age TO accept the job. He had discovered
that Star Pointers sole was so thin and
acute that pad was necessary for him TO
stand on while either forward foot was
suspended. Cresceus still wears the same
kind of felt toe boots that he has always
worn. Mr.. Ketcham thought at one time
that his horse might be benefited if the
toe boots or scalpers behind could be left
off, but the experiment proved that Cres-
ceus struck his coronets so hard that such
a departure was unsafe"
large order of poker chips was received
last week by an indianapolis dealer in
sporting goods-an order of such unusual
dimensions as to cause surprise in the es-
tablishment.
There is no use denying It," remarked
one of the men connected with the store.
baseball and poker are the two great
American games. For awhile there was a
falling off in the sale of poker chips, but
of late we have had a great demand for
them. Most of the orders, strange as II
may seem, come from the smaller Indiana
towns, and 1 have about come to the con-
clusion that the game is more popular in
| N in he Ia cif
suppose it's because there is less in an
amusement way out in the provinces, and
so the people take to cards as a diversion
after business hours. Several men make
up club to play at each others house, and
each Of them has to have full set of
cards and chips If they played in a club
room one set of chips would answer, but
it's the increasing interest in these little
house-to-house poker parties that is caus-
ing the unusual demand for the betting
disks
1.-THE manufacture of poker chips has be-
come quite an industry in America. One of
| the largest plants is in Scranton Pa where
over fifty million chips have been made
during the last ten years. They are made
| twenty-five at a time by steam-heated
| presses, and the lines and figures which
resemble engravings are produced by raised
! figures in the molds Most of the poker
! chips now in use are made of composition
| pressed into dies. Although rubber and
| celluloid chips are still sold in considerable
| quantities, neither one of these materials
is considered so good as certain secret COM
! positions prepared by the five or six largest
concerns"
There have been more cases of ivy poi
soning in and about Indianapolis this sum-
mer than I have ever known before in a
single season." remarked a physician yes
terday. The series of heavy rains has
| caused luxuriant growth of wild plants
and weeds of all kinds. and people cannot
be too careful in Kidding their back yards
| of these trouble bringing things. Poison
| ivy, which seems to be the most dangerous
| of all, grows in two distinct forms The
climbing variety should be easily distin-
| guished from other climbers because of the
fact that its waxwork, or bitter-sweet, has
alternate single leaves. scarlet fruit in
orange-colored pods, and terminal instead
of axillary flowers. The other form, with
three leaflets at the end of long stalks, is
an erect plant, spreading by root stalks
| along the ground.
1.-THE poison properties are produced from
the spores of a fungus growing on the
plants, and when these get into the air they
may affect person that has not come into
actual contact with the plant itself. Per-
sons that have thin skins or those that are
inclined to perspire freely, the ones
most susceptible to ivy poisoning. The
| only other poison plant of much conse-
quence in these parts is poison dogwood,
having the general appearance or a small
| tree and trunk three to five inches in
diameter It's leaves are from seven to a
| dozen in number, smooth and oval, and it's
small green flowers form panicle This
plant is not likely 10 be found in the back
| yards of the city but you had better steer
clear of it If you go tramping about in the
woods"