The sun., 1903-04-26
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
EFFECTS or SUCCESS on BETTORS
AT THE RACETRACkS.

Exuitation That Sonnet lines Kiiis-Dcaths
In the Betting Ring-A Tclegraphcr
Paraiyzed by Luck-Curc for the
Racing Fcver-Behavior OF Women.
swhen a jnt actress won three hundred
and half on DIR. Saylor at Aqueduct,
the other day, and then in her glee fell down
,ie grand stand steps and on top Of fat
man, squnching him up quite some but
not dana ging herself any. the incident set
me to thinking Of some Of tho queer kinks
OF winners on the horses, said q detective
who has been doing duty on racetracks
all over the country for good many years.
you hear lot OF talk about hard losers.
but not much is said about the hard win
ners. believe that big winning has a
more peculiar effect upon player whose
blood Is not CONCEALED TO the game than a
big losing.
For example. I've never known of a
case Of a racetrack bettor dropping dead
after losing big bundle. but have seen
six or seven men drop dead In racetrack
betting rings after making big long shot
strikes. and most of these toppled over
before they'd had time to collect the money
they had won from the bookmakers.
"One OF the oldtime members OF the
Metropolitan Turf Association carries In
his notebook a lt;ls slip Of paper that he
calls his dead mans sheet. On the slip
OF paper Is a record Of winning bets OF five
men who died suddenly Of excitement in
betting rings after the horses they played
won their races. The five deaths cover
q period OF twenty-five years. and each OF
them occurred on different track.
Tho bookmaker was able to hand over
the winnings TO the relatives Of three OF
the men whose good ljck killed them, but
two OF them were never identified The
winnings Of the two unidentified men
amounted to $500. combined. and the
bookmaker long ago transferred the amount
to his own account, after unavailngly
trying to dig up the heirs OF the victims OF
benevolent fortune.
4 saw q big husky fellow fall dead in
the arms Of a bookniaker's cashier In the
Bennings ring five years ago this spring
He had just given the cashier the number
of his badge. and was about to collect 81 900
that he had won with a ten-dollar note on
Boney Boy. when he turned the color Of
chalk and fell forward into the scared
cashiers embrace.
He was found to be Washington brick
layer, who had taken the rainy day pH
to follow the correct tip he had got on
Boney Doy. 1t was Boney Boys first race
as two-year-old, and the son of old Bitten
the original Iron Horse won easily at 100
to I. The doctors pronounced it heart
disease. caused by the brickla yers extreme
excitement over his win, and his wife got
the 81 I,0I0
The last death of a winner In the ring
I witnessed was that OF Cincinnati saloon
keeper. who had been playing the horses
for years. 1t was on the day that the
lightly.weighted Han dor beat the heav-
ily-rigged Plaudit in the Latonia Derby.
'Piaudit was to 4 shot and Han d Or
went begging at 81 to i-they were the only
two horses in the race. The aloonkeeper,
who was well known to all the bookmakers
as q big bettor occasionally, stood leaning
against . stanchion. right back Of the book
makers kne. as the two horses faced the
flag. Han dor, with the feather on his
back. got q running start Of q couple Of
lengths.
.Impulsivsly. the saloonkeeper called
OVER to bookmaker whom he knew:
Jim, III bet you a thousand on the
under dog
''You're on-Han dor. 81, 500 to 81 1000
sang out the bookmaker with a grin. for
nobody thought there was a possibility
Of Han d'Or's putting II on Plaudt, the
Western champion OF his year. and the
bcokmaker who took the saloonkeeper's
bet thought 1t vas a cinch that the Hanover
colt would come back to Plnudit when the
latter got into his stride
But Han dor didn't come back. hut won
eli the way. Just before Han dor got
under the wire the saloonkeeper toppled
over to vacant chair behind the book
maker with whom he had made the winning
bet. and sat down.
II won't be needing that coin. Jim, he
said quietly to the bookmakcr. who had been
standing on his stool watching the race.
Hand II over TO the wife, and few seconds
later he was dead.
Il saw a cool. level-headed chap. a tele-
graph operator literally paralyzed over
the big winning he hauled down on old
Dr.. Rice on the day that horse won the
Brooklyn Handicap on three legs.
The telezrapher. who worked Western
Union press wire. had known something.
He was an acquaintance OF Fred Foster.
the owner O. DIR. Ricc. The horse had becn
retired. seemingly q hopeless cripple, the
year before. but Foster the daddy OF then,
all when IL came TO patching up broken
down thorougkbscdS. went TO work on DR..
Rice. and before the winter was over he
know thxt he would be able to get his Grip
pie TO the races again.
He entered him in the big hapdicaps. and
among tho friends to whom be communi-
Gated his belief that DR.. Rice had the big
handicap at bis mercy was the telegrapher.
The key -puncber got $500 Of his savings
dowa on Dr.. Rice In the winter books at
% toi
The Foster horse went to the post at
about o to I, and when he pranced home in
front Of his field under jury rig the tele-
Rrapher who had won $4,000 on the race
simply sagged down to the grass. nnd had
to be carried 70 a Brooklyn bosp pital In an
amoulance. his Win olc left side paralyzed.
from shoulder to heel
He was on the fat Of his back for couple
OF years before be began to improve. He's
Ill night now. but he doesn't frivol with the
horses any more.
Kate Murtha. the woman plunger OF San
Francisco. who made many a bookmaker
put sway his chalk and hunt for another
bankroli in the davs 81 the old Bay District
" ack. was minus her voice for four years
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