The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1903-04-10
DRIVER ED GEERS
Some Char aCterIstics of the Silent
Man From tennessee. "A Living
Automat0n Behind the Keins.

Did you ever see Ed Geers drive In a
race? If not, you have missed seeing
a veritable Giving autOmaton. For,
from start to finish he never makes
an unnecessary move, very rarely uses
the whip ana simply depends on his
confidence in his horse and the horse 8
confidence In its driver to cross under
the wire at the head of the process
ion. And it is this power OF reDress-
ing all outward exhibition of feeling
that makes Eleonora Dusea great ac-
tress and MAKES Geers the premier
driver of his day. 1t is this power
that rouses an unquenchable fear III
the hearts of his opponents. They
knew Geers. To them he is "the 81
lent man. a sphinx. Never boastful,
always confident, he has made rein
handling an art, a science, and MS
rivals know that their slightest error
IN Judging time or guagipg pace Will
be taken immediate advantage Of
The gait is never too speedy or TO
hotly fought to throw him.
"My norse." said Geers he never
calls a PAGER or trotter by name),
didn't like the soft going he found
near the pole. He had light shoe
and pad in front. and when he would
graz the dirt in his hoof and throw it
back up against his stomach he would
get excited and break. | could feel
that dirt hitting him right through
the lines.
That remark will serve to give
people AN idea of Geers 'hands.
No man in the business has a lighter
and more sensitive touch ana at the
same time a more wise like grip when
required than Geers He as the brute
strength of a SandOw, the delicate
finger sensitiveness of an Ole Bull,
and he knows how, when and where
to use each. He is kind to his horses.
but when one needs sound thrashing
he receives it in hurry A week
before The Abbot broke the world s
record in 1900 Geers gave him a sound
drubblng at Fort Wayne. 1t made
even experienced horsemen open their
eyes to see $40, 900 champion get the
lash like an ordinary forty dollar hack
"plugg.' One OF the onlookers said as
1.-THE silent man showered the trot-
ting champion with singing lashes,
None of 'em is too good for that boy
to lick when it's needed.
That's Geers. When punishment
has to be administered. he makes the
horse understand what it means. He
shows no trace of anger or excite
ment in the whole proceeding. This
is one reason why Geers' horses do
SO we'll for him. He is willing 10
spend years on horse that he
thinks Will repay the teaching. but
when the lessons are learned they
must not be forgotten.
In race Geers never uses the whip
unless it is a gentle flick on the neck
or withers in close finish. Ninety
nine times in hundred the finish VIII
be made with Geers crouched in the
sulKy like bronze figure. There is
no Fishing on the lines and, above
all, no wild shouting after the manner
affected by some reinsmen.
Geers has taught his horses what
to do, and he is supposed to know
how to behave when the crucial
moment arrives.
This man is never outwardly irrlta-
ted, never nasty, never unreasonable
and never in the slightest degree
nervous.
Such is the "silent from Ten
essee. Arthur lockwood in Dallas
Herald.