The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-12-11
CRESCEUS' FAST
MILE A Big FAKE?
As Much Is Charged Before the
American Trotting AS
ISOLATION.
MANY WATCHES SAID 2:O5
While the Time Returned was 1:59Is--
Testimony About the World Beat
ing Wichita Performance Is
Very Conflicting.

NHiCaSO, Lee. 5.-Ine BOARD OF ap-
2eals of the American Trotting asso-
cation took VI the question of the per-
Torrance of the stallion Cresceus at
Wichita, Kan, last October, when the
ONO horse was credited with a record
OF 1:59A by the track officials, which
marx mas been the subject of a good
deal OF discussion. Decision was re-
served for further evidence.
Secretary knight made a visit to the
Kansas town as SOon as the Cresceus
mile was announced, and found there
were people at the track on the day
the mile was trotted whose timing did
not agree with that Of the official watch
holders. 1t was also found that other
features of he affair warranted in
V~estigation. and the inquiry begun yes
tefday is the outcome of MI. knights
work.
George II. ketcham, owner and driv-
er or Cresceus, was on hand, and the
Wichita track was represented by some
or It's officers, one of whom was a law
yer, while Mr.. ketcham's interests
were ooked after by Attorney Clarence
Brown of Toledo.
No Flaw in Records.
President Ijams stated at the out
set that he had questioned the record
when news of the performance reached
him, and that 1t a on his suggestion
that Secretary Knight went to Wichita.
The records of the Kansas track
showed the performance was regular,
and, SO far as the official report is con-
cerned, there was no flaw. The timers
made aftidavit their watches all showed
l:59A, and two of them agreed pre-
cisely as to Zach quarter. The other
tmers watch was not a split second
affair, so he could testify only as to the
whole mile.
There was a lot of irrelevant talk
by witnesses and interested parties.
ketcham insisting he was on trial,
while the board Of appeals held thai
the session Was merely an inquiry in
to the record as submitted. In his
statement to the board Ketcham said
the questioning of the record was a
direct injury to him.
For fourteen years." he said, II
have been building up an export bus
mess in American trotting horses.
Within the last ten days l have de-
posted European drafts for about S43,-
900 in payment for horses sold nv me
to people abroad, and about $24, 900
more of such drafts will be deposited
in the near future. For the last six
years my sales of trotting horses
abroad nave averaged $15O, 900 annually.
more than these of all the other Amer
lean breeders combined, and this GUS
mess has been built up on my personal
honesty. l am selling to the same peo-
pie sold to six years ago, and you
know it is pretty hard to keep a Gus
toner for fast horses that long. If
there was my fraud at Wichita, the
fifteen men who must have been con-
nected with it did the work on my be-
half, and they would not go into any
such scheme unless by previous ar
rangemenI with me-"
Their were a%fidavits by three or four
Wichita men who timeI the stations
mile, and all caught it around 2:O5, Two
of these men keep 4 / estaurant, and
Mr.. Amidon of Wichita. Who did the
talking for the Kansas people, en-
deavored to belittle their testimony.
This brought on a spirited tilt with
Secretary Knight, who retorted that.
IL it came to repeating talk about peo-
pie, there were some people in the room
who would not go nscathe By This
time the fact had been pretty well es-
tablished there was a serious question
as to whether the meeting-carried
over from Saturday until Monday, on
which latter day Cresceus trotted his
famous mile-was regular according to
the rules of the American Trotting as
ISOLATION, and the statements on this
point We're conflicting.
Another Investigation Made,
This decision will be awaited With
interest by the harness horse world.
An investigation of the Cresceus per.
formance. entirely independent of that
carried on by the A. It. A., was begun
by some Cleveland people, who sent
George Schneider out to Kansas to see
what he could discover. Mr.. .Schneier
was on hand yesterday. and there was
also in evidence a statement by him
In which he said that after a full inves-
tlSat1on, he believed the horse was en-
titled to the record. The friends Of
Cresceus claim Schneider a sent to
Kansas at the behest of a Cleveland
man.. who owns a fast stallion, and
make no bones about saying so. Every
stallion owner of consequence in the
land is interested in the matter now
more or less, and the case has revived
ak about the famous STEAMBOAT rec
ord of 2:071a, which was rejected by
the American Register association
after a trial of the issues involved.
The board of appeals of the Ameri-
can Trotting association adjourned to-
day without taking action on the rec.
| ord made nv CraSppIls AT NNipr;to .s'