The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-08-02


 they took the war harness off and put the blow gear on, To, the land blossomed into cotton blooms and was billowed in the emerald waves of the corn field. La- ter, in those trying times when southern men thought so strongly they were right that they were willing to die for their convictions, on him they led the barb wings of Wheeler's matchless raids and Forests stubborn charge. Skin and bones, staggering along with sore back and unshods feet starved and hock- marked with federal bullets there was never time when tho cannon's roar was not the organ of his faithful ear, the rebel yell the music of his soul. At last, when his war-worn master was honora- bly, discharged the great and magnani- nous leader of the northern army rec | ognizing his worth especially inserted in the articles of equalization that he should be permitted to bring that master home and drag down the furrow the sword that had been turned into the blow.
 The Old Pacing Horse.
 The old pacing horse. It almost brings sob to my throat when I see to what heights of fame he has climbed Hold ing every record on earth ever held by a horse-the fastest mile the fastest
 
 miles, six miles, seven miles in a race. the only horse who has ever annihilated time. and space by striding forty-four feet at each click of the watch and draw Ing man and a cart a mile In less than two minutes, the old horse that came over the mountains, that plowed the earth and planted a new civilization, that carried old fashioned religion to the primitive meeting house and was the r,fn of ha rnfffA 4h. ,f,. d rider and the saddlebags, that went to war and came back with honorable scars, that Is doing more than his share from the blow to the race track in upbuilding our country, this the old horse now stands in classic marble on the temple of fame and in his pride and his strength looks back from the wilderness of his obscurity to the lofty minarets of his coming glory.
 l hold that the establishment of this park Is a long felt want to the business men of this city. Too much work Is as bad, we know, as too much play. There is no need of us being sour and dyspep- tic, of having our life go out before It's time If we will only love to ride or drive over field. down shady roads, drink in all that Is sweet and wholesome in nature. and jingle our blood like a plunge in cold water with a brush down the road with SoIue JULIET lellOW WnO InlIlhS ne nhS A better horse, live right, be governed by the laws of nature and common sense and cease making grist mills of our stomachs and charnel houses of our con- sciences. There is nothing says an old German proverb, 'so good for the inside of a man as the outside of a horse" A clear conscience and a clear head are the indispensable conditions of success and happiness. When you slft all religion down to sand rock. 1t means nothing more nor less than a clear con- science. a knowledge of no wrong done to God nor man. By wrong to God I mean a wrong to yourself for you can not separate yourself from Him. All we know of the Maker of the universe and of us Is that we are a part of Him.
 Value of Recreation.
 A clear head is absolutely necessary for success In business. and no man can b>>ee this and dig, dig. dig, work, work, ~erk, worry, worry, worry, all the time. Let this park be the place where the busy men of Birmingham may come out any afternoon and get clear head be- hind Gods noblest animal. And 1 have always thanked the Almighty, that He made me with the natural love of horse in me. For when business and work seem to oyerpower me, when things look blue, when l seem to go backward in- stead of forward, when men that 1 have trusted prove false and the one woman of all the world whom I have fondly hoped to induce to trust me doesn't see 1t that way at all, when what I eat is undigested and what I think seems mush. when my pen refuses to be in- spred, and the books I have written after years of work seem to be the va- porless creatures of nonenity, I thank the Lord there is always one creature 1 can go to and forget all and come back to my work with new life and ambition in me Indeed, the foundation and sup port of the horse business comes from that natural love of the horse that is In the heart of all mankind. The race tracks get the credit of it but In fact they are the least of it. It is the great mass of the people with the honest love of the horse in their hearts, and the love of horse race pure and simple, with out any gambling in 1t, that make the race tracks possible. When a man has reached that stage in the business when the animal itself loses all personality, when a race is nothing but which horse gets to the wire first, and the whole thing becomes a success or failure &C., cording to whether he wins or loses then he ceases to become a horseman and be- comes a gambler. Let him be not de- ceived, he is not a true horseman, and bucket-shop will suit him as we'll as anything
 And right here, gentlemen, let me make an appeal for the purity of this park Let 1t be known that it Is not the place for the tin horn gambler. the tout the painted thing dishonesty, spec ulation. impurity in any of its phases