The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-09-06
,LDTTTSBURG Phfrs retirement from
the turf is not in the nature of

KnITTSBURG Phirs retirement from
the turf is not in the nature of
any positively last and final
Patti farewell, but the real thing"
said a Washingtonian who is init
mately acquainted with George +.
Smith. the famous turf plunger. who.
under the sobriquet Of Pittsburg Phil,
has been a distinctive figure on the
American turf for about a decade and
a half. so far as heavy speculation
goes, Smith is through with the game.
He is u man of admirable common
sense, and, although he has a temper
ament of fire and nerves of steel, he
told me in the course of a quiet chat
in his New York apartments last win
ter that he felt that the game had be-
gun to MAKE inroads upon his ner-
vOUs system. and hat many years ago
he had determined to give up horse
speculation when he felt this sort of
thing happening TO him..
George Smith is easily worth q mil
lion and a half. ali but $500 of which
he made out of the horses. The $400
was money that he earned as wages
while working as a cork cutters ap-
prentice in Pittsburg. He saved the
$500 up with the deliberate idea Of
risking it on the horse races He won
from the beginning, and has never
known a losing season. He came by
his Pittsburg Phil nickname in a pc
culiar way. After winning a couple
of thousands in Pittsburg he gave up
his cOrk-cUtting job and went to Chi
cago where, during the winter season,
he risked his winnings IN a pool room
That was in the days of auction pools,
and. in making his wagers, he fell into
the habit of passing his name as Phil
There happened to be another Phil
who -patrOnized hat particular Chi
cage pool room and, to differentiate
between the two, the pool room clerk
put Smith down IN their sheets as
PittsbUrg Phil and the nickname has
stuck to him ever since.
Smith is only thirty-eight years old
now. and he has always taken care of
himself. He scarcely drinks at all,
smokes only once in a while and has
made the care of his health his first
object yer since he bScame prominent
in the racing business. He has
lost his head at any time throughout
his extraordinary betting career. He
has employed business methods in his
betting transactions. and the business
methods have won out for him. The
extent Of his caution is shown by the
fact that. when he had made his first
$685. 900, he invested every dollar of it
in the purchase of an annuity that
gives MIN q nalL-OIIle INCOME
He doesn't hesitate to express the
opinion that. for most men, the horse
game is a bad and often ruinous bust
ness.
81 had nothing to lose when I went
into it, ne has often said to me. I
had no advantages of any sort, and
eaw nothing ahead of me but a life
spent IN earning a cork cutters wages.
I didn't mind the work. but I wanted
something better out of Iife-an edu-
cation. for example. The best thing
that I've got out of my success on the
turf is the chance TO pick up. as I've
gone along, a fair average education.
With nothing TO lose and something to
gain, then, the horse game stood no
chance to damage me. But it does
d-amage-wOrse than that. it absolutely
destroys-eveFy year thousands of fell
lows Of a different sort-men of educa-
tiOn and ability, with their chances i'm
life all open ahead of them. They get
the horse virus int their systems, and
I'm telling you h a that's a powerful
hard poison to eradicate, once it takes
a good hold. No mar who has a good
chance in life. who is able to chart out
his way. and see something worth
while at The end. has any right to
gamble on the hOrses-tO gamble at all.
in fact. I've had a lot of luck and have
contrived 10 keep my head above wa
ter and my health sOund-but If I had
a family Of sons think I'd come dam
gerously close TO preachifying m warn
ing them of the dangers of the race
track It's a madman's game, and
that's a fact
always been Of the evil Of horse betting