Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-19
"PITTSBURG PHIL" DYING.
Successful Race Plunger Has Probably
Made His Last Bet

From the New York Herald.
"Pittsburg Phil" is dying. the victim OF
that marvellous repression that enabled him
to hold his field glasses upon the horse that
brought him home a fortune without ever
indicating to those who watched him that
the event was of more Importance than the
purchase OF a cigar.
The repression of every natural emotion
of excitement, jubilation or depression has
at last brought about the reaction that has
broken his health and sent him to retreat
near Saranac lake, IN the Adirondacks,
where he is deeply afflicted with lung troa
BILE.
George E. Smith, or "Pittsburg Phil" as
he will always be known, has broken down
as did Michael Dwyer. have done a
score of others who have failed to realize
that the very quality of impassiveness, like
unto the Etoicsm of the Indian. which add
ed to the picturesQueness of both Smith and
Dwyer as race track figures, was a menace
to life itself that they never understood 1t
is remarked, however, that Mike Clancy
and A J. Joyner, with their celebrated
yells. are immune.
"Pittsburg Phil" in his days of activity
at the track was the greatest plunger the
American turf has ever known.
AT twenty-five years of age he was earn
Ing SO week cork cutter in Pitts
burg. Now, at thirty-eight years of age,
he Is said to be worth more than a million.
Cnllke ''P1unBer w alton ana many OF MS
sort who have appeared upon the turf from
time to time, he has never gone broke,
in the language of the track, and each sea-
son has seen his bank account larger than
it was at the close Of the previous racing
season.
Reckoned His Life in Odds.
Not since the latter days of the recently
closed Sheepshead Bay meeting has pitts
burg PHIL been seen at the track. The last
time he watched the horses run a number
of his friends commented on his increasing
pallor and weakness, the sure symptoms
of the attack of lung trouble which was
soon after to drive him into retreat in the
Adirondack mountains. He was aware at
that time of his condition, and spoke of 1t
as coolly and with as little emotion as he
displayed in watching race which he
had bet small fortune.
Il think the odds against me-" was
his only comment.
1t was the remark that was to have been
expected of "Pittsburg Phil by those who
knew him.
For several seasons past he has been
growing paler and weaker, but he was I'M
able to keep away from the scenes of ex-
element and speculation that were respon-
sible for his condition.
One of the best specialists in the country
was consulted, and his theory of the cause
of Smiths decline in health was startling
in character. He said:
His Self-Repression Fatal.
You have destroyed yourself through
your refusal to permit the exhibition of the
emotions that would naturally be aroused
by the scenes you witness every day.
You wager twenty fifty thousand dol
lars on a race. When your horse comes into
the stretch your face bears no trace of feel
ing excitement.
You witness the Kaleidoscope weaving
in and out of the colors of the jockeys dur
ing the battle through the last furlong as
though it were a game of backgammon
and when the horse on which you have bet
dasheS under the wire, winner by an eye
lash. you drop your glasses into their case
with the bored expression of man who has
been listening to a fond fathers story of
his little boys bright sayings:
I'm this you have been denying nature to
your cost. Your natural impulse has been
to shout and leap exultantly; to cheer the
horse that carries your bet; to scream at
him he dashes down the track. and to
let your emotions have full play. You have
restrained them with a struggle and with
an effort that has cost you so much of your
vitality that you have broken down under
the strain.
Now, this simple and single piece of ad-
vice to your habits:
Let yourself go at the track. Give ma
ture chance to swing wide. Shout If you
want to. Don't be afraid of ridicule. Let
your exultant feelings have full play. and
you can't do this, keep away from the
track.
Rejected the Doctors Advice.
Smith refused to follow this advice AS
always before, he watched the horses from
the third step of the grandstand steps with
impressive face. Gradually he grew worse,
and this season he has been able to spend
only little time at the track. For the first
time in fifteen years he has been missing
and the bookmakers have not regretted his
absence.
Since the day, years ago, when his coup
with old Parvenu netted him 100000
"Pittsburg Phil has been constant win
ner OF large sums.
AS a boy in Pittsburg he first demon
strated his ability to select winners by
betting in the pool rooms. and within short
time had been barred from them because of
his consistent success Thereafter he visit
ed the tracks. and never had a setback
serious enough to cause him to have to re-
sort to other methods of making a living.
For four or five years he appeared at the
tracks simply as a bettor, and then pur-
chased a string of horses, which he turned
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