Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-25
A SCOOP" THAT FAILED

4 never read of a close finish In big
running race nowadays that I'm not re-
| minded of a famous punctured scoop in
which I figured when / was working in
New York newspaper office" said an old
time telegrapher who is now employed in
Washington.
1T was back in the days when the great
Domino was the star colt of the keene
stable. and. with one exception, was ac-
knowledged as the greatest two-year-old of
the season.
The exception was Richard Cookers
flyer Dobbins. These two youngsters
finally met In the Futurity. and, although
the Keene colt won, with Dobbins third. the
latters owner was not satisfied with the
result. and a match was speedily arranged
at the Futurity distance for $4,000 side.
Now. the paper l worked on was an
evening sheet. and 1t was the ambition or
the managing editors life to beat the OPP
position evening paper and get the news Oh
a big event like this on. the street first
THE other fellows had beaten US on
the Futurity story few days before. ana
the managing editor made no secret Oh
the fact that he was going to get even.
"AccOrdingly he laid all OF his plans
day ahead and although we did not know
at the time what they were we felt sure by
the way he strutted around on the morning
of the race that he had the winning coh
bina ton up his sleeve
called me into his Office and told me that
as the match race was the hfth event oh
the card he wanted me to have one OF .iie
other operators take the result OF .ne e
fourth race, and he also wanted me to get
a wire In good working order ana piep"'e
to get the result of the NTH race.
"Eyerything went along as usual anu
was kept so busy taking the general sloIy
of the crowd at the track ana tre IIeu t
of the first two races that l had Amos.
forgotten about the match event "hei, .ne
minded me about his instructions:
"He was a little fellow. and the mosl
nervous man l ever met he cou iul 49,
still a minute under ordinary circumstance
40 Won can imagine what state ne was III
when the fourth race was over ana l W. IN
NV place at the key to wait iol 'ho "'e
race to be run on 49, . rrassas
cot and all ready to start One OF them
was to have the big front,pase nsao,, Ina
read .Dobbins Wins the Big match anu
the other lust the same. except that LON
ino.s name appeared in the place OF Doo-
bins. The Dobbins extra was on press
No. 1 and the Domino extra on press NJ.
Q Whichever horse won the ma SIC nS
editor was to call out No or NO. anu
the press would be started IN quicker
time than it takes to tell OF the arrange
ment. ;,o
we tched the managing editor striding
neryously about. waiting for the start.
lust like a man who had thousands OF
dollars wagered on the chahce VI o'ie 'A
the racers.
Suddenly the key of my instrument De,
gan to click and he quickly stopped anu
looked anxiously at me, but 1T proved 10
be only the operator at the other END
testing Learning this he resumed his
walk up and down the room. but his steps
were becoming shorter and 1t was appar
ent that he was working himself TO such
a pitch of nervousness that L began TO
wish they would start the race
while l watched him out of the corner
of my eye wondering what would happen
IL the race wasn't started presently, the
kew began to click again. This time the
horses were on their way to the post The
next I got from the other end was that
the horses were at the post and would De
off In a minute This information instead
of steadying the managing editor, only
increas ed his jumpiness, for he ordered
the men who were standing around to
cease their talking and also called down
stairs half a dozen times to know II every
thing was ready below in the press room.
I'm the midst of this the key again be-
gan to work, and l called out that they
were off.
The clicks of the instrument that fol-
lowed now told me that they were NOV
ing along. nose and nose. at the quarter.
At the nalf mile Domino was in the lead
by nose, and as l announced this was
watching the managing editor. and 1
could see his lips framing the words,
Number two. which the Domino
press.
in front at the three-quarters and the boss
moved nearer the speaking tube I made
this announcement Coming into the
stretch the two game colts were head and
head. and the managing editor. with the
mouthpiece of the speaking tube pressed
tightly against his lips. was waiting for
the result.
well the result came along in good sea-
SON. But never long as l live shall L
forget the expression on that editors face
when the key told me that the match race
was a dead heat. 1 hesitated just sec
ond before calling It out. for I could almost
have on him. Finally I called out in as
firm voice as could. Dead heat!
We'll, that editors knees just gave way
from under him. II he had not grabbed
chair am positive he would have fallen to
the floor.
dead heat? he gasped. with livid
face Are you sure?'
.I told him that 1t had been repeated to
me and that there could be no mistake.
He was too dumfounded to move for two
or three seconds, but when he saw all of
the men who were about. to jump to their
places ready to throw together new
scare head, while others hustled around to
And the stereotypers, who almost to a man
had gone out of the building. he came to in
a inv and was the same old hustler
Everybody took hold and worked harder
probably than he ever worked before or
since and although we didn't beat the OPP
posjtOn paper as were so certain or
doing we were on the street only minute
or 40 behind it. We afterward learned
that they had made exactly the same ar
ransements to beat US and had been fooled
in precisely the same way.