Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-10


The biggest roar of joy that 1 ever heard
in a pool room shook the spider webs from
the rafters of a room that / visited In
CovIngton one afternoon last winter" said
a man who plays the gee-gees wherever he
happens to be-
THE pool room was the largest in Cow
ington-which is the home of pool rooms
and a place where the top limit Is higher
than the fish scale clouds. There were
more than 1880 men in the room on the
day l went over from Cincinnati to look
it over, and all of them had the tip on a
mutt named Bologna. Bologna was a
smudge of St. Florian colt then running
on the winter tracks of California.
"A few days before that Bologna had
shown his owner something at the Oak
land track, over the way from San Fran
cisco, that induced the owner to bet on
him in four-and-a-half furlong race. The
owner had backed the colt from 80 to to
about nothing, and the colt had connected,
beating a very moderate bunch in nearly
as quick time as the distance was ever
made in California. That hadn't proved
anything. of course. But Bologna's owner
shooed the colt to car and had him
roted down the road to Los Angeles, with
the idea that he might repeat with him at
the Ascot track near Los Angeles.
He skidded Bologna into five-furlong
race at Ascot the day after reaching Los
Angeles, and it was on the day of this
race that visited the Covinston pool room
Every dope-thumber in the room had his
eye on BOlogna's name. They knew that
the little colt with the onnery name would
be at long price, entered as he was with
sprinters like Belle Kinney, Ell OtrOs and
that kind and, having the chart of his neat
performance a week before at San Fran
f-a1 "a tSCl COL l,r IrfNt.r Sld
the colts name, as pool room players often
are, they Were just waiting for the track
price to go up against that one.
Moreover, there was information in the
room from various California horsemen on
Bologna. Again. a number of the Clncin-
natl sporting editors had picked Bologna to
cop. And, In addition to all this, Bologna
was the guaranteed special of several Of
the leading Chicago and Cincinnati tipsters.
The pool room manager had sardonically
pasted the sheets containing the selections
of these tpsters on one OF the walls of
the room. so that all hands could rubber at
the selections.
"Bolognas price, track odds, went up, 20,
and across the board, and the thousand
and a half men in that Covington room
fought like bull moose to buy Bologna
pasteboards. They were still buying
Bologna when the race was off.
The operator IN that CoVlnRtOn room
was one of those funny race callers, the
first of his kind that ia listened to for
a number of years.
why. shucks, there they go at Los
AngelesI he exclaimed through his mega
phone, when his key announced that the
horses were off at the Ascot track. And,
upon me ward, and a couple of -furies.
Bologna has front end, Belle Kinney Is
near him. and Blue Coat trails!'
THE clamor OF the crowd had ceased and
the quiet all through the vast room was so
intense that the clicking of the key sound
ed like the drumming of a riveter's hammer
on a hot-alr zinc furnace.
"'Oh. sugar said the humorous operator
when the key announced the next position
OF the horses, that Frankfurter is at the
quarter by one open length, the Belle being
a similar distance beyond Blue Coat; would
you believe II? Maircy!' and still the crowd
gazed open-mouthed. without WORD.
" In the stretch, sang out the funny OPP
orator. the wienerqurst. two lengths to the
gcodsky. is about ready to crack. where
Belle Kinney is waiting to take him, she
being a length in front OF FL Otros
Then the fingers began to snap, root
fully, all over the room. A man away in
the rear Of the room gave an imitation OF
the yelping of a dog in mix-up, thus SYM
bolically expressing his hopes for Bologna
Close finish said the operator, and
these fifteen hundred men We're painting
like cayuses that have been running away
from prairie fire.
THE operator suddenly jumped to his
feet from his platform chair, screwed his
megaphone tightly to his mouth. and then.
with bawl that actually seemed to send
a breeze through the room like the detona-
ton OF a huge gun, he let it out:
Sausage wins