The Washington herald., 1906-12-06
POINT FOR SMATHERS
Board of Review Decides in
Favor of Major Delmar.
THE CASE IS STILL IN COURT
'Ben" Billings, Gas Magnate and
Owner of Lou Dillon, Loses Before
National TrOtting Association In
the Famous doping" Scandal at
Memphis Two Years Ago.

New York, Dec 5.-Elmer z. Smathers.
stock broker. horseman. and one of the
gamest all-round sports in the United
States, scored notable victory over his
ancient enemy, c. X. G. Billings the
millionaire, who has dabbled in horse
flesh for several years. Billings, through
his former trainer. Ed Saunders and
George ". Spear, who formerly drove for
Smathers, but broke with him two years
ago. some time ago brought charges
against Smathers before the National
Trotting Association and appealed TO the
courts Of the State of New York to re-
cover the Worlds Champion Amateur
Gold Cup. won by Smathers, with Major
Delmar. in the contest with Lou Dillon
at Memphis two years ago, on the ground
that the mare had been doped by SmatE-
ers orders
In the sensational hearing to-day. in
which much contradictory and conflict
ing testimony was introduced and which
was held by the board of review of the
National Trotting Association, this latter
body decided that Major Demar defeated
Lou Dillon on her merits, and the charges
against Smathers were dismissed. The
court proceedings are still in progress. but
in view of the weight OF evidence IN
SmatheTs' favor, produced to-day, there
is little question but that the New York
sportsman viii win out in the legal as
we'll as the turf governing body's pro
ceedings.
Smnthers DenOunces Billings.
At the time the charges were made
Smathers denounced Billings in no un-
certain terms as a sport who must have
an ace in the hole" before he would
play any game He declared that
the charges were spite. pure and simple.
because he (Smathers) had found a horse
swift enough 10 beat Billings pride. the
little swayback mare, Lou Dillon.
That there was some foundation for
the charge that a conspiracy existed, al
though il is by no means certain that
Billings himself was actively interested.
was indicated by the evidence brought
out to-day. Ed Saunders, the man who
made the first charge against Smathers.
swearing that Smathers gave him s, 600 10
inject eight ounces OF dope" into Lou
DillOn's shoulder SO as 10 make her stop
in the race. has since made another aff-
davit which was pro6uced to-day, de
claring that his charges were utterly
false Not only that, but 2 witness.
Louis Strube. one Of the wealthiest men
of Erie, Pa. swore that Saunders told him
in St Louis that Murray Howe, secretary
Of the Memphis Driving Club, gave him
$, 600 for swearing falsely against Smath-
ers. Murray Howe. by the way. is Mr..
Billings agent at Memphis, as the latter
owns the Memphis track.
Spear Against smathers.
Only one witness gave strong evidence
against Smathers to-day and his tes-
timony was later discredited- This was
George W Spear. d crackajack driver,
who declared that Smathers requested
him TO carry through the negotiations for
doping the trotter.
The defense produced half a dozen Wit
resses who testified that Spears reputa-
ticu for veracity was not Of the best,
and IL was also brought out that Spear
was one Of those suspended for COM
plicity in the famous Temple Bar case
The general opinion among trotting
horsemen at the hearing to-day was that
the original explanation Of why Lou
Dillon was beaten was the best The
mare was hardly in as good a condition
as she had formerly been. while Deimar
had been worked for an entire season
with the winning Of the gold cup always
in mind by his owner. His blood lines
are far superior TO those Of Lou Dill
Ion. as she goes into 'cold blood in two
generations. When she met Delmar h.
took her by the head and carried her 10
the half so fast that she was ready to
quit. and did quit