Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1906-02-10
JUDGING BY LOOKS.

StOTy bnht lSAru r%c6ntlF
about Mr.. Nicholas Longworth and
Mr.. II. M. ZeigIer. the noted Cincin.
natl owner OF thoroughbreds, remind
ed me Of something" said Washing
ton owner of race horses who recent
ly returned from visit TO New Or
leans. TO Star reporter.
THE story goes that some years
ago Mr.. Ziegler, an intimate friend or
Mr.. Longworth. took the latter down
to his Kentucky thoroughbred farm to
show him his collection of fine year
lings.
All of these yearlings we're as yet
unnamed.
'Longworth,' said Ziegler, as they
strolled about the stalls. you'd better
let me name one OF these yearlings
after you. They're a swell bunch, and
almost all of them are weSl,nigh
bound to do something big in the
world.
don't mind. was Mr.. Long
worth's reply. But I'd like TO be sure
of bestowing my cherished name on a
real good one. I'd hate to have bad
one running in my name. My friends
of racing turn would be guying me
all the time about my namesake's
performances.
well, said Mr.. Zeigler, you're a
pretty good Judge of a race horse
yourself Now, here are two OF my
cracks in these two stalls. I'll have
EN- led out into my paddock by one
of the stable hands. and you can look
them over and take your pick of them.
Whichever one you like the best I'll
name after you
Done said Mr.. Longworth, and
the two yearlings were led into the
open.
"They were both fine lockers, but
Mr.. Longworth liked the appearance
of the larger one of the two the bet.
ter.
Hes christened Nick Long
worth" then said MIR. Ziegler, and
the colt was duly named Nick Long
worth and registered with the Jockey
Club under that name.
Now, the other colt of the pair
from which Mr.. Longworth made his
selection was afterward named Her
mis-. Sounds kind ofamiliar to you.
eh, that name. Hermis? Well, should
think 1t would sound familiar. seeing
that, in the deliberate belief of many
of the most astute horsemen In this
country. Hermis was absolutely the
| finest race horse ever foaled in the
United States, speed and distance
| marvel, bulldog who never knew
| when he was beaten. and an animal
worthy to be ranked with the very
| greatest race horses of all time in
| this or any other country.
$50 much for Hermis, the one that
Mr.. Longworth didn't pick out. AS
for the one that he did pick out, and
that was named Nick Longworth--
well, Nick was worth about nine dol
lars and seventy-five cents as a rae
| ing proposition, and that's about all.
He could win a selling race once in
while on Thursdays when the wind
was sou'-sou-east by nor, but he
couldn't get out of his own way in
running with even fair handicap
horses, and he lost about twenty
times to one win, and it really did
come to pass that Mr.. Longworth's
Cincinnati friends guyed him unmer-
cifully about his namesake horse. Mr..
Longworth never, of course. told his
guying friends that he'd actually had
the chance to get so noble an animal
as Hermis named after him. He
probably felt that the situation was
bad enough as it was.
"All of which came to my mind
while | was down in New Orleans,
attending the races there.
There's a horse owner down there,
racing a small string at the old Fair
Grounds track, who has got into the
habit of talking to himself during re-
cent years. But he is not crazy, and
his friends understand what ails him.
Every little while he drills over to
an out-of-the-way corner, where he
thinks he is out of the range of OBJ
servation, and gibbers to himself, and
makes strange gestures with his
hands, and, at the end, goes through
queer motions with his legs as If at
tempting to kick himself. But, as
say. all his friends understand the
reason why, and so they don't dope
him out as a candidate for the BOBBY
hatch.
And the nub of it Is this: When
the nightly McChesney and Evelyn
Byrd were yearlings and on the block
for sale for few hundred dollars
it was a sale of supposedly cheap
yearlings, and there weren't many
bidders-Evelyn Byrd struck his
owners fancy as being right tidy
and trim little flly, while. to his view.
McChesney looked iummoxy and gross
and overgrown and clumsy.
Nothing to 1t as between these
two.' he said to himself, sizing up
the pair. Me for the filly.' and he
paid the price asked for Evelyn Byrd
and led her away to his shed.