The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-01-21

ply have the horse sale habit, know
an Indiana bank president whose M M
Joy in lifesis to come up to chicago ftuC-
tions every winter. He doesnt Duy any
swift nags and doesn't expect TO-, put ne
dearly loves to sit upon the hlgh pe'iCiie
and watch the game.
TIE men who distribute horses at auc-
ton have a fine line of excuses TOT liIe
alleged low prices their animals Diing. |
No matter how high they go, the sellers
will get a sympathetic listener ana SeIi
their troubles to him. .o,,
Now what do you thlnK OF lHdC!
asked a friend of mine who had just sue
ceeded in getting rid of a slim bay geld-
ing with bad front ankles one curry
hook and a record of 2:Il4, mace WIN
the assistance OF a pair Oh slou' W. h,,tt
and moving machine spur on the Du IC
end of the jocks whip When the hlIie
II come I'D here" he continued, with
the real thing and I get $40 for sow
PAGER OF course I'm in the catalogue
the first day It's the day after Christ
mas. and everybody has been up two
nights, is near foundered on turkey, anu
plumb tired Sure thing there won't be
ANYBODY here that day but wise dealers
and pikers looking for a chance TO steaI
a horse. But that amt all. Inc crach
auctioneer. the only one in this buncn OF
yappers that can sell a horse at all, Ee
gets a pain in the throatlatch TWO HuIn-
bers ahead of my horse and steps doWn
without ever giving the substitute d
minutes notice. This spieler's been sell
ing in the bull ring so long mes IoIgoS
all he ever knew about good horses anu
he gets away bad gated anyhow D0-
cause ne amt had a chance to warm up
by chewing gum ten minutes ahead VI
hopping into the box.
IT'S about dinner time wnen ne . peSiiIls
to pound the wood, and half the people,
seeing the change, head Tor the IeeQ
trough on the run. That leaves aDoQC
two dozen assorted dealers, cutthroats
and chair warmers to bid on my geldlhg'
and Of course, 1 get the hooks.
Horses that Jump over the race track
gate and that on the road try to cimD
q telegraph pole when an automobile or
a traction engine heaves in sight, are not
uncommon. But when a nag caIleo
ScapegOat made a desperate effort TO
crawl right under a fence. Sulky ana all
he was handed the banner without
dissenting vote.
Scapegoat is a high bred charger, be
ing by Heir at Law and out of the dam
of the trotter Nightingale. 2:OS but his
pedigree never has helped him. 1hdI
boss" said Ed Geers to me, referring 10
Scapegoat, "has a face like convict
ana he Certainly is mean" But Scape-
goats speed and versatility IN the matter
o. gaits kept smart people digging 20
pay training bills on him Tor many a
season. He could pace better than z'Io'
and trot about as fast as he could pace;
but the great trouble was that no human
being knew when he was going 70 trot
or when he would pace, When trained
as a trotter and shod Tor that way OF
going ScapegOat would behave charm
ingly until he had been entered at large
expense in numerous races. and then the
first time he faced the starter he would
slide gracefully into a pace the lnstant
the word was given, and be distanced
for performing at the wrong gait Trained
as a PAGER he was the slickest thing az
the track until race day. Then he would
strike a show ring trot directly atter ms
owners checks were down.
Aside from his eccentriclues and lntrl,
cacies Of gait. Scapegoat had radical
views about where he would go, ana
this made trouble. When his character
was well established he fell into the
hands of Eddie Hayward. Eddie tried all
the usual prescriptions for mean horses.
They failed utterly. One day he hltched
Scapegoat to a break cart loaded a
fence rail into the rig and went forth
acre lot, and mostly with the fence rail,
he trained Scapegoat for an hour and a
half. bringing him back to the track
subdued and demure nag, that there
after gave no trouble-when Hayward
was in the sulky.
y
James A. Murphy of Chicago and New
York is in the first named city with
stable of fast horses, waiting for sleigh
ing. No one enjoys snow racing better
than Murphy and years ago he used TO
trot horses on the ice around Ogdensburg,
N \. good deal OF money was bet on
the ice races and one day Murphy had
a contest on hand where the judges were
giving him a good deal the worse of it
ltC Trains bSillS IIlGll- Dis llONs ICY OAAO liz
pale of the turf authorities.
A considerable number of Irishman had
bet on Murphys horse, simply because
man named Murphy owned him. That
was all they knew. and all they wanted
to know. These husky boys did not fail
to notice that their COuntryman was be-
ing cheated by the judges. Murphy him
self was fighting mad, but saw no way
out of his troubles as the cheating was
being done in favor of a local horse,
which suited the crowd
just as thlngs were at their worst a
brawny giant came up to Murphy. Look
here, Mr.. Murphy" said me giant, thin
lads up in the box"-indicating the
judges stand-"are Robin ye'
Murphy allowed they were.
We're on yer horse, Mr.. Murphy, an
wen stand for no such work. Say the
word and Wen put the lot of thin
througha hole in the ice
Murphy knew this was no idle Jest.
The horses were being hitched for the
final heat, and the winner would get all
the money. Murphy had no fear but that
his horse would come in ahead, but get
ting the decision was another matter.
After thinking a little he turned to the
irate giant and said: well. this is the
BILE myself, and l don't want to get you
boys in a sc~aDe. Don't do anything
right now; perhaps they'll give US the
heat-but IT might be just as well to
have the hole ready
About this time of the year look out
for young men studying books on how
TO train horses. There are several works
of that character. but the successful
trainers will tell you they learned how to
pull the proper rein by beginning as
swipes and forgetting all they knew pre-
viOUs to that time.
Still. the books catch the ambitious
youngsteT who wants to know how Geers
or Marvin does it. and this class has
been buying them for a good many years.
The first man to write a book about
training trOtters was Hiram Woodruff,
who died in 1867. Long after that time
a young man in Pittsburg, who was
training a hobbled PAGER. concluded that
Woodruff had all the later horse sharps
beat, so he Got copy of the old man 5
book and went to work. Whenever any
thing would go wrong with his racer the
young man would consult the book, feel
ing certain that nothing could come up
in 1899 that Hiram wasn't on TO in 1865.
His faith in Woodruff was known to all
hands around the race track and they
joshed him some about il, but never had
lot the best ST the argument
Finally, one spring day, when, owing
TO rains. the ditch on the inside of the