The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1906-04-13
gement breathed q .i.h a relief. IN,

agement breathed sigh a relief. 1hs
boss canvassman said: 1T is like get
ting money from home" and pa said:
1T Is like taking money from the tin
cup of a blind organ grinder" and
the treasurer of the show said, n he
put the days receipts in the safe In
| the business car: 1T looks good to
| me-" Then they all turned in to sleep
the happy hours away, that beautiful
! Sunday on the way to Indian Ter.
ritory and Oklahoma.
Well, sir, you can never make me
believe tnat money obtained dishonest
| ly, will stay by a person, or do him
any good, and that was demonstrated
| in the case of our show the next day.
We got acquainted with an old show.
man who was out of luck, who used
to run a wild west show, but got bust
ed up, and as he didn't care where he
went, we took him with us on the
train, and all day Sunday he talked
about his show experiences, and finally
he said If we had any horses with our
show that could run races, we could
make a barrel of money at Guthrie,
where we were to make our next stand.
| He said the Indians and half breeds
all had Indian ponies that they thought
could beat any horses that ever wore
shoes, and that they would bet every
cent they had on their ponies, and as
they had just been paid their annui-
ties by the government, they had
money in bales, and we could get it all,
| if we had horses that were any good,
and money to back them. His idea
was to give out that owing to some &C.
cident we could not give an afternoon
| performance, and just get out the
| horses, and bet the Indians to stand
still, and win all their money, and
give free evening show, as sort of
consolation to the Indians.
Well, it looked good to pa, and he
| talked to the other managers, and the
| result was when we got to Guthrie
We had made up our minds that as
money was what We were after, the
easiest way was to get it by racing our
horses.
So when we got settled in Guth-
rie,, and got the te7t up, We an
nounced that part of the show was in
wreck down the road in Arkansas,
and We should have to abandon the
afternoon performance, but in the
meantime there would be little horse
| racing on the side, if anybody in
Oklahoma had any horses they thought
could run some.
Well, I thought there were Indians
| and ponies and squaws enough before
| the announcement was made, but in
less than two hours more than thou
| sand ponies were being brought in,
and we got our chariot racers, and
our bareback hippodrome horses, and
they were being led around and ad-
mired, and We all laughed at the little
runts OF Indian ponies, and the In
dams got mad and backed their
ponies.
Pretty soon the races began in the
vacant lot just outside the town. The
old Snowman we had brought up from
Memphis was made master of cere-
monies, cause he could talk Choctaw,
and Comanche, and other Indian jar.
gon, and things got busy. The In
dians wouldn't run their ponies more
| than an eighth of mile, or quar-
| ter, and we consented, because the poor
| little things didn't look as though
they could run block, they were so
thin, and sleepy. Pa was afraid the
humane society would have us ar
rested for cruelty to animals. All our
| fellows were provided with money,
and they flashed rolls of bills in the
faces of the Indians, and finally Mr..
| Indian would reach down under his
clothes and pull out roll, and wet
his thumb and peel off big bills, and
before we knew it We were investing
fortune in the racing game. Then
the racing began, and the horses were
sent off at the drop of hat, or the
| firing of a pistol.
l was given some money to bet with
| the little Indians, cause pa said We
| wanted to get every dollar in the
tribe, for If we didn't get it the In
| dams would spend it for fire water.
The first race was between one of our
| best runners and a sleepy little spot
| ted pony, and when the hat was
dropped the pony made few jumps
and was off like rabbit, and our
horse couldn't see him for the dust,
and our horse was distanced. The
next race resulted the same, and all
day long we never won race, and the
| Indians took our money and put it
! in their pants and never smiled. The
old Snowman we had befriended,
seemed crushed.
When our money was nearly all
gone to the COMPOUNDED Indians, and
the sun was going down. he went up
to pa and said: Uncle, what does
| this all mean. thought your horses
could rum"
Pa said: "Damfino, never was no
horse racer, nohow."
When our money was all gone, and
cur horses were nearly dead from IA
tigue, the managers all got together
in the big tent for consultation Cd