Los Angeles herald., 1907-03-25
TRACK TRAILERS
GROW ANXIOUS
WALKING NOT EASY ACROSS
THE ROCKIES
Wise Soldier Of Fortune Banks with
George Rose and Travels In
style After a Dlsas-
trous Season


cutters at the winter tracks macing the
live ones for the get east change" said
a turfman who, contrary to his usual
custom, sidestepped winter racing when
the regular eastern season closed last
fall.
This Is the time. with the petering
out of the winter game. when the
husked ones at the subtropic tracks
are as busy as park cops on a sum-
mer night
Some old way or another they've
got to make the scurry back this way
on the railroad vans, and the real hep
ones don't wait till the last week of
the winter meetings to do their boning.
There are occasional foxy ones
among those who swarm to the winter
tracks at the windup of the eastern
racing season-fellows whove been
keelhauled once and who can't see any
reason why they should hand them
selves another wallop of the same kind
If there's any way of preventing 1t.
II saw one of this kind get over with
profound play upon his arrival In
San Francisco for the winter meeting
there three years ago.
He'd been obliged to beat his way
back east the year before, being
ditched at such untoward dumps as
Moiave. Barstow, La Junta, Kansas
Clly, anu SO Jill anu II iebiinANN W
him to remember how many times the
bell cord had been yanked on him that
time.
He had the goings on when he
reaced San Francisco three years ago
after a prosperous season in New York
but he wasn't licking the paint off any
rainbows. He knew that what had
happened to him before was just as
likely as not to happen to him again.
In
in San Francisco, he dug up George
Rose, the bookmaker, staying at the
same hotel, and handed George a large
unsealed manila envelope containing
things.
:" George said he to the layer, take
peek into that package and see
what's in it.
Rose pulled the contents from the
envelope and spread the stuff on the
table. The envelope contained first
class unlimited ticket from San Fran
cisco to New York, good on the over
land limited or any other old train.
Then there was a Pullman ticket show
ing that q whole section had been re-
served on q Pullman car three months
in advance. emitting the holder there
of to ride on it all the way from the
Pacific to the Atlantic. And besides
there were two 800 notes.
the meaning of the stuff, don't ask me
to hold this stuff for you, pal know
YOU mean 1t as a compliment to my in
tegrity and all that, but you'll be both
ering the devil out Of me to hand the
| Junk back to you just as soon as yor
i go broke, and you'll be trailing ms
around like "a
"'You keep it, if you want to oblig
me- cut In the deep one. The only wa!
| lAl. tAoI,
New York this year will be for them Il
run the train off the track Supposlnt
[ do go broke and ask you for it back?
/ Don't give 1t to me, that's all, until
the day that Pullman ticket is dated
no matter if 1 come at you with two
half bricks and a handful of red pepper
But I'll try and not ask you for it,
Rose put the envelope away with hi
own stuff, and long before the Sar
Francisco season was over the cautious
one was all in. But he didn't pesteI
Rose for the salted stuff, even whel
he was gnaWing those Accent tabl
d'hote meals on the Barbary Coast.
He stuck it out, and on the day he'(
set aside for the beginning of his jour
ney back east he turned up for tn
package and rolled back this way will
the tinklers sounding, the eats ant
sleeps and everything else provided for
Not many of the Founders at the oil
game are wise enough, however, to d
thing of that sort and stay with 1t.
"a favorite gag of the trailers at tn
winter tracks at this stage of it is t
shadow the live ones that break for tn
gambling joints after dinner at thei
hotels.
They're up to it that racing ma
who, on top of a good day at the track
hits up faro bank and still continue
to get by with the kale-anneXing thing
is pretty liable to be mellowed up {
the falling for il point by the time h
cashes in. and they make their touche
for the ride-back change when thing
! are framed up just this way with tn
= live ones they've set out to touch a
the gambling houses.
"On the very last day of a winta
/ meeting, though there are always som
| leftovers who are in such a desperat
frame of mind when they see all of tn
) live ones hiking for the trains wit
: their bags in their hands that they
put over schemes of the kind that One
} Eyed Connolly used to be famous for
Jimmy McCafferty' was leaving NeN
= Orleans on the last day of the meeting
2 a few years ago. He had reached tn
3 gate leading to his train and ha
dropped his couple of bags to loo
{ through his pockets for his ticket t
: show the gateman, when he was tackle
5 from behind.
Somebody threw both of his arm
around Jimmie's shoulders and hum
on like grim death. Jimmy peere
around and saw that the tackler was
down-and-out follower Of the game WIN
hadn't had a minutes luck for abOu
four years.
"'Turn me loose said Jimmie to tn
man. Can't you see I'm trying t
! make a train
: L can't help that, Jimmie moane
the tackler I gotta go with YOU
"'All right, you can said Jimmie
Turn me loose and show the man you
ticket and come along
"'But l amt got no ticket, Jimmie
moaned the down-and-outer. Amt go
nothin'. And / gotta go with YOU
Hey, there. damitall.' gasped Nc
Cafferty 'leggo Of me-, and he tried t
! shake the poor devil Off But McCaf
} ferty's an ex-Jockey and a slight mar
and the other fellow was hanging o.
like a pup to root.
"T gotta go with you, Jim, that
all repeated the trailer
"McCafferty looked around as If L
}