Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-21

OF the New York tracks. He's been con.
nected with racing in some official CAPACITY
or other since ante-bellum days and he
was respected and beloved by hundreds of
famous turfmen who went to their last
account a generation ago.
We'll away back yonder in the long ebbed
tide OF years somebody gave Mr.. Crick-
more-only his very close familars ventura
| to call him "Crick'-a horse The horse
wasn't much To look at. and he was really
weed-out. He an ornery locker
ana the man who gave him to Mr. Crick-
more inquired that the latter might use him
Tor a saddle horse, though the ornery-look-
ing colt was bred in the purple. Mr.
Cr1ckmore named the colt after himself
S,rickmore. he didn't race him at all for a
| long time, for Crickmore was big and
gross and hard-looking critter to train
men he did start to race him, Crickmore
dldn show much. But Mr.. Crickmore
thought lot of him. and believed in him
despite the guying of his friends, and so he
entered him - to those friends intense
amusement-in race in which the wonder
1ul Hindoo. the sire of the great Hanover,
and himself the first American horse of
the century,, was to go, together with all
the cream of the handicap horses of Amer
lea. Yes. they all laughed when Mr.. Crick-
more entered Crickmore for the race, and
wondered If there was anything wrong with
Mr.. Crickmore's head.
But Crickmore not only ran away from
that field but he smothered the phenomenaJ
Hlndoo He showed up Hindoo, the I'M
and hid from the dazzling Hindoo. He
| made Hlndoo look like a piece of Malay
wooden money. Whereupon the owner OF
Hindoo cried "Fluke'' in a loud and peevish
! tone Of voice. Mr.. Crlckmore didn't be-
| lieve 1t was any fuke, and said SO. So the
| owner OF Hindoo suggested a match race
| between Hindoo and Crickmore, and Mr..
| Crickmore was agreeable. That match was
| pulled or In Kentucky. On the kind OF
| track that seemed made to order for Him
doc but that Crickmore didn't like. Crick-
more just took Mr.. Hindoo by the head and
ran the eyeballs out of him-thats what he
| did, Mr.. Crickmore never was an emotional
| man. but he made up his mind then and
| there that he was going to love that name
| sake horse of his for the remainder of his
| life.
Which is what he did-and Crickmore'.
life was long. He raced Crickmore for only
little while after the ornery locker put it
| on the wondrous Hindoo twice in row
! Then one day he went out to Crickmores
| stall and had a little talk with him.
| "Hawss," said Mr.. CrIckmore. you've
been good to me. And you've done your
stint Easy for you, then, for the remain
| der OF your days, hawss."
| Mr.. Crickmore owned a pretty, old-fash-
| Toned farm over yonder in Maryland. To
that farm Crickmore was sent to nod and
| blink in the sunshine for the remainder of
| his life. There he lived, cared for by a man
| who had no other job in life, for more than
twenty years. Mr.: Crickmores duties kept
| him in New York most of the year-he
| lived at the Gilsey House for more than
| thirty years-but every once in while the
| old gentleman would become sort of rest
less
" 'Cricks' thinking about his old horse"
| the old-timers around the Gilsey would
| say, and, sure enough, presently Mr.. Crick-
more would appear with his Gladstone bag,
| and he'd take the night train down to
Maryland, and trudge down the road to the
old Maryland farm the next forenoon, and
| then the old Crickmore horse. blinking there
in the sunshine, would recognize him anc
trot over to the fence. and Mr. Crickmort
and Crckmore would stand there and tall
and cugger-mugger for long time. oil
memories 1t is pleasant to suppose, sweel
ing the hearts of both of them.
That's the other side of the picture-and
who wouldn't touch the rim of his cap 10
man who'd treat a horse the way Old
Crickmore was treated?