The Washington herald., 1907-04-21
BENNING HARDEST LUCK TALE
New Workers Bring $1,000 to Play
LAmour and Almost Miss Race.
Daily Too Long with }. BarIeyeOrn
and Reach Grounds in Time TO
Place but $50.

You know. of course that there is
always a lot of tough luck tales al the
close of a race meet, no matter how long
OF short it may be-" said a racing man
yesterday: but one of the worst / have
heard in a long time was produced at the
Benning meet this spring
MOSTLY you hear ROSY. accounts Of how
killings are made, and the tough luck
tales don't get into print as often as do
the stories Of the women who win enough
to take a trip to Europe, as 1 see in the
papers one woman did on LAmour, one of
the long shots at Benning, or the last
Friday of the meet
1T was on this L'Amour horse my ac-
quaintances Of tough luck We're planning
10 make enough money 10 keep the wolf
from the stable until next spring, and
they did-almost.
They came down from New York with
81. POO 10 get on the horse. They were
sent down by an even dozen Manhat-
tanites. who had contributed 500 each to
the pool and paid the expenses of the
commissioners who wereto get the money
down for them.
1.-THE commissioners got here in time,
and. as they had liberal allowance for
expenses they put up AT one of the best
and. incidentally, most expensive hotels
and proceeded to have a round with old
John Barleycorn. After they had suffi-
GENTLY imbibed they impaired their tip
TO those about the hotel who would listen,
and a. negro porter-but that's another
tale of woe.
well, on Friday morning they re-
turned to the combat with old John, and
by lunch time they hated 70 quit, be
cause they seemed to feel they were get
ting close to a victory. They stayed at the
hotel until about o'clock and then, wise
in the knowledge they would win "a bunch
of coin on the horse. they started for the
track in an automobile. They insisted on
taking a long. lingering farewell of the
cup that cheers. and when they finally
made their getaway they had about half
an hour IN which 20 make the trip. or get
left at the post. The driver of the ma
chine. urged on by fearful and remorse-
ful pleadings, violated all the speed laws
between here and the Eastern Branch,
and then his machine. rebellious at being
driven so, bucked. 1t came to a dead
stop for no apparent cause on earth, right
in the middle of the bridge.
There was nothing to be done. SCENT
ingiy. but desert and take car. and this
they did. But, alas, and again alas, they
got inside. after making that intermin-
able walk from the track to the gate,
only In time 20 get $50 of their 81 200 down.
and at odds that made them all sick-30
70 land then they were tipped of that
they might have gotten 90 had they come
sooner That was the last blow, and they
sobered up quick when L'Amour came
under the wire like "a streak. winning
a measly 1850 for them. when they could
have made $36,000 it they had been there
in time 70 get their money down without
frightening the books with the size of
their bets.
Tough luck? Yes, bat do you suppose
they can ever make the people in New
York, who contributed the money, be-
lieve that an automobile was the
cause Of it? Not in a million years. They
viii be stunned as We're the unclean OF
the olden times and those fellows who
sent the money down will each believe
those two amateur commissioners have
5000 that belongs to him.
about as soon face my wife after a poker
session that went against me as / would
to be those commissioners when they go
to explain. And that's an awful test for
me"