The Washington herald., 1908-05-10

Rawhide May 2-"It don't amount to-
anything; it's all a Joke"
1t was with these words upon his lips
that Riley Grammar. the world-famous
plunger on the turf, closed his eyes upon
the world and relapsed forever into tha
sleep that knows no waking
He met the hardest foe that it is in
the bitter experience Of man to encoun<
ter, and ne met him with the same iron.
nerve that he had shown a hundred
times at the race track, writes ". P. De
Wolf, in the Nevada Mining News.
He returned from San Francisco trou.
bled slightly with a cold. and although
warned not TO do so, would spend his
evenings at the poker table in his resort,
sitting in his shirt-sleeves.
The air was close and warm, and hs
was constantly IN perspirat!on. On the
night before he was taken i'll he was call
ed out into the open by an acquaintance,
and stood talking to this man in the raw
night air, without q coat The next day
he took to his bed with pneumonia.
The best Of medical attendance was az
once sent down from Reno, and after a
day or two, the physician announced that
the crisis was past, and returned 10 Reno.
The attack Of pneumonia appeared 10
have been broken up. but Grammar, al
ways man of frail physique, had been
reduced to the verge OF utter exhaustion.
and completely collapsed q day or two
after the departure Of the physician His
death may be ciassed among the host OF
fatalities laid at the door Of heart fail
ure."
Was Thirty-eiEht Years Old.
Grammar, who was about thirty-eight
years of age, was native Of Paris. Ky,
where. it is understood, his parents still
reside. His ancestry did not suggest the
calling he was destined TO adopt, for his
father was a shoemaker.
Raised as he was, though, in the very
heart of the famous bluegrass" region
of Kentucky, Riley naturally imbibed a
fondness for the thoroughbred, which
later asserted itself When yet a mere
lad he drifted TO Cincinnati, and there
took service with the Palace Hotel in
the capacity Of bell-boy.
Among the guests of the Palace in at
tendance on the Latonia races was Ed
ward Botay. originator of the present
day form chart. and it was TO work
for him that Riley left the service Of the
hotel
Grammar began his career on the turf
as caller" for BOtay, and the informa-
tion he thus secured enabled him 10 get
hold of some money from the little sal
q k.s
Grammar fell in with Col Applegate. then
the controlling spirit on both the Louis
vile and the LatOnia tracks Col Apple
gate took g fancy 10 the young Kentuck-
ian and gave him the field" book at
his tracks, ana It was through the field
book, a new institution then, that the
famous plunger really got
his start.
When He First Went Broke.
According 10 a gentleman Who worked
for him, he first went broke" IN 1855.
when he dropped $4,000 at the Cincinnati
tracks. and was obliged TO borrow money
TO reach Saratoga. There luck took a
turn and he was soon comparatively
easy again.
Grammar bought a home for his parents
at Paris, KY, and also invested in real
estate and business property in Louis
vile and Lexington. but the home. If is
understood. was all that was saved out
of the fortune that he had amassed
His funeral was typical of a new min
ing camp. For lack of hearse. the re-
mains were taken from the undertakers
tent in the morning in an express wagon
TO the impr0vised memorial chapel. a
~. frr-s a.E
There assembled a throng the like Of
which could not be duplicated in any
other community on the footstool silk
touched elbows with corduroy and khaki.
Women in Partisan gowns mingled with
miners. whose clothes were begrimed
with high-grades with sun-tanned pros
pectoTs, with brokers, bankers, mer-
chants, promoters, saloon men. bartend-
eTs. gamblers. and FOUNDERS. a mining
camp IS the most perfect Of all dem0c-
raeiesi class was forgotten, all men were
equal.
Before the conclusion Of the 0bseq,lies
there was not dry eye IN the house.
BarrOoms were closed and the streets
were wrapped in utter silence throughout
the services.
Barrooms All Close.
At the close. the casket containing the
remains. accompanied by ten of the most
prominent citizens. who acted as pall-
bearers. was followed by a solemn cor
tege. comprising practically every man
and woman in the camp. TO the autom-
obile. which was to carry the body to
Schurz. the railroad station thirty miles
away. where it was placed aboard the
train 10 be transported to Paris, Ky.
where il viii find interment near the
spot where the eyes of Riley Grammar
first opened on the light Of day,
Powerfully dramatic, profoundly inn
pressive was the funeral eulogy pro-
nounced by H. ". Kniekerboeker, once
a mine operator of Goldheld. later a
pioneer Of Rawhide. His appearance
was entirely in keeping with the scene.
clad in the miners rough garb and wear
ing high boots he looked the part OF a
typical pioneer. He deeply felt his sub
iect. for at times his eyes dimmed with
.eaTs and his utterance was choked by
anafiOu