The Washington herald., 1911-11-26
By l.. ID. SALE.

will open its gates tomorrow to the pub
lie for three days. and the day follow
ing. Tuesday, eighteen head of standard
bred horses owned and bred by c. c.
Waters, of Pleasant Fields, three miles
north of Germantown, Md, will be
knocked down to the highest bidder
These sales are Of Importance from the
fact that they will indicate in a large
sense whether the light-harness horse
industry Of the country is in healthy
condition or not.
The horses listed by the Pleasant
Fields stock farm are, with the excep-
ton of three or four brood mares, young
horses: most Of them are fit to be put
to work for track or road purposes; are
standard bred, with one or two excep-
tons, and are bred in approved blood
lines. There can be no reasonable con-
je3ure as to whether they will breed on
or not, because they have answered that
question already on numerous race
tracks, where they have always gotten
their share of the money Offered.
That there will be many bargains Of
fered at Pleasant Fields, on Tuesday
next, is without question. None of the
horses offered, has been raced to death;
they are still in the making. The blood
that made Kinster. 2:144; Kinslee, 2:19A,
and Kinstress. 2:O9A. is in their veins,
and, IL like produces like or the likeness
Of some ancestor, others as good as
those that have gone before are likely to
fall to some lucky individual who bids
on them. AS a matter of fact, those per-
sons who are looking for racing material
young fresh, and unculled will stand
just as good a chance of getting what
they are seeking at Pleasant Fields, on
Tuesday next, as II they had invested in
the young things that will be offered at
Madison Square Garden during the first
three days of the week. The blood that
has produced race horses is much the
safest to tie to; beyond that all is specu-
lation, whether the particular horse
wanted be put up to the highest bidder
at Madison Square Garden or Pleasant
Fields.
The cost of getting to and from Pleas
ant Fields is so insignificant as not to be
felt; while the cost of getting to and
from Madison Square Garden amounts to
a great many dollars, when all is summed
up, and this, with the chance thrown in
that one may not get good bargains
as will be offered nearer home. Trains
leave Washington for Germantown at
SO a. m, where persons interested in
the sale will be met by wagons to con-
Yey them to the farm, which is close by.
and which is reached over a good road.
TWO trains leave Germantown for Wash
ington at SIS p. m. and $40 p. m, hours
that will enable visitors to reach their
homes in good time. The day will be
an enjoyable outing for every one. and
Mr.. Waters will see to it that every one
present has a good time.
The sale at Madison Square Garden
is always an interesting event Persons
interested in the light harness horses and
all their belongings gather there from all
parts of the United States. 1t is at
Madison Square Garden that the state
of the public pulse as regards harness
horse values is more positively felt than
at any other point in this hemisphere
public sale of horses, whether held in
New York City or in n more obscure
section of the country, is a test of
values; not from the owners viewpoint.
but from the viewpoint Of the great pub
lie who annually gather at such func-
tions. The light harness horse industry
of this country is apparently in a healthy
condition. The demand for export is
firm, and thousands of American-bred
light-harness horses have within the past
few years been shipped abroad for rae
ing and breeding purposes. With firm
export demand promised, for some years
to come, there ned be no fear of slump
in the light-harness market in the near
future.
The day for sensational prices and SEN
sationaI stud fees passed in the early
nineties. Who cannot recall to mind the
day when a carload Of young Election
an average Of from $500 to 500 per head,
and when a carload of Allertons aver
aged not far from $500 per head, and
buyers falling over one another to get
them at that? Who is there who can
not recall the day when AxtelIs stud
fee stood at 1900. Directors at the same
figures, and when Allerton's stood at
$500? Such extravaganza in prices was
bound in time to bring dire results to
the breeding interests of the country, and
the day came when the get of these
same stations that stood for such unprec-
edentedly high stud fees sold under the
hammer for a tenth part of what their
stud fees were. The panic of 80 proved
to be the greatest leveler of values this
country has witnessed, as far as stand
ard-bred horses are concerned.
The madness that prevailed in those
so-called boom" days cannot hardly be
believed in these modern days. Five"
ten" twenty thousand" were in those
frenZied days not unfrequently heard
around the sales ring. Strange as it
may seem, an unframed twO-year-old
colt was sold at one auction sale for the
stupenduous sum of S24,000. Two years
later this same colt brought under the
hammer only $1,000; year later $500 We
distinctly recall to mind that in 1889. just
before the crash came that beggared so
many breeders OF standard stock. that the
three-year-old Bell Boy, with a record OF
2:19 IA, sold for $1,000 cash under the
hammer. So wild and enthusiastic were
the horsesmen of that day that when
the black son of Electioneer and Beauti-
full Belle was led to his stall, a guard had
to be set over him to prevent relic hunt
ers from pulling all the hairs from his
tail, which, by the way, was none the
heaviest. All records were broken at
this sale. Sixty-seven head of. standard
bred trotters sold for a total OF $f55, 073,
an average of s2,314 per head. The most
remarkable feature of the story is that
the total OF S155.0T3 comprised the re-
suits of only one days sale. The now
famous sire Anteo brought the huge
sum of $4,000 cash under the hammer at
the same sale. and was sold the same
evening to II. s. Henry. of Morrisville.
Pa. for an advance of 5000. few
years later, 1896, we saw Anteo knocked
down to a bidder for the insignificant
sum of Sl.1OO, a most remarkable drop |
in value.
One mas only to glance over the cata-