The Washington herald., 1914-09-06

Edward Franklin Pop) Geers, the Noted
harness driver and trainer, would rather
engage in d fox hunt than ride in the
Grand Circuit races. He admitted this
much in the course of an interview one
day this summer
Yes. horse racing is the most exciting
sport in the world" said Geers, but for
the real thriller give me fox hunt be-
lieve there IS mere pleasure to be obtained
in chasing the elusive little animals than
in anything else OF which know
And there you have the opinion Of a
man who has been identified with the
harness game for nearly two-score years.
Quite naturally, one would expect such
an old-timer in the hcrse world TO main
tain firmly that the sport he has followed
for so many years is the greatest Of them
all. But not Pop
However. Pop is not a traitor to his tirst
love. the race track. He still retains 4
warm spot in his heart for the game that
will know him as long as he Is able TO
climb into a sulky, else he would not be
driving now.
Pop is sixty-three years old, but he
doesn't look IL. His features are Drowned
with the accumulated tan OF many years
spent in the open under hot suns. His
color is healthy and his bearing the same.
His eye clear and calculating, and he
to come.
VIII Last Long Time.
Asked point-blsnk just how much lOnser
he intended to drive. Pop answered in the
drawl known by horseInen throughout the
country: ''Oh, / don't know. II 1 keep or
feeling as fine as l do now. 1 guess I'm
good for long time; maybe ten years or
more. / feel better right now than did
many times when l was younger"
Geers has been driving and handling
horses for more than thirty-five years. In
that time he has seen many drivers come
and go. He has seen them become Ia
nous in a day. flash along brilliantly for
a time and fall into obscurity. He has
seen steady performers in their prime and
decline. He has seen drivers at their best
and at their worst. He has been able 10
observe his own work carefully and note
the changes with the passing years.
Therefore, he is probably the best Judge
OF at what time a man Is at his best in the
business.
When interrogated- as to his opinion
along these lines, he wrinkled his brow IN
thought for a moment and then SAID:
'rWell. 1 don't know. II seems to me I
ali depends on the man himself l con-
slider myself Just as good now, IL not bet
ter. than at any time in my career. Nat
urally now have more. experience, and
with added experience comes better calcl-
Iatjon. Good Judgment has won many
races. in fact, easily as many as poor
judgment has lost, and that Is quite
few. / do not believe that age has so
much to do with a mans success In the
game as the experience and the knowlecGe
that comes OF experience"
Geers has won so many races in his
career that he declined to even ap-
proximate the number of his successes.
He evaded entirely the question Of what
his winnings in purses have been In the
thirty-five years or more he has been
up. saying he has never tried to
figure out even for himself.
The veteran estimates that he has been
in about 5000 races since he started to
handle the reins. During the last few
years he has figured in about seventy
five races a season. Ten years ago the
critics had him slated for the scrap
heap. Five years ago his-retirement was
freely predicted. Yet he IL still in there