El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-03-20
III E%Z4 "a

Famine at all but a substitute which
I resembled the mare in general appear
ance but did not resemble her at all in
point Of speed. The word spread, OF
course and soon reached the ears Of
the officials. After that it reached the
ears Of the public and there was no END
Of chatter about the race.
Judge Clark Angry.
Judge Clark was excessively angry.
He was an austere man, very aristo-
cratic, very dignified, and by the same
token very upright. He determined
that the facts Of the matter must be
obtained at once but at that time the
facts were not available.
Il want this race investigated from
top TO bottom" he is reported to have
said. Find out something about TINS
mare Famine and let me know about II
right away"
There was a Scurrylng TO get some
facts. but every investigator had to re-
port failure
There is nothing TO be found out
here about Famine" he was told.
Then I want some better Identified
ton methods uses" he replied in the
stern way hef knew how TO assume
when something did not please him.
'HereafteT. before a horse starts in a
race. be mighty sure that you know
whether you have the right animal or
not"
No Official Probe.
There was no official Investigation OF
the affair and TO this day there is moth
ing TO show that Famine was not Fan
tine as far as the public knows. The
episode was officially passed by, but
the public. or that part OF 1t which fol-
lows the races, continued to gossip and
is sOssiping TO this day.
Ask almost any veteran western turf
follower about the race and he will say:
-Fantine2 yes, that ringer at IDEAL
Park It was certainly q clever piece
Of work
1t is reported that it was this affair
that caused Martin NathausOn TO devise
that infallible system Of Identification
which he used in later years and earned
for him the distinction Of being one OF
the greatest track officials in the coun-
try. II was not alone Williamson that
seemed to have prOfited by the episode.
for when racing opened in Chicago the
next year there was a tightening Of in
spectiOn requirements all around and
this care actually resulted in the detec-
ton OF a ringer at Hawthorne before
the animal had been started in race.
Always n Mystery
ct presume the Famine affair will al
ways remain a mystery said one OF
the Ideal Park officials, when 1 asked
him about the race. I'm the absence Of a
formal investigation nothing official is
known about the matter I do not know
what the other officials know. but for
my part L cauld not tell whether Fam
tine was a ringer or not She seemed to
run a little better than her true form.
but the race was not calculated to in
spire suspicion and but for the stable
gossip. which started a train OF other
talk, I doubt if there would have been
any scandal about the race. If Fantine
was a ringer. the job of putting her
over was one Of the cleverest in turf
annals"
Famine seems to be the one black
mark against track that is one Of
the marVelg Of our time.
I told at the beginning Of this story
that il was built in is days. To this
should be added the fact that it was
well built. When it entertained its first
racing crowd il was in every respect
high class racing plant and undoubted-
Is was intended for use for many years.
Its passing came almost as suddenly as
its construction, and the season was not
finished, although the weather was too
cold for successful racing when Wis
consin turned its inhospitable back on
the Chicago promoters who attempted
10 operate out OF their own bailiwick