New Britain herald., 1917-11-13
GLOWING TRIBUTE
 TO 'KNAP' MCCARTHY
GoCher EulogiZes Veteran Driver
 in American Horse Breeder

ing article in recent issue of the American Horse Breeder, concerning w. H. "Knap" Mccarthy, who died recently in a western city.
 The article is as follows:
 ''The passing of w. H. McCarthy, at Terre Haute, Ind, on September 30, is entitled to more than stickful of matter in the obituary column. While not a very old man, the returns show ing that he was born at Elmira, N. Y, March 22, 1855, 'Knap' Mccarthy be- longed to the old school of trainers, having started racing early in life and remaining at it for over fifty years. "The first glimpse of him on tho screen dates from the opening of the Civil War when, as a tow headed lad of seven, he put in all of his spare time riding army horses for a gov X ernment purchasing agent at Elmira. When the Seventh Artillery joined the, Army of the Potomac, young Me- Carthy was with it, and remained with that command and the Ninth Cavalry during the entire war On the battle field or during the march the sturdy little lad from the Empire State was always in the van. All Of his pos sessions were toted from camp to camp in shabby old knapsack picked up on the battlefield It made him so conspicuous that the soldiers dubbed him 'Knapsack,' which was soon shortened to 'Knap,' and stuck < to him through life.
 After peace was declared 'Knap' remained with the government, rid ing horses offered for sale When they were all sold he drifted back to E1mira, where he was soon busy rid ing runners in quarter races and dashes at the fairs and race meetings in western New York.
 His Racing Start.
 Opportunity tapped at his door in < the fall of 1867 when Dan Mace vis- z tied Elmira with a mixed stable of trotters and runners to start at the fair. Among other horses Mace had the thoroughbred mare, Charlotte F., that in time became famous as the running mate of the old-time trotteT, Ethan Allen. Young Mccarthy was s selected to ride her at Elmira, and his work made such a favorable inn pression that, when Mace returned X to New York, he took "Knap' along with him The following spring, at a Mccarthy began a thirteen-year ap- sprenticeship with Dan Mace. Being a plodder and entirely devoid of the magnetic temperament and light hands which go with a great reins- { man, ''Knap" rose, slowly to the surface. Finally he was given a mount at St. Louis in 1878. Mace ; was injured, and Mccarthy was sent ' out beh'nd Darby. He won. Later on he also drove Sorrell Dan and Hopeful in a few races. This con- vinced him that he could paddle his own canoe, and in the fall of 1880 "Knap' made a contra ct to drive for Fl. V. Bemis, of Chicago,
 The next year he came down the line with Little Brown Jug Sorrel Dan, Bonesetter, Silverton, and Fred Douglas. The Jug won twelve races \ for him that season and also paced in 2.11 3-4: 2.11 S-4; PIP 1-2; the fastest three heats on record up to { that date. when he won over Charter Oak Park track, Hartford. Silverton also won nine races for the Bemis stable, and Bonesetter two before he dropped dead at Pittsburgh.
 On the Grand Circuit
 Tn 1882 "Knap" made contract to x drive for Commodore Kitson. of St. Paul, Minn., and invaded the Grand Circuit with So So, Fanny Wither- spoon, Gem, Won Arninn, and Minnie R., as we'll as Little Brown Jug and K Silverton both of which were pur- X chased from MT. Bemis. He only had fair success with the new outfit, the double-gaited mare, Minnie R., and Won Arnim being his best pupils. The next year he opened a public stable and remained a free lance during the balance of his career, except in the early nineties, when he trained a stable of runners for D. D. Withers Starting off with Flora Belle, Zoe B.,
 Matt1e H., and Belle F., Mccarthy
 managed to more than hold his own
 In the fastest company and followed
 up their successes with the second
 money trotter Felix, and Jewett Mambrino Sparkle, Harry second
 heat Guy was sent away behind the
 Held, but trotting. When the horses
 struck the home stretch the word was
 passed along that Guy was coming on
 the outside. Mccarthy deliberately
 carried him into the fence, while s Double went on and won With Jack
 The judges distanced him for the
 foul, a very mild penalty for the of ' fense, while w. J. Gordon, of Cleve
 land, the owner of Guy, at the clos' Of the season, retired from racing ol account of this incident,
 After Geneva s. was laid away
 "Knap" spent about all he had save
 for a rainy day trying to make a rae
 horse out of the gray mare, Anns
 Mace, by Robert McGregor, dam
 Hattie H.. 2.27 1-2, by Blue Bull rnd which was bred by his wife. Sh
 lad n.cnty Of speed but was unfor
 'r&'- and finally found a place i
 t'~c |;i :car1 after the Cleveland meet . i~~ ir 1894, when "Knap'' made a ,".~7t to defeat toise after w.