The Chicago whip. (Chicago, Ill.) 1919-19??, 1920-01-10

And bluegrass pastures far away
In emerald pillows rolled.
It was one day after Luke Black
burn, the greatest son of Longfellow,
had swept all before him at the old
Cote Brilliante race course at st.
Louis that Gen. w. G. Harding of
Belle Meade said to me:
young man, you must come and
visit me at Belle Meade. You-all up
here don't know how we all live down
yondah. You-all don't understand
how VEAL can raise colts and fillies
that can beat all yours without half
tryin'. But you'll all understand if
you'll just take run down to our
fahm. Down yondah we will show
you the real blue grass, the pure lime
stone water that our horses drink
and thrive on, the pappies and the
mammies of these great colts and
FLIES and all that goes with them.
1.-THE latch string at Belle Meade
always hangs low, sab. You will find
the visit instructive, sab, as well as
interesting. 1t will give you peep
into the mysteries of boss racin'.
at will show you just what the
thorobred industry is, sab, and prove
to you that there is something about
the race course a little above and
beyond the gamblin' thing and GER
tain evils that do much to drag it
down and make it common and very
ordinary, sab.
"You Hardings and Grants did not
agree in war time, sab. Certain men,
bers of our little family were OPP
posed to Gen. Grant in the late I'M
pleasantness, sab, and so was your
humble servant, sab. But today on
the race course l shook hands with
Gen. Grant, and we are friends.
"The race track is a great leveler,
I ssq,,.,,z It today brought the President
of the United State face to face with
one who was his bitter opponent in
war times, sab. Members of our lit
tie family, sab, fought side by side
in the Mexican wah with Grant.
All this was in 1877. Ten years
later one day when the racing season
was over, and needing a rest, l
thought of Gen. Harding's old in
vitation and ran down to Belle
Meade.
A depot wagon met me at the train,
wagon drawn by pair of blacks
and black man doing the driving.
eyes sah", the driver said, "de
general says you must come right to
de fahm and bring your baggage wild
you. Yes, sab.
Great many big people comes to
Belle Meade nowadays, added my
driver, as if to give me to understand
that was not the only pebble on the
beach. "Only last week President
Cleveland and his lubly young wife
sat right where you're sittin' now,
ah. And when de visit was ober
icy told me dey enjoyed it so much
dey was comm agin. Yves, sab;
OATS what dey said, sah".
1t would take book to tell of my
visit to Belle Meade and of all l saw
there, and l have less than column
in which to spin the story.
It would take a greater artist than
me to paint picture of Bramble,
Enquirer, Luke Blackburn, Great
Tom, Iroquois and the other famous
stations than the property of Belle
Meade.
Even today their great-grandsons
and daughters are leading the way
on many a race course. 1t was Iro-
quois, sent to England by the Loril-
lards in 1881, who, with Fred Archer
up, won the English Derby, and now
he was taking it easy at Belle Meade.
q r Is In
In the great dining-room at Belle
Meade we sat at breakfast that morn
ing, the general at the. head and his
daughters at the FOOT Of the table.
you've come so far am going to
let you into secret, the general !
said. SIT may be of service to you
some day. | have sold half-interest
in the produce of my thorobred farm
to Richard Croker Of New York. He
is going into the racing business big
and strong. He will be heard from
some day-if not on the American
race course, which appears to be fall
ling into desrepute in this country,
in England or somewhere else".
4
Since Gen. Harding sat at Belle
Meade that morning many things
have happened. The general is sleep
ing now under the daisies, way down