The New York herald., 1921-08-14

around and notice the boys. Such a
bunged up set 4 never saw before"
A correspondent of the American
Titrf Register aud Sporting Magazine
in 1891 gave an account of q quarter
race in Dobbs county. North Carolina,
In which a country store was stalked on
the result. In the neighborhood lived
family of quarter ho-semen whose
Blue Buck had beaten all competitors.
When the innocent young storeSeeper
came into the community to begin busi-
ness he brought with him a small but
handsome saddle horse. about whose
speed he was accustomed to boast. Rid
ing Blue Buck up to the store one day
the head Of the family soon bantered
for match race between the two sad
die horses, offering as his horse was
much larger than the other. to carry
160 pounds to a feather In a few days
after the match was made one Capt e.
III. arrived to train the storelSeeper's un-
promising little saddle horse. and on the
evening Of the day preceding the race
there arrived two other strangers with
several wagons. TIE whole county as
sembled at the paths, and after all the
ready money had been wagered the ma
tives bet their horses, oxen and negroes
against the store The race was de-
cidcd IN favor OF the small horse in such
manner as to leave no grounds fo-
dispute whcreupon the strangers backed
their wagons UP to the store and car
ried away the entire stock and fixtures
Tho purpose foe which the store had
been established slowly dawned on the
natives and it was just as well that
nothing remained on which they could
wreak their vengeance. The storekeep-
crs pretty little saddle horse turned out
to be the then celebrated quarter horse
Trick'em. by Old Janus He had run
true to his name
Quarter Racing I'm Harlem.
Quarter racing was not unknown in
New York in olden times. When the
Livirgstons, Stevenses and other prom
inent turfmen were racing their thor
oughbreds at four mile heats over the
Union Course, near Jamaica. l.. l., some
OF the small fry of the racing world
occasionally matched their cocktails to
run eighty rods on the Third avenue,
Cato's road, the Red House track or the
half mile course at the Harlem Trotting
Park, near the present Mount Morris
Park. The Spirit Of the Times In 1887
chronicled an affair Of this kind on the
last named trial Erornd which excited
considerable interest among the denizens
of Harlem and the city folks In attend
ance." The stakes were 5000 side and
were won by Mr. Campbell's sorrel horse
Bullet. beating Mr.. Glldersleeve's un-
named mare.
The James boys and their hnsman.
old Bill Abbott OF Westmont fame.
Cole and Bob Younger and many other
picturesque characters Of the Middle
West. were identified with quarter rae
ing through Missouri. Iowa and Illinois
about half century ago.
Ed Butchers Versatility.
But the king OF them all was Ed
Butcher of Comanche. Iowa, who after
ward raced Lcxington's great daughter,
the chestnut mare Alice Ward, up ana
down the valleys OF the Mississippi and
Missouri and the country in between.
winning twenty-five races out OF thirty
seven starts Butcher would bet the
clothes off his back on the turn Of
card ramecoclS or n racehorsc, and he
knew every angle OF every game that
was played. In his later years-his
career began before the civil war-he
used TO campaign a string OF runners at
the fairs, starting them In heat races for
small purses on the half-nlile trotting
tracks and supplementing this branch OF
sport py selling pools In the evening on
the next days races and. after every
body had been accommodated IN this
line. by opening UP a faro bank for
those who wanted 10 make night OF It.
Many old timers who went through the
Iowa circuit forty years ago still love TO
tell OF the Jolly big backwoods sporting
man from the banks OF tho Mississippi
who would sometimes nrble out on tho
cuarterst-etch after Tlla Rowett had
won particularly hard fought heat race
for him and delight tho crowd by sing
ing In n melodious tenor voice the old
song which broke out something like
this:
There's gold In the mountains and
silver In the mines II will all be yours,
Mary Ann. the day that you are mine"