The New York herald., 1922-05-14
Elf, a Pensioner for % Years,
Passes Away at Hawks
Nest.
DEXTER's FAMOUS OWNER
Robert Bonner's Example Drew
Host of Prominent Men
Into Sport.
BY GuRNEY G. CUE.


At Hawks Nest. the old summer
home OF A. A. Bonner, near Rumson.
n. j.. there died the other day the last
trotting horse owned In the Bonner
family. Elf as she was called. had
been the favorite road mare OF ALLEY"
Bonner at the time of his death twenty
three years ago. and Mrs. Bonner had
kept her in clover all these years until.
at the ripe old age Of 32 and apparently
we'll, she suddenly laid down in her
box stall and expired. She was bred
oy Major p. r. Johnston of Lexington.
KY, long the president of the National
Trotting Association. and was by John
ston's Lexington. 2:241s. out OF Mary.
by Aberdeen, and she out of The Witch.
= daughter of Almont and the running
bred mare Endor. by Bonnie Laddie.
The passing of the last of the Bonner
trotters is a noteworthy event. Elf's
owner. Andrew Allen Bonner. was a
son of Robert Bonner, and the only one
who inherited his fathers passion for
horses and horsemanship. Robert Bon
ner's fame as a. horseman encircled the
globe a generation ago, and his private
stable at Q and IL West Fifty-fifth
street. ranked among the sights of New
York because Of the galaxy of cele-
brated trotters it sheltered. It was next
door to the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian
Church, Of Which he was one of the pill
lars during DR.. John Halls memorable
pastorate, and directly in rear of the
old Bonner residence at 8 West Fifty
sixth street, which is still the home of
his daughter. Mrs Francis Forbes. and
by which it was connected with a bridge
and stairs
spent 100000 for Horses.
There. about forty years ago. the
visitor might see Dexter. 2:17A /;
Rarus, 2:13A Maud S., 2:0S% and q
lot Of other celebrated horses for which
the noted churchman, publisher and
horseman had expended a large fortune,
as fortunes were measured in those
days. When some of his church friends
criticised him for having paid so much
money for horses. he replied II may
be pardoned for saying that I have
given away for religious and benevo-
lent purposes a much larger sum than
all the horses have cost" He paid
$500 for Dexter, s35.e00 for Poca-
hontas, $4,000 for Rarus. $4,000 for
Maud S. and $4,000 for Sunol, :0Sk
while his total expenditures in connec
tion with horses were upward of
s1,00o.0o0 1t has been we'll said by
his long time friend Hamilton Busbey,
who still lives, that Robert Bonner did
not pull the church down to the level
OF turf tricksters, but lifte i the horse up
into an atmosphere respected by the
church.
When the history of the trotting horse
is written 1t viii be said that Mr.. Bon
ner's example was one of the great
fnfiuences-perhaps the greatest
which brought into the breeding. own
ing and driving OF fast trotters a host
of prominent men OF wealth and achieve
ment whose like, In numbers and char
acter. were possibly never actively iden-
titled with any other sport or pastime
nor with any other type Of horse in
America. And 1t may be added the
period of his activities marked all too
closely the beginning of the rise and the
decline of trotting.
Began Driving for Health.
In the introduction of catalogue of
the horses in his city stable and at his
farm near Tarrytown. Mr.. Bonner once
told how he came to own the largest
and most notable collection of trotters-
l43 head-then in the country.
I'm the summer of 1885," he said. IL
came near breaking down from over
work. My personal friend and family
physician, DR.. Samuel Hall. advised me
10 get horse and take an hours ex-
ercise every morning in the open air.
He not only gave me advice, but actu-
ally purchased the horse for me. soon
found that, to me at least, the pleasure
of riding depended very much upon the
rate of speed of the horses l sat behind.
In those days Colonel John Harper.
senior member of Harper Brothers
Commodore Vanderbilt and many other
well known gentlemen we-,s almost daily
frequenters-of the roac determined.
IL / could get them. to lave horses no
others could pass. At chat time Major
Rice of Boston (afterward Governor OF
Massachusetts) happened to be in my
office one day and told me OF the swift
est pair OF horses in New England.
owned by Captain Robbins. They had
Just taken the first premium at the New
England fair. ! authorized Mr.. Rice on
his return to buy this pair for me.
They were excellent horses for that day
but nothing to compare with what we
have now. After that followed the pur-
chase OF Lantern and mate. Peerless,
Lady Palmer Flatbush Maid. and
others"
Establishing Prices for Trotters.
Until Mr.. Bonner bought Lantern.
2:32. in 1859, few, If any, trotting
horses had ever been sold for as much
as $4,000. the price paid for him. And
when. seven years later. he purchased
the sensational young trotting mare Po-
cahontas, 2:26A for $4,000. and an
other horse, the whole country was
aEhast at the announcement Of the price
II then seemed larger than S250,00
would to-day, because It was so far
more than had ever been paid for any
other horse I'm this country, IL not in the
world. Soon afterward came the dra-
matte announcement Of Mr. Bonner's
purchase OF Dexter for $780, on the
day he lowered the trotting record to
2:i7i4 at the cid Buffalo Driving Park,
in 1867.
This time II was not alone the unex-
ampled price, but the startling fact that
deacon OF the Orthodox Presbyterian
Church had bought the fastest horse in
the world. and the equally staggering
reality that while Dexter could win
thousands upon thousands OF dollars I'm
purses. matches and pools. he never
would be permitted TO race. again for
money. but would be kept exclusively
for pleasure driving by his new owner
It was the first time that n king Of the
trotting turf had been purchased to
drive on the road purely for pleasure,
and his owner came into the limeieht
in a way that fairly rlvalled Gen. Grant.
the great captain of the Union armies.
who was already singled out for Presi-
dent OF the United States
Cen. Grant Drives Dexter.