The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-05-21

F. F. Pop" Geers, 73 years old the silent reinsman from Tennessee oldest and greatest of all drivers in harness races, with the fastest string he has ever had left Memphis May 1e for his fifty-second season. He will give his first exhibition in Fremont O., and will show his world champion trotter and pacer in exhibition at number of points prior to the grand circuit opening the latter part of June.
 Pop" Geers passed his seventy third milestone in the race of life on Janu- ary B, 1924, and when asked if he in tended retiring, he declared I'm good for 10 years yet" Leading the string of steppers will be Peter Manning, l :56a4, world cham pion trotting gelding, declared by none less than Geers himself the greatest piece of horseflesh the world has yet known, and Sanardo, :59h, world champion pacing gelding.
 A dozen other horses with low marks and some promising green 2<Vear-olds are among the horses Geers has train ed for himself and associates during the off season months.
 Seldom Uses Whip DdSI Itk@ lnEtC SCOIC anu ICh marker in life, Geers in the spring training and the spring meet of the Memphis Matinee Driving club dis cipline and silent efficiency that has ] marked his long career throughout. Seldom does he use the whip, but when he does he does it to advantage near the approach to the wire or at ! rNOinf tho nf | the animal he may be driving.
 Despite the fact that Pop" Geers | has won a million and a half or more ! in purses and stakes he is in only mod crate circumstances. Silent though he 1 may be, he is far from taciturn, and his kindly spirit has more than once caused him to unloose his purse strings for 6 l man down on his luck with loan | that never was paid and for which pay, ment no pressure was brought to bear Pop" Geers is a man of moderation He has two dissipations, as he himself l terms them, smoking cigars and eating | ice cream. He smokes about 20 cigar: daily. The Geers face with the tilted cigar is a familiar sight and has beer 1 for half a century on a hundred tracks But how many people who are ia miliar with his kindly countenanct know that his secret sin is ice cream During training he often sneaks away half a dozen times daily for his fav l orite dish.
 Keen For Pedro"
 His favorite game of cards is ped TO-" but he never plays for money He also spends hours during the winter months trying to beat "Old Sol"
 Winning a race with Geers is not chance. It is due to skill, patience discipline and industry, coupled witt knowledge of horseflesh and training he maintains. The man with the bes' equipment, he declares, the best ma | terial, the best training, and with tn, best ability to think, act, with spec,
 when the crucial moment comes, in tn
 struggle of life as well as in racing,
 the Geers' principle of life.
 The Silent Reinsman was born ii
 Lebanon, Tenn, and about the time h
 attained his majority he took up rae | ing. He worked the first two year for nothing except his board and keep but he was silently laying the founda tion for the qualities that have madi | him the greatest driver of horses thC racing sport has known. - Geers has been known to. watch { hundred colts at a sale without a worC or motion, then suddenly he would picI one out of the hundred. Seldom ldiG he pick a loser. This is said to be tht