Evening star., 1941-10-11


ing that sent Daniel Boone hiking
through the hills. and the same
-say-die spirit that inspired
Custer.
Horse players have TO a maximum
the qualities this country needs in
these perilous times. They have
faith, for one thing, and real willlng-
ness to sacrifice, for another, and
they have unity. I don't think
ever saw more unity than on the
Jamaica race train out Of Penn Sta
ton a few days ago. Every person
on 1t was bound by common goal,
namely, to unearth from somewhere
a few and 10 TO l shots to knock
down the favorites. I'd
/ III.
Just to watch the horse players
fight for seats on the tram was m
spring They knew the train was
headed for a battle-ground where
they stood little chance of winning
from the tough, rugged and we'll
trained iron men" of the pari-
mutuels, but they charged forward,
waving their racing forms and Coll
! yers Eyes as if they were swords.
| There wasn't an appeaser among
them. They were ready to fight to
the last man, the deadly daily
: ~ hi I1o
( 2-year- r-oldS. py.
The faith of the horse players is
beautiful. After getting off the train.
but before going into the track,
they nearly all stopped to buy sure
shot" tips from broken down vet
erans of earlier SklrmiShes with the
horses. These veterans. most of
them i'll rags and tatters, braveiy
/ advertised tips that were sure to win
7 at long odds. Do you think the
horse players stopped to wonder
/ why these derehctS, if they had
wealth right in their hands, didn't
play the horses themselves and retire
/ to a life of ease? No. No questions
were asked.
But it was inside the track, when
face to face with the foe, that the
/ horse-players revealed the Amer
ican spirit at its best.
We all know and respect the
spirit of the pioneer women, who,
dauntless and unafraid, rode into
unknown country in covered wagons,
That spirit isn't dead in our women
folk. I watched a woman pick her
horse in the fifth race. 1t was
race that figured to be so close that
even Col. Bradley, with all his
knowledge of the thoroughbred,
would have been hard-pressed to
make decision. But with a valour
that bespoke contempt for the dam
gers that faced her, this frail lady
shut her eyes, stabbed a pin at ram,
dom through her program, and
chose the horse whose name was
/ pierced. Her choice ran as if he
came from long line of domesti-
Gated ducks, but she took the de-
feat with admirable calm.
What better time to study the.
character of a man than when a
photo-flnish is being developed9
Those trying minutes bring out the
worst and the best in a man. and
this country could use some of the
poiSe and calm the horSe-players
show while waiting to find out
whether their $50 to 81 critter won
or lost by a whisker. They stand
as staunchly as Nathan Hale did
and when the picture goes against
them only humble, Il am sorry L
have only two bucks to give to that
nag"
A horse player never knows when
he is beaten. He can take more
punishment than a cast iron rug.
And his willingness to sacrifice is
almost beyond belief. To gain VIC
tory over his enemy the horse he
will beg, borrow and sometimes steal
to get enough ammunition" to
carry on the fight.
Right now this country is faced
by ''favorite' who needs knocking
down. His name is Hitler and he
is one-time selling platter who
moved up into the big stakes. Why
not let us steal a page from the
horse-play er's book and find some
thing to knock him down, even if
we get damaged little doing it? So
Take it away Arcarol
distributed by McNaught Syndicate, Incl