88 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



and saw some races in the afternoon, and, coming back to the hotel, that 

 night every one was talking of the horse-racing; you could not get out 

 of the atmosphere. I walked around the city and finally got down 

 about the wharf and stopped to get my shoes shined. There was a 

 little swarthy darkey came up, I got on the stand and while he was 

 shining my shoes I was talking to him, and noticed that he showed evi- 

 dence of being in that atmosphere. I said "Sam, what is the matter 

 that you ain't out there with the horsemen; you are built for a jockey; 

 you ought to be out here riding race horses instead of shining shoes." 

 He said ''Oh, no, boss, I rode in one race and that is enough for me," 

 and he told me about it. "It is a long story, boss, but it is like this: 

 I went out there one day. Massa Williams had a horse by the name 

 of Major; he was a wonderful horse. We had a big race on this race 

 track at Louisville along towards the end of the season. I was out 

 there just as a hostler, and I just rubbed that horse down and exer- 

 cised him. About ten minutes before that big race the boss come over 

 and says to me, "Did you ever ride a race?" I told him I had not. 

 "Well," he says, "you have got to go out and ride Major today because 

 Bill's sick, for you know the horse and the horse knows you I can't get 

 anyone else." ' " I says. 'Well, Boss, I will do the best I can.' "I got 

 up and got on Bill's clothes, and I was the swellest looking nigger in 

 all that country." The boss says to me "Sam, let me tell you some- 

 thing. Do you see that big horse over there? That is Duke. You 

 watch the Duke. When you get the wave of the flag watch Duke and 

 as he comes up under the wire see that Major's nose is even with the 

 Duke's hind flanks and let him come into that back stretch and go .all 

 the way around, but don't let the Duke's hind flanks get away from 

 you, then when you get down within about a hundred yards of the 

 finishing line give him your heels, and when you get within fifteen or 

 twenty yards, give him the whip and he will shoot up, and when you 

 get up only a few feet away from the finish give him your heels 

 again.' " "So I went into that race. We went into that curve lickity, 

 lickity lick, and I hung right on and I stayed right there with the 

 Major's nose at Duke's hind flanks and when I was 100 yards away 

 from the finish I give him my heels and he run ahead until his nose 

 was up to Duke's side and I give him the whip and he shot up until 

 they were nose and nose, and when I got within a few feet of the finish 

 I give him the heel and we beat the Duke by six inches." I said, "Why, 

 Sam, you won a race like that race and quit? Why they ought to 

 give you a job of riding races." He says, "I didn't win the race Boss." 

 He says, "why there was eight horses passed me while I was beating 

 the Duke." 



The great idea in this Iowa campaign was that while we were watch- 

 ing Missouri, Kansas and Illinois, the forty-four other states in the 

 Union would get away from us before we could beat one of them, and 

 we are looking backward and forward, and we are going to see if we 

 cannot do something for Iowa. What, I do not know. I am only one 

 of the Association. We have an Executive Committee of which I am 

 one of the members and I see one of the other members sitting over 



