98 THE HORSE OF AMERICA. 



remote extensions, and published without any possibility of trac- 

 ing the different crosses to a known or responsible source or 

 name. H>re was the opportunity of a lifetime to "fix up" the 

 pedigrees of stallions to suit the public demand and the fees 

 sought by their owners, send them to Mr. Skinner, and have 

 them duly spread before the public in all their dishonest finery. 

 The early volumes are very rich in the accumulations of pedi- 

 grees, such as they are, and hence very valuable. The magazine 

 received less and less attention from its proprietor each succeed- 

 ing year and finally it was transferred to the Spirit of the Times, 

 of New York, and died after an existence of some fifteen years. 



Mr. Cadwallader E. Golden, of New York, commenced the 

 publication of another sporting magazine, that was of very great 

 merit, and did much to correct some of the errors that abounded 

 in Mr. Skinner's publication. In the controversies which natu- 

 rally sprang up he had greatly the advantage of his adversary, for 

 he knew horse history and Mr. Skinner did not. Mr. Golden was 

 a man of marked ability, and over the signature of "An Old 

 Turfman" he made himself famous as a writer. He hated a 

 fraud and wherever he saw one he did not hesitate to hit it. His 

 publication was a large and expensive one, racing was then under 

 the periodical interdict of public opinion, and after about two or 

 three years, and greatly to the loss and misfortune of the truths 

 of horse history, the publication was discontinued. The weekly 

 press had no representative in the field of "horse literature and 

 sporting subjects" until early in the thirties, when the Spirit of 

 the Times was founded by William T. Porter. The conception 

 of a weekly paper devoted to all kinds of sports, such as hunting, 

 fishing, racing, gaming, etc., was not only new in this country, 

 but it was brilliant. Mr. Porter was not only a gentleman in his 

 appearance and manners, but he had fine social qualities and was 

 a writer of ability and polish. Such a personage would naturally 

 gather about him friends and correspondents that were congenial, 

 and very soon The Spirit of the Times became noted as the organ 

 of a great body of educated men who loved sport and enjoyed 

 wit. It was the only publication of its kind on the continent, 

 and it soon obtained a very wide circulation. Mr. Porter knew 

 very little of horses, either theoretically or practically, but ho 

 was a ready adapter and wrote some fine descriptions of famous 

 racing contests. His habits were sportive rather than indus- 

 trious, hence he left nothing behind him of value to his friend? 



