THE TROTTING HORSE IN TENNESSEE 



" I drove Sunday afternoon out the Franklin Pike 

 with President Fogg and Directors A. H. Robinson 

 and Thos. W. Wrenne. The sun was bright and 

 the air balmy. As we passed Fort Negley and saw 

 a throng of holiday seekers strolling among the 

 breastworks, which twenty-odd years of peace had 

 not effaced, the thoughts reverted to the stormy days 

 when the cannon of Hood fiercely answered the can- 

 non of Thomas. Down in the valley, close by the 

 road, a number of trees were pointed out to me 

 which bore the heavy scars of war. Ten- and twenty- 

 pound balls had crashed among them and literally 

 maimed them for life. In the shade of these trees 

 calves slept, colts frolicked, and children played, un- 

 mindful of the evidences of a strife which once 

 engaged the earnest attention of the civilized world. 

 The new Nashville is totally unlike the old Nash- 

 ville. Out of the red fires of conflict came a city 

 with broader aims, quickened energies, and higher 

 courage. The carriage stopped in front of the main 

 stable of the Hermitage Stud, and Mr. Thompson 

 was there to show us the horses. I had heard of the 

 filly which Elvira had by her side and I was anxious 

 to see it. It is a dark chestnut by Wedgewood, and 

 a good one. Elvira, although stone blind, is a good 

 mother, and she strongly resembles her sister, Bea- 

 trice, dam of Patron. The yearling colt by Pan- 

 coast, out of Elvira, is called Ponce de Leon, and 

 he has been in hard luck. He came very near dying 

 in March of pink eye. He is a powerfully built 

 colt, and is a great lot trotter." 



Some wise people have assured us that young lot 

 trotters never develop into greatness, and yet Ponce 

 de Leon has a record of 2.13, is a winner of the 



257 



