56 ' LIFE YvITII THE TROTTEES. 



old man was more certain than ever that he had the 

 wonder of the world, and redoubled his efforts in the way 

 of care, etc. ; had a special stable built for the colt, with 

 an office adjoining, where, in winter, all seated around a 

 big fire, he would entertain his neighbors telling them what 

 a great horse that colt was going to be. About this time 

 Mr. Conldin gave him the name of Rarus, which is a 

 Latin adjective meaning rare, it being his idea that the point 

 of perfection in horseflesh had been reached in the colt. 

 For the next two years Mr. Conklin gave almost his entire 

 time to the care and education of this colt. He bought him- 

 self a light wagon, got a set of double harness, secured an 

 old runner, and, as he was a very heavy man and did not 

 want to compel the colt to draw his weight, he hooked him 

 by the side of the runner, and in this manner, over the sandy 

 roads of Long Island, the future conqueror of Goldsmith 

 Maid, and champion trotter of the world, received his first 

 lessons in trotting at the hands of his owner, the stage 

 carpenter. 



About the time Rarus was six years old Mr. Conklin had 

 for a friend a man by the name of James Meade, an express- 

 man from Brooklyn. Mr. Meade advised that Rarus be put 

 in the hands of his son, who was something of a horseman, 

 and young Meade drove him in some local races, in which he 

 took XDart with success. The first regularly recorded event 

 in which the name of Rarus appears is a race trotted on 

 the 21st of August, 1874, at Hornellsville, N". Y., the purse 

 being $600. In this race the horse was entered by James 

 G. Meade, his opponents being Knox, Kilpatrick, Willie 

 Golddust, Kittle Kuler, Ethan, and Bay Jimmie, not one of 

 whom was ever prominent in trotting circles. Knox won 

 the first heat of this race in 2:47, and then Rarus took the 

 next three heats in 2:46, 2:45|, 2:46|. About this time James 

 Page, a XDrominent horseman and stable-keeper of Brook- 

 lyn, who was always more or less interested in trotters, 

 arranged with Mr. Conklin to train and drive Rarus. 

 Whether Page drove the horse in his race at Hornellsville 



