138 LIFE WITH THE TROTTEES. 



Mr. Bonner has l^een an enthusiastic road-rider, and in the 

 pair of mares mentioned above, he had the first team capa- 

 ble of trotting a mile to pole better than 2:30, and of doing 

 two miles in a fraction over five minutes. From this to the 

 j)urcliase of l>exter for $35,000, an amount that seemed fab- 

 ulous at the time, Mr. Bonner s name was famous, and the 

 morning after the sale above referred to was made, it was 

 flashed all over the world as that of the owner of the fastest 

 trotter that had ever been seen. Then came in rapid suc- 

 cession the addition to his x^rivate stable of so many noted 

 horses that a list of them would be wearisome, and after all 

 these j)urcliases the acquirement of Rarus for $36,000. 

 After Rarns had been retired from the turf, St. Julien was 

 the first horse to beat his record; then came Maud S., and 

 she had lowered the trotting record to 2:09^, people said there 

 was one horse, the best in the land, that Mr, Bonner could 

 not own, because she was the proj^erty of a man many times 

 a millionaire, the late Wm. H. Vanderbilt. But strangely 

 enough it came about that Mr. Bonner eventually did 

 own Maud S., and when he became her owner it was through 

 the wish of Mr. Vanderbilt, and not only for the reason 

 that Mr. Bonner was his personal friend, but that, as in the 

 case of Mr. Conklin and Rarus, it was his wish that the 

 famous daughter of Harold should become the j)roperty of 

 the man in whose possession she would always* be guaran- 

 teed a life of ease, so long as she might live. The writer 

 has seen an autograph letter from Mr, Vanderbilt to Mr, 

 Bonner in which this sentiment is given words, and he 

 knows that Mr. Vanderbilt' s expression of his feelings in 

 the case of Maud S., and his reason for selling her were as 

 much a pleasure to Mr. Bonner as was the ownership of the 

 fastest trotter the world had ever seen, I have often heard 

 people bewailing the fact that Mr. Bonner bought uj) and 

 retired from the turf the best trotters in the world, but it 

 has always seemed to me that his action in this regard was 

 a positive blessing to the animals, as it not only insured 

 their comfort for life, but also jprevented the necessity of 



