280 LIFE WITH THE TROTTERS. 



gems than any other driver that I know of excepting Bobby- 

 Stewart. George has made several successful campaigns, 

 the most notable one j)erliaps being with St. Albans who 

 acquired a record of 2:20 and at the same time made his 

 driver plenty of money. 



Mr. William Doble, or '• Uncle Billy" as everyone loves 

 to call him, is, I think, the oldest driver in the country. He 

 commenced his career years ago when a horse that trotted 

 in three minutes was considered a veritable racer. He has 

 had a long and i^leasant life, made many friends, his repu- 

 tation as a driver and manager of trotting horses has been 

 first class, and Orrin Hickok has often told me that to Uncle 

 Billy more than to any other man was he indebted for the 

 success of Lucy after the mare came to his stable. Not only 

 has Uncle Billy a reputation as a great driver himself, but 

 he is the father of a family of drivers, having three sons 

 who have made reputations in the sulky. He has never lost 

 his interest in trotters, is just as willing to back his opinion 

 as when he was a boy, is not at all backward about going- 

 out and driving for his money against any of the present 

 generation of experts; and I will give the boys one word of 

 caution: Don t make a race with Uncle Billy with the 

 expectation of being able to out-drive him, foi- I have seen 

 some good men try that and fail. 



Bob Kneebs is one of the men who took Horace Greeley's 

 advice and went West to grow up with the country. His 

 natural love of horses led him into the business and in the 

 first part of his career in racing horses with the Indians he 

 did not have the opxoortunity to show his talent that has since 

 made him famous through all the Western campaigTis. Some 

 men say that good hoi;pes make good drivers. That may be 

 so to a certain extent, but I have seen Bob drive some bad 

 horses and do it well. I think the best breadwinner he ever 

 had was Elm wood Chief, who made a record of 2-A8^ and 

 has for years won a large percentage of his races. Of late 

 years Bob has devoted a part of his time to the breeding and 

 raising of horses. In this line he has also been successful. If 



