CHAPTER XXXVII 



A COSTLY DINNER IN A STABLE 



THE elevation of Theodore Roosevelt to the Gov- 

 ernor's chair of the State of New York, 1899-1900, 

 decided a wager of $5000 a side, made in the heat 

 of the campaign, against Colonel William L. Brown, 

 and in favor of William H. Clark. The latter, like 

 his opponent, was a member of Tammany Hall, and 

 the wager caused no little talk. Mr. Clark, who 

 had bred, owned, driven, and raced trotters, sud- 

 denly changed platforms, and his career on the run- 

 ning turf was spectacular. In the spring of 1899 he 

 won the Brooklyn Handicap with Banistar in record- 

 breaking time, 2.o6i, and the same season his costly 

 venture, Empire City Park, was opened with a trot- 

 ting meeting. The glitter was not the glitter of gold. 

 The shadows rapidly gathered which finally put Mr. 

 Clark in total eclipse, but appearances were kept up 

 to the end. The major portion of the check for 

 $5000 which Colonel Brown handed to the winner 

 was expended on a dinner, which excited curiosity 

 and became the talk of the country. The invitations 

 to this dinner, held in Mr. Clark's private stable, 

 in the upper part of the West Side, were carefully 

 guarded, and the guests included ex-Mayor Thomas 

 F. Gilroy and prominent members of the Stock Ex- 



330 



