HUNDRED- MILE TROTS. 203 



symptom of hanging on the bit or faltering, had there been ten 

 times the amoiuit staked to be lost, every one is assm-ed,who 

 knows Mr. Purdy. 



Mr. Purdy drove himself the whole distance, with skill, 

 judgment and coolness that astonished and charmed the best 

 trotting drivers and oldest turfmen present. He used a little 

 sulky made by Godwin, weighing only 46 lbs.., with the lightest 

 possible harness, himself weighing 132^ lbs. The little mare 

 was 10 years old, 14 hands high, and under TOO lbs. weight. She 

 is said to be nearly a thoroughbred, and nearly perfect also, both 

 in shape, gait and action. 



It was observed, strange as it may appear, that she did not 

 diverge in going the whole distance, round the Centreville 

 track, six inches from the track she made on the first time roimd. 



She was taken out of harness at the end of the fiftieth mile, 

 and was cared for, losing twenty-one minutes, besides other 

 smaller stops. 



She won the match, all stops included, in 9h. 49m. |s. 



Making the 100 miles in 9h. 49m. f s. 



I copy this table from the Turf Kegister of 1850 — the rather 

 that it claims this to be a greater trot than that of Fanny Jenks. 

 I cannot conceive why, for her time was better ; and if Fanny 

 Jenks were driven by two little boys under 75 lbs., I should judge 

 that the experience and fine driving of Mr, Purdy fully compen- 

 sated the exti-a weight, if that even were not overcome by the 

 lightness of Mr. Purdy's vehicle. 



But the table itself is a etrange one, and cannot be directly 

 summed up nor very easily understood. 



To cast it up, one must first strike out the time of the first 

 mile, then of the first twenty-five miles, then of the fifty miles, 

 then of the seventy miles, and then these being divided, proceed 

 as with a common sum of addition. 



