AND OTHER SKETCHES 193 



A CANADIAN BOOKMAKER'S EXPERIENCE AT 



SARATOGA. 



A Montreal citizen who occasionally made a ''book" 

 at local race meetings, having been fairly successful, de- 

 cided to try his luck in a wider field, and chose the Sara- 

 toga meeting at which to make his debut. He had a bank 

 roll of about $5,000, and therefore considered himself 

 fairly well stocked for business. 



On the first race of the opening day he won $300. On 

 the second race he added $250 to his original capital. On 

 the third event he added a century and a half more to 

 his stock and commenced to think he had found the royal 

 road to fortune. Not being well posted on the merits of 

 the horses engaged, he necessarily paid very close atten- 

 tion to the quotations hung up by other bookies. On the 

 fourth race customers were not coming his way in any 

 number and he decided to raise his neighbor's figures 

 against one or two horses and see if he could not attract 

 a little more business. Against one of the horses he 

 raised the price from four, to five to one. As soon as he 

 did so a neatly dressed citizen, having every appearance 

 of a business man out for an afternoon's sport, handed 

 up a bank bill and pointed to the horse against which he 

 had lifted the price to five to one. Unfolding the bank 

 note the Montreal penciller was aghast to find that it 

 was for one thousand dollars. He mentally decided the 

 offer was too rich for his blood, and handed it back to 

 the stranger with the remark that it was too strong a 

 dose. Still wearing the same pleasant smile the would-be 

 bettor passed down the line. His name was Pittsburg 

 Phil and the Canadian penciller, learning who it was, was 

 willing to shake hands with himself for the wisdom he 

 had displayed in not accepting the bet. The horse did 

 not win and then the Montrealer concluded he lacked the 

 necessary nerve to be a successful metropolitan operator. 

 He did not hang up his slate the next day. 



