200 THE GOLDSMITHS. 



DEATH OF ALDEN GOLDSMITH. 



One by one we go over to the majority. 



— Wallace. 



In 1886, Alden Goldsmith, with Edwin Thorne as 

 partner, leased the Hudson River Driving Park, at 

 Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and made an effort to hold race 

 meetings without betting, the former having during 

 the last few years of his life taken aggressive grounds 

 against speculation of every character. The meet- 

 ings proved a loss financially, and the worry con- 

 nected with the management of them weakened Alden 

 Goldsmith's nervous system. He w r ent home from 

 Poughkeepsie a sick man and gradually grew worse, 

 until he died, December 20, aged sixty-six. As he 

 passed, Hamilton Busbey wrote : 



"Alden Goldsmith was a man of resolute type, and 

 he made an impression upon the age in which he lived. 

 He was a breeder of ripe experience, and he knew 

 from practical observation how to develop the speed 

 of the trotting horse. For years his stable was very 

 formidable in circuit battles. He was a competitor 

 for prizes on nearly all of the tracks of the country. 

 He brought out Goldsmith Maid, Gloster, Huntress, 

 Powers, Alley, Driver, and many others, and he 

 learned to be modest in victory and philosophical in 

 defeat. He assisted at the birth of The National 

 Trotting Association, and season after season his 

 voice was heard in the halls of the Turf Congress. 

 He was also prominent in the meetings of the Na- 

 tional Association of Trotting Horse Breeders. 

 Words came easily to his lips, and he was ever ready 

 to debate a point. He was a good after-dinner 



