LIFE WITH THE TROTTERS. 15 



April, and made the acquaintance of a man who was my 

 friend until death claimed him — Mr. Dan Mace. I could 

 spin a long yarn here concerning my experience with the 

 man who, in his time, was not only a master of his profes- 

 sion, but the oldest one in it ; but there are so many inci- 

 dents connected with my stay with Mace, and so much 

 to be said of his methods in the training and driving of 

 trotters, that I shall reserve that for a subsequent chapter 

 which will deal exclusively with that subject. 



I had met Mace once, years before, at Buffalo, and he 

 had said to me that if I ever visited New York he would 

 be glad to have me come and see him. It was on this invi- 

 tation of the past that I walked into his office. He had a 

 stable on Forty-ninth street near Broadway, and kept his 

 training-stable at the Fashion track. Long Island This was 

 in 1864, and at that time Mace was the recognized master 

 of his profession. 



In looks, Dan Mace was not a handsome man. He weighed 

 about 140 pounds, with short legs and wonderfully strong- 

 body and arms. His eyes and hair were very black at this 

 time. In disposition he was as brave as any man I ever 

 saw. I don't think there was anything in the world he Was 

 afraid of. His temper was perfection. In all my years of 

 experience with him (and I knew him as well as any man could 

 know another), I never saw Mace out of temper. No matter 

 what provocation he might have had he always seemed to 

 control himself to perfection. His age was an uncertain 

 quantity. I never saw anyone who knew just what it was, 

 and he never would tell. At that time Mace numbered 

 among his patrons such well known turfites as John Mor- 

 rissey, Henry Genet, William TurnbuU, who was the life- 

 long friend of Commodore VanderbUt ; Edward Jones, the 

 celebrated politician ; Governor Sprague, of Rhode Island ; 

 Uncle Ben Wright, of Boston, who always had more match 

 races on hand than any man I ever saw ; W. P. Balch, now 

 of Boston; Ed Maynard, of the same city; "Loosh" 

 Appleby, who has since become celebrated as one of the 



