LIFE WITir THE TROTTERS. 61 



won tlie first heat in 2: 23 J, Molly Morris the second in 2:24^, 

 and then the rain came on, making the track slower. This 

 told against Molly Morris more than any of the others, and 

 Rarus beat her in 2:26. By this time the track was very 

 heavy and anchored them both, Rarus having a very long 

 stride. Eva won the fourth heat in 2:33^, and then the 

 race went over until the following day, when, on a good 

 track, Rarus again lowered his record, trotting a mile 

 in 2:22. 



At Utica about the same lot of horses started. Bonner, 

 a chestnut gelding, driven by Jack Feek, won the first heat 

 in 2:22. Feek is one of the ornaments of the profession, both 

 from the standpoint of skill and in personal appearance. 

 He is often called by his intimate friends "Handsome Jack 

 Feek," and his looks warrant the compliment. There is one 

 thing that the boys always know, when Jack Feek starts a 

 horse in a race for the money he is in the pink of condition, 

 and this was never better illustrated than at Cleveland last 

 summer, when he came out against seventeen others, all of 

 whom could beat 2:20, with the little mare Lady AVhitefoot, 

 and, without asking their permission or consulting anybody, 

 took the second, third, and fourth heats of the race and the 

 last dollar that was played in the pool -boxes, all the miles 

 being i^ 2:19 or better. After this race the price of salt 

 about Syracuse was reduced away below the high-tariff rate. 

 In the Utica race the second heat was won by Bertie in 2:27, 

 and then Rarus went on and took the next three in 2:25, 2:23, 

 and 2:23. He was sick at Springfield, and did not start there, 

 but at Hartford, on the first of September, he was again in 

 form, and made another material reduction in his record. 

 Some new competitors were met here, among them being 

 Frank J. (that my old friend Jack Bachelor, whose linen 

 duster and spectacles were in those days familiar from one 

 end of the land to the other, drove), Parki s' Abdallah, Crown 

 Prince, and Triumph. Frank J. had shown his owner a trial 

 or two that made him think well of his chances, and when- 

 ever Bachelor believed he had a good thing he was willing 



