LIFE WITH THE TKOTTEES. 379 



trotter like a Hiram Woodruff. Years ago, I was out for a. 

 drive myself one day, and was overtaken by what appeared 

 to me to be a boy of about fifteen or sixteen years of age, 

 with a small, smooth, bay horse. I had a pretty fair animal 

 myself, a regular 2:30 horse, and when the youngster chal- 

 lenged me for a trot, expected to have a walkover. .1 was. 

 very much disappointed however, not only in the speed that 

 the bay horse showed, but also in the masterly manner in. 

 which the youngster handled him. On inquiring who the 

 young man was, I was not so much sui-prised at his ability 

 when I was told that he was the youngest son of Eobert 

 JBonner, and that the horse he drove was a colt that had 

 for its dam the celebrated mare Flora Temple, the first trot- 

 ter to beat 2:20. I afterward spent a day at Mr. Bonner's 

 farm, and whUe the style and speed of the numerous horses 

 he showed me pleased me very much, the greatest enjoyment 

 I had was in seeing his boys drive them. They drove them 

 against the watch, against each other, and at last they 

 invited me to get behind a horse and take a shy at them, 

 which I did, and the masterly manner in which they handled 

 the animals under all circumstances gave me as much 

 pleasure as it would a musician to hear an artist play a 

 violin or piano. 



The Rockefellers, of whom there are three, John, Will- 

 iam and Frank, each own first-class private establishments. 

 They buy any horse that strikes their fancy and are always 

 willing to pay the top prices. John Rockefeller has in his 

 stable a pair of horses, that before they came into his pos- 

 session made records better than 2:20 on the turf, and he 

 has others that have shown that rate of speed in private. 

 He keeps a first-class trainer in Alex. McCrea, who looks 

 after all the details of the establishment, and the horses are 

 given as much attention with the idea of developing their 

 speed and to keep them in the pink of condition as a man 

 would devote to a stable that he intended for turf pur- 

 poses. 



William Rockefeller owns a pair of horses that I drove 



25 



