i

BACK

‘ DECEMBER 16, 1944

STRETCH

N", horses continue t6 roll on-rsscmo to

/ to the Mlritimel. the w, Kai,“ m Ilestic Grattsn i; o chestnut raiding by Grat- oimkes that has been an iron- ‘ffjfjpn, he best in battle array , m Qntsrio and very frequently " "nquishing them. Just to give you m idea of his usefulness we may w, m; in he took part a events, starting on the 31th of my and ending up just prior to W,“ 31,1, or December. He is el time u, the 2.08 class, therefore mus; be considered as a free-for- sllel‘ on the pace. This season he been changed over to the trot as been doing very well at gait. Another new pacer has rchased in Ohio by a Nova 35mph, party who at the present 7 docs n '. 11312:], and two more, a trotter and .. g pacer are travelling or will be my shortly Maritlmeward.

_|)_..

[8-

MacArthur. Kensington. :11 brief visit Thursdaynnd

n conversation earned that he has two very won- ‘ derful fillies that he is raising for "Alderman Frank Adams, Halifax. Both are out of Grattan Queen 4121', that took her record at Charlottetown some years ago. . 51,8 15 by Orcus Gl-attan and her Udam was Beba Grattan by Grat-

m, Royal, Tile oldest. is a year-'

01d fllly, jet black, with not awfllte s‘ m1, on and very handsome. is a suckling bay filly, a Both are sired by Ab- ner T, Clegg 3, 2.04%, owned by ~ w, Adams. Abner T. Cleki; was .1 51m; by Jim Abbe and as a three- year-old was one of the most sell- .'sstional rovers in the U-S-A- He ‘was injured in travelling to Prince Eduard Island after being purch- ..ased by Mr. Adams and although f he raced around 2.08 was never ! 51,19 in get back to his three-year- i‘ cld form. t _._oi S. Thane Belyea writes from Jredcrictcn that he went down to] i. see a yearling colt that was ln who box car at the station on its . wily through to Earle Avery,Wooli- 4inch, While supplying it with some hay and water he looked it *‘ over well and says it is a nice in- .. dividual cnlled Hope Hanover by . laurel Hanover 1592-2. dam Val- 1 el-ie Peters by Lee H. rvester 2.101%. dam Valerie Todd. The littlc cnnp r. had come all the way from Onto- rio and is owned by T. V. Holda- wly, Houlton, Maine. A telephone message came from Earle to 'I'i1une that a horse Oi‘ colt was on its way .from Illillois for Earle to rake charge of and get ready for next season. He states that Lee Jones eiwickhllnl has purchased n swa- yesr-old ly in Ontario called Lillian volo by Corporal Lee 2.04%. dun Lulu Axworthy: This young- vis a trottcr and will be three in i945. Thanks, Thane, for the 1 news.

n

i1

i0- _ Halifax staged the latest race oi .,the season on what is known as " ‘Common" Thursday 001i. Permission of the City Cou , cll had been obtained and nco "to ~-laid out which was about 150 feet short of a quarter mile. Quite :1 _nl.lmbcr of people turned out,most- in autos, and watched the fun. ..lt was certainly a novelty for the ‘sold Garrison City, reminiscent of iihc days when the English soldiers ~werc quartered there and running "races were held every week. h-mlltch rrlcc between The Great G .702“. and Victor Ice 3.07% rc- sulted in a win for Cyril Dauphi- ~ne:'s The Great G. in straight thesis. besttime 29H seconds. Flora Direct. Hlll Britten, Bud the 7ramp and Previous were

‘mary was 2-1-1; l-lal- Britton i- .t-"' Bud theTramp3-2-3; Previous

é seconds. Flora Dircct ‘is owned by G. Turner. Dartmouth and l-lnl Britton by C. Nicholson. Tile Class B, was won by Harold Grattan in straight heats; Hurry Kane 2-2-2, Deleware 3-3-3. best time31 seconds. The above is 111st l starter but much greater things are expected from the Halifax and Dartmouth Clubs later on in the season. Just received a letter from Jack Scott, Halifax. saying: "We have a. wonderful quarter-mile track rm the Commons right in the heart of the city and we expect to nee the Island boys over here af- ter ille first of January; then w‘: will no back to the Island for the

Championship."

‘o1 A abort time a we mad lion of l2. J. Bgoker, St. éharles. Illinois. 0wner of the world's ilumoicn trotter Greyhound 1.55%. Kings Counsel 1.59%, and various other champions. As our readers Ire aware, Mr. Baker has been one of ihe great figures in the harness horse world for some years. Inci- e a son-in-law of John W. Gates. whose name bo- tsme famous on two continents. Where he was known as "Betcha Million Gates". Here are some lu- icrclting things about Mr, Gates ll gleaned from a recent article W tat! Correspondent Ned Brown! 101

"John W. Gates was an inordin- iis Rambler, would back his opin- 1°u on anything with oodles 01 l "'11- yet knew when to atop- Where other plunger: were one '° overoet. Betcha Million ates “l quick to sense when t0 P1111

"iit- Losing bets of 825.000 and

‘ i FOR SALE

whi

R1371-

‘ i

xio Bmllong S, 2:26 1-4. H Calumet Budlong, 2:02 l . dam Lena Worthy, 2:24 f;- i Bud Axworthy, znz h‘,- T |l mare fl fulfils-

l to the 2:20

lflllrggg * Milton McARTITUB. Remington, PJ-LT.

BINDING

cam signer for several years. $1

ot wish his name pub--

A.

bookm ca“! Blaculafedraku {ion 398111212110. The mare was 7 Burma "s "is only four other . ‘Ulmarliaytlegail cl m’ they his led’ t rre . While Duhabulg flmtlllgd fiialges were on. t -|)_. wlgralwiewcotnmhghnd m m“ Overhearin 1d cup w“ mm‘ w, Gates 8w“ 10¢l9y mention San- shécked m fig‘; t0 the races and i 8 ' bookies by dump. 11B Wflsers in bales on the horse Santoi won and Gates was richer by many thousands_pqum1g not on a rinhsiiim“ In a hotel “mm Se“ by bgmgg- giants-s aagrlusellllhim- which l d ' a ° 1' °" n...- M535.‘ L"? n'.'€"‘3l..fl'§$i“"h-’.' Gamblin with Gates was notlsa gig-e was an outlet-quicker. the sliéwillflct and dramatic than ‘mm/WE. responsible op- erations of big business finance ggxl-"gggvd Vfliilkloriously when 11¢ . was a nonchalarit loser, De —O—- Spite if . tie l. out‘ iii.'iz'"r.s.l;l".'; Huge than one sport. r-re liked w 1E0 . was a crack clay and live ipigeon shot. A hearty. jovial man W h a keen eye and full mous. tache. he told a good story, wer] tizgored. he exuded prosperity, m; sessed an u anrlv insight into umarl nature. duced everything to mathematic relativism Gates fiillililirreg the nickname. "Betcha “illi- He and John A. Drake, ano er plunger, were in a friend- 1y argument in the old Waldorf- Astoria bar. ‘Betcha million you're "vrons. challenged Gates. Drake was about to accept the challenge w en a friend tipped him by a wink that he was in error. so the bisgcst single wager between two men never materialized. But Gates gained a soubrlquct that was des- tined to follow him to the grave 111111 linger ever after. -0- _John W. Gates was born 0n rm -llinois farm in i855 qr Wcli-tc-(Ig but not wealthy American pioneer stock. At 21 Gates married Dellora Baker. belle of st. Charles, Ill, whose father lent his son-in-law $2.000. This was all Gates ever had in the way of financial help. At fifty he was worth $100,000,000. His fortune founded on barbed Wirc. he became a. tycoon in steel, railroads and oil. Gates. illougn honest. loved to circumvent. In his later years, when afflicted by illness. his doctor ordered him to limit himself to smoking three cig- ars a do)’. whereupon he put b. a Supply of Havnnus. each the slzc

01 u young baseball bat. It was an all-day task to smoke three of these monsters. and Gates chuck!‘ led over his cunning in obeying the letter of the mcdicos ordels without denying himself. Plunger to the end. Johr W. Gates staked his life against the physician's di- agnosis. and for once outfoxcd himself. The doctor was right.‘ Gates died in 1011 at 56. ‘I guess. you‘ win. Doc‘. hc said. Ben-ha’ Million Gates paid off the greatest wager of llis meteoric and spec- tacular career with characteristic nonchalallce." i0;

For some time we have been holding in reserve for the festive season a rare tidbit of horse lore by the one and only Elmer W. Fri-- guson. sports columnist of iile Montreal Herald. We need hardly remind our Maritime readers who are familiar with the facts that Mr. Austin Charters must have had a very pleasant night before he conversed with the great Elmer, as there never was a $2.500 Frce for All at Charlottetown and Grandma never wona race at Charlottetown.

i0.-

“Austin Charters, who emerged from last night's somewhat storlny mccting of the newly-formed Que- bec Breeders. Owners and 'I‘raln- crs Association still holding the positior of president, wasn't al- ways in the business of racing thoroughbred horses.

-oi

"Austin Charters comes from Chartersville, near Moncton. New Brunswick, in a province. or col- lection of’ provinces known as the Maritimes. where running horses are practically unknown and har- ness horse-racing is religion. Trot- ters arld pacers are paramount. in the cquiue division of sport down that way Running horses have been a dismal failure in the Mari- times. possibly the onl spot on the continent where t e runner has never supercedod the trotter or pacer.

.._o_. "some years ago, fulfilling the ambition of every good Maritimer, Austin Charters bought some har- ness horses, establishin his own modest stable. The pr ces of in! horses ranged up to 22,500. and. to complete the deal. he purchased an eleven-year-old mare. named Grandma. for S400. Grandma had been a pretty fair winner. in her day. She could knock ofl’ l fast mile, when me was in the mood. And the only thing that could get dissolute old Grandma in the mood was whiskey. or some such alco- holic beverage. For Grandma was an old lush. If she didn't have a pint or so of whiskey warming her innards. Grandma sot sulky, and wouldn't extend herself. io-

"With the help of a few shots oi the crater, Grandma, won some races in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Then she was taken over to Prince Edward Island. a pic- turesque rovince completely sur- rounded y water, but very d:y otherwise. It is the last outpost of complete prohibition in these Do- minions, a place where it is prac- tically impossible to get a. drink, unless you know a doctor with an unused prescription. (You're tell-

ing me). __-oi "'Grandma.' said Mr. Charters. ‘is not one to pick and choose. Grandma is a sport. She will drink anything. Bring on the rum.’ -—o

_‘"Ihere was a $2.000 Free-for-Ali at Charlottetown. and. in the first heat the indifferent Grandma ruc- ed a deplorable last. A coup

‘the sharp-shooters of that pitiill-NO 111°"

SPORTING u;

THE CHARLOTTETOWN GUARDIAN

WS

Ruffin Gets '

Canvas To Earn Draw In

Great Scrap

NEW YORK. Dec. l5-(APl- Bobby Ruflin, fancy-fighting 137- Pounder from Long Island City, climbed off the canvas twice lo- 1115m- to 911111 a draw with Johnny Greco of Montreal in a thrill- packed IO-rounder before a near- itiilfiiplty crowd in Madison- uare Garden. Greco weighed 143 e.

The attendance was 17,957 and the sate" sad-lac.

Referee Billy Cavanaugh voted Ruffin the winner. six rounds to four. but Judge Marty Monroe saw it five rounds for each, while Judge Frank Forbes gave each fisgiter four rounds and called two ev n.

The Loni, Island lad, who lost a close verdict to Greco in Novem- ber. Was down for counts of two and seven in the rugged second round which had the fans on rheir seats. but came back strong.

Several times the err-Canadian soldier had Ruffin in trouble, but rnch time Rufflll. who never llas been knocked out. battled his way out of trouble. and was the strong- er by far as the bout ended.

Rutiin took the first round eas- 11y. his left playing a tattoo on Greco's face, but late in the sec- ond the Canadkm hooked a left to the chin which sent the New Yor- ker down for two. He came up groggy and ran into a right to the chin which spilled him through the ropes, where he took a seven

coun .

1n the third Ruffin shook Greco several times without a return, and for the next three or four rounds they rested their heads on each others shoulder and slugged avmy.

In the eighth-s, wild left rirelv plenty of blood from Ruffinsmore than ample nose. but Ruffin coun-

tered with a rigllt which almcsiu,

closed Grecos left eye. Ruffill suf- fered a slight eye cut in the ninih, bu‘? won the 10th by s. country m e.

Snapshots from Canadian Sport Scenes

By SYD THOMAS Canadian Press Sfafl Writer

TORONTO, Doc. 15—(CP)_1A(1- vonce) —T‘hat recurring problem that always bothers Montreal Can- a. ens fans is perplexing Dink i-li ontreal Gazette; Carroll again, namely, why do Toronto Leafs ni- ways put up such a fight when they meet the Habitants? That, says Dink, is one of the "mysteries of a league full of mysteries." it must be itlose extra doses of blood and iron the Leafs were promised before tile season started.

Migration South: .

Reports from the west say that New Westminster Indestars, lust season's western Allan Cup final- ists wllo were edged out by Port Arthur, have moved ill a body to Seattle south of the border to car- ry on their activities. It's also rumored the boys may try for the Allan Cup again next spring. COlll- illg back to New Westminster and playing from that base if the rules permit it.

Long Walk: I

George Rcdding oi Hamilton. Ont.. who spent some little time on the hockey front ill Britain be- fore th. war, told Red Burnet of the Toronto Star how he quellcd a threatened strike of players on the other side. Redding quickly brought the boys, all ransplantcd Canadians, into line w en he told them if they didn't do as he sold their contracts would be broken and they would have to walk home.

Here to There:

It makes the next-to-the-ycung- er generation feel like Old-timers to learn that Hap Day of Toronio Leafs has been around the profes- siollal hockey ranks for 20 years now. .».Leafs are expecting John- ny McCrcedy back any day now. He has applied for his discharge from the R.C.A.F.. . .Neii Col- vllle, former New York Ranger, is well on the way back to the Biff League also. He will soon gradu- ate as aircrew member and go ln- to the R.C.A F. reserve. . .Th younger player who starts now to learn the goaltending trade will have far more chance of success than any incipient forward or de- fenceman, says Al (Montreal Her- ald) Parsley, looking over the cur- rent sparse crop of netminders.

esque old city had wagered on her at attractive odds. When she fail- ed to raise any speed at all in the first these city slickers came the Charters barns. and wanted to know what had-hap- pened to Grandma. why she didn't trot any faster. tagi "'f'hey brought on the rum, and Grandma guzzled a pint of 10': over-proof without batting an eye. although Mr. Charters insists she winked at him. a bit unsteadily, after gullng the swig. _.o-_

"Grandma," said owner Chart‘- ers. "isn't trotting any faster, be- cause she is mud at everybody. Grandma, in brief, has no liquor. She won't extend herself without her whiskey. and. in Charlottetown I can't get any whiskey. This town is drier th°n the Sahara desert.’

"'Would she gc for a spot of mm?’ inquired one of the operat- ors. ‘I have some rum in my car, the old black-strap. one shot of which will raise hair on a bald- headed rnan.’

.-Q_.

"She went out. won the next heat in a romp, took another slug of black-strap, won the deciding heat handily. and the $2,500 purse. After that. she won $25,000 in in purses. against which had to be written of‘! a few gallons of whis- key. although every time they gave Grandma whiskey. she cocked an

le of enquiring eye. as if to ask: ‘What!

oi that 800d ruml"'

‘ to the Pacific

Up Frorn With Greco

iifiilleasant ' Team Capture Hoop Series

Outscorlrlg their opponents 30to 23, Mt. Pleasant Air Force basket- ball team last night captured the exhibition home and home series from No. 2 A NS. squad of Chor- lottetown, taking the total-points series 65 to 61 after the Charlotte- town team had come through with a 38-35 win in the first game, play- ed at Charlottetown. Last night's game was played at the Mt. Pleas- ant station.

The game last night W85 6105B from start to finish with the win- ners cozning through in the latter part of the game to pile u}! their series victory margin. G lchrlst, fast, sharp-shooting forward of the Mt. Pleasant team led the scorers with 16 points. with Kaminsky leading the No. 2 A.N.S. attack.

Snead, Tied For First Place In Colf Tourney

1 RICHMOND, Calif. D60. l5-

(APJ-Slammin’ Sam Snead. the lnan with Vthe biggest punch in golf, staged an old fashioned garrison finish today to jump into a tie with darkhouse Jimmy Walk- up, San Antonio, at the halfway mark of the 72-hole Richmond open golf tournament.

Snead, the Hot Springs. Va.. hot- shot of the game. thipped in a 20-foot shot from ofi the green for an eagle 3 on the 18th hole. fr. gave him a second-round 69 and a ggéholc deadlock with Walkup at

Walkup, playing with second- hand clubs he purchased last week and unknown. unsung and there- fore lightly regarded. finished his second round early in the day. He had added a good 71, ppr 36-35 for the Richmond course, to his superior first round 6B. which put him to‘ the front of the field yes- terday.

Another low round racked up was a 35-34 made by Byron Nel- son of Toledo, Ohio, who with Snead and Sgt. Jim Perrier, Camp Roberts. Calif, was a ore-tourna- rlnent favorite. Sgt. Ferrier had a 1.

Toe Blake Moves Closer To Cowley In Scoring Race

Toe Blake of Canadierls collect- ‘ed two points Thursday night as Montreal tied 2-2 with Toronto ‘Maple Leafs. Blake now is only three points behind top-scorer Bill! Cowley of Boston Bruins. Ellncr Loch of Canadiens. who collectlrdl

Smith of Chicago and Gus Bod nar of Toronto. Maurice Richard of Canadians with 16 goals to his credit holds fourth position while Bill Jennings and Herb Cain, both of Boston, are sharing the cellar position.

Leaders:- Cowley, Boston Blake. Canndiens Lach, Canadlens Richard. Canadiens C. Smith, Chicago Bcdnar, Toronto Cain, Boston Jennings, Boston

Baitolo In Decisive Win Cver lloache

BOSTON, Dec. l6 — (AP) --Sal Bartolo of’ Boston ut on an artis- tic display of rig skill Mnight to ain an unanimous decision whi defending his national box- ing association featherweight cham- pionship against rugged Vlfilistlin’ Willie ltcache of Wilmington, Del. ‘fin e. 16 round bout at Boston Gar-

en.

@m:;m=52> u: "F

Remember When

By The Canadian Press

NEW YGIK Yflélke? went, do‘: oas neague

years ago today to pluck Tonv Laz- mi for the second-base position He handled the second sack untiI given his release in 1937 could become coach of the Chicago Cubs. Tonv is now out of basdoall

S0

Britons To llave More To Drink

IONDON. Dec. lS-(CP-Reuter) -Britons will have more to drink next year Spirits and wine are to be imported from Australia and) South Africa-l20,000 bottles of 1 brandy and 720,000 of hock. bur- ililhdy. port and sherry type wines every month.

Arrangements with these domin- ions have been made by the Min- iatry of Food.

that he in

Thursday night's City Hockey League game between the two Ail- Force teams was ihe talk of the town yesterday as rabid followers of the game discussed it pro and con. but always winding up with the opinion that it was one of the best hockey games seen here int recent years.

O O

So close was the battling that the game could have gone either way and everyonewould have been

perfectly satisfied. that is from the -

spectators‘ viewpoint. Summe rde very nearly went into the lead in the last few seconds of the second period as they broke through, but the timers bell saved the winners at the time although the puck did roll into the net. but after the referee's whistle had ended the period. O O

It was happenings such as this one. plus the rugged brand of play that the two teams dished out that kept the fans on their toes through- out every rninute. Times without number the puck would slide a- cross the open corner of the net just a matter of an inch short from going in. The crowd would gasp and then suddenly the tide would change as the play swung back to the other end of the rink with lightning-like swiftness.