BETTING MEN, AND HOW THEY ARE SWINDLED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9160, 15 September 1888, Page 1 (Supplement)

BETTING MEN, AND HOW THEY ARE SWINDLED.

What has happened in the doleful spring of this year? Ii» ISS7 a colt was brought out for the first time to run for the greatest ot all Turf prizes. As usual, some bagatelle of a million or thereabouts had been betted on a horse which had Avon several races, and thi.s animal was reckoned to be incapable of losing ; but the untried animal shot out and galloped home an easy winner. So little was the successful brute distressed by his race that he began to caper out of sheer light-heartedness when he was led back to the enclosure, and he very soon cleared the place in his gambols—in fact, he could have run another race within half an hour of the lirst one. In the autumn this same winner strained a ligament; but in spite of the accident he ran for another important prize, and his lightning speed served him in good stead, for he came in second for the St. Leger Stakes. Well, in the spring this animal was entered in a handicap race, and tho weight which he had to carry seemed so trilling that good judges thought he must romp over the course and win with ease. Hundreds of thousands of dolts rushed to wager their money on this chance, and the horse's owner, who is anything but a fool, proceeded to back his own property lavishly. Xow, a certain number of the betting-rogues appeared to know something —if we may be pardoned for using their repulsive phraseology—and, so long as anyone was willing to bet on the horse, they were ready to lay against him. Still the pigeons would not take warning by this ominous system ; they had chances enough to keep clear of danger, but they flocked into the snare in their confused fashion. A grain of common sense would have made them ask, " Why do these shrewd, hard men seem so certain that our favourite will lose '! Are they the kind of persons who risk thousands in hard cash unless they know particularly well what they are doing ? They bet with an air of certainty, though some of them must be almost ruined if they have made a miscalculation ; they defy even the owner of the animal, and they cheerfully give him the opportunity of putting down thousands if he wishes to do so. There must be some reason for this assurance, which at first sight looks so very overweening. Better have a care !" Thus would common sense have counselled the victims ; but, alas, common senss is usually left out of the composition of tho betting-man's victim, and the flood of honest money rolled into the keeping of men who aro certainly no more than indifferent honest. Tho day of the race came ; the great gaping public dipped their hands in their pockets and accepted short odds about their precious certainty. When the flag fell for the start the most wildly-extra-vaganb odds were offered against the " favourite" by the men who had been betting- ag-ainsc him all along, for they saw very soon that they were safe. The poor brute on whose success so many thousands

depended could not even gallop ; he trailed on wearily for a little, without showing any signs of his old gallant fire and speed, and at last his hopeless rider stopped him. This story is in the mouths of all men ; and , now perhaps our simpletons may be surprised to near that the wretched animal which was the innocent cause of loss and misery was poisoned by a narcotic. Iα his efforts to move freely he strained himself, for the subtle drug deprived him of the power of using: hi? limbs, and he could only sprawl and wrench his sinews. This is the fourth case of the kind which has recently occurred ; and now clever judges have hit upon the cause which has disabled ?o many good horse?, after the rascah of the Ring have succeeded ib laying colossal amounts against there. Too many people know the dire effects of the morphia injections which are now so commonly used by weak individuals who fear pain and ennui; the same deadly drug is used to poison the horses. One touch with the sharp needlepoint under tho horses elbow, and the subtle, numbing poison speede through the arteries and paralyses the nerves ; a beautiful creature that comes out full of fire and courage is converted in a very few minutes into a dull helple33 mass that has no more conscious volition than a machine. The animal remains on its feet, but exertion is impossible, and neither rein, whip, nor spur sarveß to stimulate the cunning poisoner's victim. About the facts there can be no dispute ; and this last wretched story supplies a copestone to a pile of similar tales which has been in course of building during the past three or four years. Enraged men have become outspoken, and things are now boldly printed and circulated which were mentioned only in whispers long ago. The days of clumsy poisoning have gone by; the prowling villain no longer obtains entrance to a, stable for the purpose of battering a horse's leg or driving a nail into the frog of the foot; the ancient crude devices are used no more, for science has become the handmaid of scoundrelism. When in 1811 a bad fellow squirted a solution of arsenic into a locked horse-trough, the evil trick was too clumsy to escapa detection, and the cruel rogue was promptly caught and sent to the gallows; but we now have horse-poisoners who hold a secret similar to that which Palmer <5f Rugeley kept so long. We say "a secret/' though every skilled veterinary surgeon knows how to administer morphia and knows its effects ; but the new practitioners contrive to send in the deadly injection of the drug in spite of the ceaseless vigilance of trainers, stablemen, detectives, and all other guards. Now, we ask any rationa 7 man who may have been tempted to bet. Is it worth while ? Leave out the morality for the present, and tell us whether you think it business-like to risk your money when you know that neither a horde's speed nor a trainer's skill will avail you when once an acute crew of sharpers have settled that a race must not be won by a certain animal. The miserable creature whose case has served us for a text was tried at home during the second week of April; he carried four stone —fifty-six pounds—more than the very useful and fast horse which ran against him, and he merely amused himself by romping alongside of his opponent. Again, when he took a preliminary canter before the drug had time to act, he moved with great strength and with the freedom of a greyhound ; yet within three minutes he was no more than an inert mass of iiesh and bone. We say to the inexperienced gambler, draw your own conclusions, and if, after studying our words, you choose to tempt fortune any more, your fate—your evil fate—be on your own head, for nothing that we or anyone else can do will save you. Not long before the melancholy and sordid case which vre have described, and which is now gaining attention nnd rousing curiosity everywhere, a certain splendid steeplechaser was brought out to run for the most important of cross-country races. He was a famous horse, and. like our Derby winner, he bore the fortunes of agoo.imany people. To the confusion and dismay of the men who made sure of his success, ha was found to be stupefied, and suffering from all the symptoms of morphia-poison-ing ! Xot long , ago an exquisite mare was brought out. to run for the Liverpool Steeplechase, and, like the two we have already named, she was deemed to be absolutely certain of success. She came out merrily from her box ; but soon she appeared to become dazed and silly ; she could not move properly, and in trying to clear her first fence she staggered like a soddened drunkard and fell. The rascals had not become artistic poisoners at that date, and it was found that the poor mare had received the drug through a rather large puncture in her nostril. A great nobleman like Lord Hartington or Lord Rodney may amuse himself by keeping racers; he gains relaxation by running out from London to see his pretty colts and fillies gallop, and he needs not to care very much whether they win or lose, for it is only the mild excitement and the change of scene that he wants. The wealtliy people who go to Newmarket seek pleasant company as much as anything, and the loss of a few hundred hardly counts in their year's expenses. But the poor noodle who cm hardly afford to pay his fare and hotel-bill—why should he meddle with horses? If an animal is poisoned, the betting millionaire who backs it swallows his chagrin and thinks no more of the matter, but the wretched clerk who has risked a quarter's salary cannot take matters so easily. Racing is the rich man's diversion, and men of poor or moderate means cannot afford to think about it. The beautiful world is full of entertainment for those who search wisely ; then why should any man vex heart and brain by meddling with a pursuit which give 3 him no pleasure, and which cannot by any chance bring him profit? We have no pity for a man who ascribes his ruin to betting, and we contemn those paltry weaklings whose cases we study and collect from the newspapers. Certainly there are enough of them ! A man who bets wants to make money without work, and that on tho face of it is a dishonourable aspiration ; if he robs someone, we do not in the faintest degree try to palliate his crime—he is a responsible being, or ought to be one, and lie has no excuse for pilfering. We should never aid any man who suffered through betting, and we would not advise anyone else to do so. Our appeal to the selfish instincts of the gudgeons who are hooked by the bookmakers is made only for the sake of the helpless creatures who suffer for the follies and blundering cupidity of the deluded wouldbe sharper. We abhor the bookmakers, but we do not blame them alone ; the sight of means to do ill deeds makes ill deeds done, and they are doubtless tempted to roguery by the very simpletons who complain when they meet the reward of their folly. We are solely concerned with the innocents who fare hardly because of their selfish reckless want of judgment, and for them, and them alone, our efforts are engaged.—Family Herald.