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About The Evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942 | View Entire Issue (June 7, 1941)
I ' ' ......... . r t Bangtails First Sport In Klamath Hon Racing Began Hirt In 1879; First Track Whara Poitofflca Standi By BOB LEONARD In 11)70 Abncr Doublcduy's eplo Idea of 40 yours beforo hud Just flowored Into the formation of baacbaU's first Icoguo the Natlonnl, the Rugby "scrum" wh iil)i)tit to bo abandoned In favor of crtido football scrim muiio line, and Dr. James A Nalsmlth had 12 years to no be fore sotting up hla flrat peach basket In a Springfield, Mum,, YMCA and originating tlio same of basketball. Rutherford Blrchurd Hayes, republican, had two ycura prcvl oualy succeeded Ulyasca S. Grunt and was In the mldat of serving hla one, and only, term a president of the United States It was the year ufter Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia and Ru- mania were mado Independent two ycura before Alexander II, Czar of Rusala, waa assassin ated by Nihlllat In St. Peters burg, and three years before France began construction on the Panama canal. In 1870, 900 souls were slowly building the town of Linkville and on July 4, 870, they held their flrat horao raco In snowstorm. HYE8TRAW TAMED EARLY DAY HORSE It snowed so hard on that In augural day tho horses were barely visible on the fur sldo of the track. One lad, a painter named Henry Webber, doffed his overcoat, hung It on a post for a brief minute and walked across tho track. When ha re turned It was gone. (Ed. noU He found It seven years later In the Walters hotel In Bonanza, "whereupon he took It away from the fellow wearing It. ) History Is reticent about the field In that first race but prob ably Kyestraw was somewhere close by. That great-hearted gray stallion, so revered he was burled In pine box near the county farm, was the basin's first race horse,.. Bred and raised at Oakland, Ore., ha was owned by Mark Bybye and stabled at the J. T. Miller ranch on Miller Island Records refer to him a.i a chanv pion but are meager about de tails. He was ridden once In a match raco by Judge A. L Leavltt, went from here to Salem, and In his last race, at Yreka, fell and killed his rider ALL-NIGHT DANCING UNDER XILLOWS Will . o' the wisp memory, reaching back over 62 years, puis me lint Klamath race track In several different places. The preponderance of evidence, however, leads to the present site of tho U. S. poatofflce with a half-mile strip running cross ing Oak to Walnut and Spring streets. There were no grandstands In those days, but bleachers with awnings mado of river willows lined one side of the truck. Af ter racing, attended by settlers from miles around, dancing went on all night under the wil low roofs. Thus were the beginnings of horse racing In tho Klamath dis trict. From there the turf trail has gone forward In spasmodic but persistent strides culmlnut- Ing In what appears to be the start of an annual thoroughbred venture by the Klamath Jockey cum. The next track to appear In the Klamath area was an oval paralleling the present Southern Pacific tracks with tho indues' stand placed where the S. P. roundhouse now Is. It was a "regulation" mllo strln with a high board fence running com pletely around. With the advent of the railroad, the track and surrounding property sold to tho ,s. p, . Another was soon built. In an early day real estoto move to throw the fairgrounds south, where the Sliaw-Bortrum mill now stands. This, Klamath's third track, was reported to be dangerous on one turn. Special trains were shunted to the field on raco days. CHASTAIN, SHOOK PIONEER JOCKEYS After comparatively brief xlstenco, this ono folded end another, according to one ac count, sprang up where the Tower theatre recently did the same. Tho present County fair grounds eventually superseded that one. . ' Stories of races, riders and horses Jibe with but little dis parity as pioneer memories in terlock to give a historical bang tall jigsaw picture, Of the old tlmo Jockeys, the names of George Chastaln, later and still a local attorney, and Billy Shook, early Klamnth rancher who died a few years ago, appear most frequently. In 1888 Chastaln, a youth of On of the greatest of Klamath's early race horses was Dick one of the most noted of pioneer horsemen. Sired by Shirley, who was owmd by former Sheriff Al Fitch, and out of Langell-owned mare, Dick Rusher ran his last race at the advanced age of 23, Attorney George Chastaln. another early-day Jockey, still has the Rusher's training saddle and shoes. Here's a view of four horses ent Southern Pacific grounds. 8. P. roundhouse. 17, used to come to Linkvllle from his ranch Job at Bly to watch Sunday races In which Ryestraw was usually tho main event. He rodo his first race In IBB!) on a dark bay horse called Big Jim and owned by the Nail brothers, two negroes from Langcll valley. The test was a one-half mile match raco against a little Coos county maro ridden by Billy bhook, by then an experienced Jockey. As was the custom in the late days of the last cen tury racing, the running start was used. JUMPS 21 FEET AT RACE START Shook, taking advantage of Chastaln's inexperience, started from fur down tho track, be yond what the Judges consider ed was a fair distance, so the horses were brought up to "toe tho scratch" meaning a stand ing start. As the starter's flag dropped, Big Jim bounded 21 feet, there' by taking a lead Shook was never nble to overcome. Later Chastaln, together with Sam Walker, purchased Ten brook, on ornery but durable gelding foaled in Coos county, from a breeder named Abe Ten brook who had given up after several unsuccessful attempts to handle him. Tcnbrook, with Chastaln up becamo the turf scourge of Southern Oregon In succeeding years. At Central Point In a match raco against Sleepy Dick, ho ran a 38-milo dead heat In 35 seconds, one-half second off world's record time. Again at Central Point, tho Klamath horso and rider scored nn eosy victory over an unknown bang' tall manned by Jimmy Coburn, at that tlmo ono of the west's leading riders. CHASTAIN QUITS HORSE RACING It was Tcnbrook who was al most responsible for an early demise of tho young horseman Bnd it happened when Chas taln was riding against his own horso In a match raco at Bon anza. A 34-mile test had been ar ranged between Tcnbrook and Oakwood, owned by Louis Gcr- ber and slated to bo ridden by ono, Irv Short, a Gcrbor boy. At race time, Short backed down, reportedly afraid of his boss' mean colt, so the Jocks traded mounts. With tho brenk Tcnbrook was out in front with Chastaln vig orously spurring Oakwood on tho Inside, At 100 yards Oak- wood suddenly took off toward tho roll, along which spectators buggy teams had been tied, and smashed headlong Into Gcrbcr's own pair. Chastaln, tossed . over his R' ' ' . : f T-k. ' 'iff ' w I'.'Jw.Vi I Litt'-j -nfi ismm H 1 1 tiVaw if ssii nmnf That Strawberry Roan Klamath's Second Track La)sa pounding toward the wire on the The Judges' stand, shown at right, As He Was Then rr-. Attorney George Chastaln was a young 120-pound Jockey in the late 1880's when Klamath Falls racing was in its Infancy. Co-owner of Tenbrook, a mighty horse of his day, the pair be came the scourge of southern Oregon racing by whipping all competition in sight. Here's a rare and ancient picture of horse and owner. Note old fashioned long stirrups, used until Tod Sloan first Introduced the shorter type which are used today. mount's head, landed on the buggy tongue which broko the team loose. On the dead run down tho track ho tried to climb aboard one of tho runaways but fell under the flying hoofs, suf fering a broken noso and a bad ly battered face, But for a scries of three match races against Billy Shook a year later which Chastaln won, this was his last ride. EARLY DAY "FIX" RECOUNTED High in tho memory of the veteran attorney Is tho story of an early day "fix." It seemed Arthur Nichols, a pioneer breeder, owned a colt which hp thought was better than exceptional and scheduled two match races against a better horse. In the first, Nichols' colt handily whipped tho other and a $200 bet was placed by both parties on the second heat which tho oldor horse won with sur prising ease. It later developed the win ning gentlemen - had weighted the left forefront and right-rear hoof of his camel for tho first heat and replaced tho lead shoes for the second race, Tularo Chief, snjd by old-tim Rusher, owmd by Billy Shook. 4 track which stood on the pret was located on the site of the ers to have been undefeated In Klamath racing, was the center piece in another controversy which almost started a Bonanza feud, . NEWS OF "FIX LEAKS OUT The big boy gelding was own ed by Henry Jackson, a prom inent Indian of his time, and was the odds-on favorite in a purse race at Bonanza against several other locally-owned horses. With Chief money begging for a call, an opportunist of the per iod had contrived to get close enough, what with firewater and greenbacks, to the Chief's native ridor to assure tho favorite's de feat In tho first hent. With this In mind, ho snapped up the waiting change. News of the "fix" leaked out however, and Just beforo roco tlmo Judges Gerbcr and J. O. Humuker substituted another rider, tho Chief won, and the opportunist and tho informer entered Into a year of absolute silence which, happily, ended without gunplay. Tho reputations of other early bangtails, heightened with the mellowing of 80 years, come down to the present. There wos Lcora, owned by, I An old picture of the Mammoth stables, owned by a horseman named McLaughlin. It was located on Main street near Link And U&? i & AMP Coming around the near, and dangerous, turn at the Klamath's third raco track . axe four women in an early ladies' day competition. One of the riders is Mrs. Vera L. Rose, then Miss Vera Crisler, who is still a resident of Klamath Falls. The track was on the present site of the Shaw-Bertram mill on the shores Sam Walker, a gray mare which "wheezed as she breathed." Dis temper had made her short- winded' so a silver tube was forced down her throat. She once ran a I mile in 34 seconds carrying 128 pounds. ALTAMONT NAMED AFTER STALLION There was Klamath, a trotter half-owned by Hamaker, which set an early record of 2:07. He was called "Eat 'cm up Cookie" for the way in which ho rallied in the last quarter, once trotted a final quarter in 29 seconds. There was Altamont, a black stallion for whom the Altamont district was named and Delia Walker and Lulu Riggs, owned by Marion Barnes and the found ation of many present strains Dolly V who always ran on a straight track Dun Doc, a buck skin raised by Bob Anderson of Merrill. He always came in second Moose, a full brother of Altamont Hot Stuff Bessie and Philip Fair. Romantic names in every pioneer's memory. Owners, breeders and follow ers crop up with every early recollection. GERBER WINS OWN MONEY Lou Gerber, who brought Oakwood from Salem, put up a purse for his first race, and won his own money back when Oak wood whipped the field Scldon Ogle, breeder-trainer of the horse Klamath, and Billy Clark, his trainer Jim Glick, owner of Ryestraw Oregon Represen tative Bingcr Herman, G, V. Van- riper, McKinncy and J. T. Mil ler, all of whom brought horses in from Oakland, Ore., when Linkville racing opened. John Simmons, pawed to death by his horse Harry Gwynn Ale Vinson, still living in Lan gcll valley, who inherited Harry Gwynn Jim Dodd, Silas Oben choin, W. O. Smith, Alva Lewis, C. P, DcLap, Sam Walker noted as the owner of Tenbrook, one of Linkvillc's first deputy sher iffs. Names and more names. Some hove lived and grown. Others have faded with the years. But intact still in Klamath Falls Is the horse tradition they established in Linkville in 1879. GRADE A GIRLS BATAVIA, 111., iff) When school authorities began check ing on the senior class personnel for selection of a valedictorian, they were stumped momentar ily. They discovered that six girls had received straight "A" grades in their four years so they compromised and an nounced there would be no vale dictorian. BUTTERFLIES A 40-mile-wlde flight of but terflies streamed through Cali fornia for three days in 1924. Their number was estimated at 3,000,000,000. Early Day Stables 1 , i: river across from where the The Ladies Rode, -,J of Lake Ewauna. . Writer Recalls ,Y ' , ! '" i. "m.t w I Of 'Woodchopper of Doom' (Editor's note: Perhaps more than any other American in re cent years, Louis P. Lochner, chief of the Associated Press bureau in Berlin, had the confi dence and friendship of the for mer Kaiser ond the Hohenzol lern family. In the following dis patch, Lochner recalls some of his impressions and conversa tions with the woodchopper of Doom during more than a de cade). By LOUIS P. LOCHNER BERLIN, June 6 (VP) My personal contacts w:th Wilhelm II date back to 1928 when the former German ruler was in his 69th year. , From all I'd heard and read about the Kaiser, I expected to find an austere, unapproachable, self-willed, opinionated, haugh ty, fire-eating, merciless indi vidual. Instead I encountered a mel lowed, affable, sociable old gen tleman a man who captivated one by the charm of personal ity, who listened eagerly to what anybody coming from the outside brought into the quie tude and uneventfu'.ness of his exile, who occepted his lot in humility, whose concern for others was often touching. - Time and tribulation evident ly had changed greatly this erst while self-reliant autocrat. Never once while I was at Doom did I hear one bitter word said about America nor about England, who in the last analy sis was responsible for his de thronement. On the contrary, he seemed genuinely happy when on the occasion of his 75th birth day anniversary the late King George V and Queen Mary for the first time sent him congrat- u 1 a t o r y messages familiarly signed "George and Mory," thereby Indicating bygones were bygones. One day during the Italian Ethiopian war he said to me with great concern. "I don't understand the English. They're otherwise always so clever about winning other peo ples over to their cause. Why don't they rouse the Mohamme dan world against Italy." Noting my surprised look he continued, "The trouble is they don't remember history. Why, when some of Mohammed's fol lowers in 622 sought refuge from . persecution, the then Ethiopian king took sides with Mohammed and gave the pro phet's followers shelter. Mo hammed never forgot this and enjoined upon Moslems every where not to harm any Ethio pian. You see how easily Eng land could have reminded the Moslem world of this historic cDisode and stirred it up against Italy as the country making war upon the great prophet s friends." ' As regards thO.Unlted States, ",,,s ,J Baldwin hotel now stands. Too -4 Impressions Wilhelm followed its progress and development with the great est interest ... I was a luncheon guest one day at a time when the midwestern dust bowl was causing great concern to the ad ministration. "I've seen this coming for some time," Wilhelm observed "In Germany we've always paid the greatest attention to refor estation. In your country I fear the forests were ruthlessly cut down with no concern for the future. The dust bowl was in evitable. We should gladly have loaned you some of our ex perienced foresters." I reminded him that a quarter- century ago President C. R. Van hise of the University of Wiscon sin had written a sensational volume on "the conservation of our natural resources," . for which he was denounced as a radical. His warnings, I said, then went unheeded but present ly America was engaged in great public reforestation, river regulation and amelioration projects such as the TVA. Wilhelm nodded, "You're on the right track now," he ob served, adding he was familiar with Vanhise's work. The aged monarch spoke Ger man and English interchange ably, now accosting me in his, now in my language. His accent was Oxonian. One day we were talking about reforestation when there was a big national congress of German divining rod specialists at Wiesbaden. The aged emper or observed, "Of course I don't believe in many claims of the divining rod people such as their being able to discern diseases with their rods and so on. But there is one thing about divining rods; they indicate where there ore subterranean springs about whose existence we might oth erwise not know. Now, it's very important in planting trees to know whether or not sucn springs are underneath. "Some trees die of too much water while others need more than Is yielded by ordinary rains. Hence before starting out on a new forest project I often had divining rod experts sum moned to search for subterran ean springs." STUBBORN UNTO DEATH PHILLIPS, Wis., W) Stream lined automobiles have their dis advantages, Willard Maderich, 26, of Phillips, discovered to his sorrow. When his car crashed into a mule roaming a nearby high way, the animal rolled up the front of his car, smashed through the roof, and landed in the back seat. Madcrlch then was confronted with the weighty problem of re moving his dead passenger. Klamath Lad Radio Man On Clipper Morris Slusier Writes Of Experiences Aboard ' Trans-Atlantic Plana "Time went so fast during tha week I was away it didn't seem if I d been to Eurone and back," Morris Slusser, - radio operator on the Atlantic Clipper, wrote to his parents in Klamath Falls. June 1," after his first 'S crossing in the& ' ing boat. Slusser, who graduated from Klamath Union high school In 1931, has been employed by Pan - American for three years at New York and has flown about 14,000 miles In rMln- pers, including f. three Bermuda t ine i ii g n i from here (New York) to Lisbon and back took 58 hours," Slus-f ser wToti-. "ttrreT"" took longer than It. , r usual on the trip fiMSumt back because of Morris Slusser headwinds. Ambassador Winant was aboard on the return trip. Once I was sitting in a seat be side him reading an article about him in Reader's Digest which told how well he was known for sloppy appearance and it waa certainly correct. His suit didn't look as if it had been pressed for months." Slusser said in his letter that the Portuguese people in Lisbon have plenty of food, which other nearby countries lack, but that it couldn't compare with Ameri can food. "The people dont act as if they expect to have, their country invaded at any minute. The British, Germans and Ital ians still have airlines to Lis bon." , - Flying - the Atlantic doesn't seem any different than flying any place else, he Said, "except that we stay up ' longer at a time." . The longest stretch wsa 181 hours from Horta to Ber muda. The flight was the 326th for Pan-American across the At lantic. The round trip covers about 7000 miles. When the Clippers stop over at Bermuda, the crew stays at the best hotel with all expenses paid, Slusser says, including al lowance for tips. The flight is usually at 8000 feet, but once on the trans-Atlantic trip the plana flew at 10,500 to keep above the clouds. 'Chutists' Heart Action Studied By Scientist PORTLAND, June 7 (U.R) A famed University of Chicago scientist isn't going to tell what happens to a parachutist's heart when he falls through space- it's a national defense secret. Dr. Anton Julius Carlson, physiologist known to hundreds of Chicago students as "AJax," arrived in Portland today to give the commencement address tomorrow night at the .Univer sity of Oregon medical school. We ve come to a conclusion about what happens to a para chutist's heart before the chute is pulled open, but it's not for publication. We ve agreed with the army and navy to keep it secret for the present," he said. Dr. Carlson told how experi ments with a veteran army para chute jumper had been mado over a series of months at tha Chicago airport in conjunction with Dr. A. C. Ivy ' of North west university. A technique for chute Jump ers to fall feet down and not head first has been perfected by Dr. Carlson, but he scid that also is a military secret. The physiologist said he . has been studying diets "as they af fect the process of growing old." We have no conclusions but indications to date," he said. But the evidence is that over eating shortens life and modest eating lengthens it." : ' COSTLY CAPRICE NEW ROCHELLE, N. Y., (P) While Frank Visclo restrained firemen from smashing a glass door to' get into his blazing drug store, flames did $8000 worth of damage. Arrested on a disorderly con duct charge, Visclo explained: "I just didn't want my door broken, fire or no fire." BURBOT ALIASES ' ' In New England and the Great Lakes region waters, the burbot, fresh-water member of tho cod family, also is known as the ling, the eelpout and the loslj. . V'1 1 n u i
