Horse Lovers and the War

Racing Men Serving Their Country With Special Training

H. A. BUCK

IT is in the Remount Department of the army, which is in charge of the purchasing, schooling and training of the horses and riders to be used for military service in the cavalry, artillery, transportation and other similar branches, that the experienced racing or hunting man is proving himself of inestimable service to the Government. Those in authority at Washington, realizing at the beginning of the war the value of expert knowledge in this important branch of the army, and desiring to secure the services of gentlemen far removed from any suspicion of taking advantage of their position as Government purchasing agents, and equipped with a practical knowledge of horseflesh, requested the Jockey Club and National Steeplechase & Hunt Association to furnish a selected list of those thought most competent and willing to serve in the above department

A list of names was sent to the proper officials in Washington, of which number sixteen, after passing the necessary physical and mental tests, were given commissions as Captains. From Front Royal, Va., one of the Government breeding establishments, after a short period devoted to their instruction as to the various types desired, these gentlemen were sent broadcast throughout the country to fill their difficult job of purchasing suitable horses. There was, as might have been expected, a great dearth of horses and mules of the right type to be found at any Government price, but the countrywide search of these new recruits to army service has been rewarded with a great measure of success.

The list of these army remount officers, all of whom have been commissioned as Captains, includes such wellknown and well-informed turf enthusiasts as Fletcher Harper, James W. Appleton, Lewis E. Waring, William Littauer, Joseph E. Davis, F. S. von Stade, Harry La Montague, A. J. A. Devereux, H. I. Nicholas, W. Scott Cameron, Wm. C. Morrow, John E. Valentine, Henry L. Bell, W. Plunkett Stewart, Ral Parr, R. Penn Smith, Jr., Howard H. Henry, Jr., and Eugene Reynal.

IN the racing world, Captain Ral Parr of Baltimore is well known, as he has been racing a successful flat as well as cross country stable for some years. His steeplechase stable has contained more high-class winners than his flat race stable, as it has included such good jumpers as Shannon River, Exton, Robert Oliver, Ticket of Leave, Warlock, and Captain Parr. Harry LaMontagne, a partner at one time in the Chelsea stable with his cousin, the late Ernest La Montagne, raced with some success a cross country stable containing such good performers as Beau Broadway, Swish and Traditioner, and later went to France where his colors were rapidly becoming well known when the war broke out.

Captain Joseph E. Davis has been a noted character in the amateur and professional turf world for years. A West Virginian by birth, grandson of Henry G. Davis, once a Vice-Presidential candidate, Captain Davis had the unique, distinction of having one of his stable win at 100 to 1. Later he witnessed the much more satisfactory victory of his jumper "Brooks" in the $10,000 Manley Memorial Steeplechase at Pimlico last fall.

There are, among the members of the Turf and Field Club—composed of gentlemen interested in racing—many who are now devoting themselves to Red Cross and other work connected with the army. Among the most prominent of these is Grayson M. P. Murphy, until recently the supreme head of the Red Cross abroad, whose business efficiency, personality and powers of organization have already distinguished him. Other members whose activities abroad are to be noted are Joseph S. Stevens, Ralph J. Preston, and James A. McCrea, General Manager of the American Railway Operating Department in France.

In this country, among the Turf and Field Club members who are doing their bit and accomplishing much for the Government in their various capacities, are John McE. Bowman, President of the Hotel Biltmore, now Assistant to Food Conservator Hoover, in charge of all food matters pertaining to hotels and railroads throughout the country; also Charles K. Harrison, Jr., of Baltimore, who has volunteered his services to the same department; J. Searle Barclay, Jr., connected with the War Industrial Board at Washington, and Major Philip M. Lydig.

Judge Martin J. Keogh, whose four sons are abroad in the first expeditionary force, deserves mention, as well as William K. Vanderbilt, now abroad, who has shown his interest in the Red Cross recently by donating $200,000 for immediate use in Italy.

OTHER prominent members are the late Ambassador to Germany, the Hon. James W. Gerard, always present when in this country at all great thoroughbred contests, and Colonel Cornelius Vanderbilt. Also Major Robert Bacon, ex-Secretary of State, and exAmbassador to France, now on General Pershing's staff.

As President of the Jockey Club Breeding Bureau, which is doing such excellent work in improving the breed of horses suitable for army service and officers' remounts, Mr. F. K. Sturgis, President of the Turf and Field Club, is contributing his share towards the successful prosecution of the war. Mr. John G. Livingston, for many years Secretary of this, the premier sportsman's organization of this country, once a regular army officer, has returned to the service and is now on General Hoyle's staff at Governor's Island.

LAST, but not least, are Bernard M. Baruch and A. Fillmore Hyde, of the War Industries Board, one of the most important departments connected with the war service outside of the President's Cabinet. Mr. Baruch owned a stable of thoroughbreds last spring, but disposed of it on entering Government service. Mr. A. Fillmore Hyde is the Master of the Essex Fox Hounds at Peapack, N. J., and is well known in the hunting' field and horse world.

There are many others who could be cited among the ranks of American sportsmen, but the space allotted to the present article is too short even to permit the mention of their names.