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PageBUREAU COUNTY DEMOCRAT, Spring Valley, 111.Bureau County DemocratAt Joplin, there was plenty of excitement. TheIrace had been well advertised and Joplin fans were 2GKO L, HOFFMAN, Editor-Publisheriready to bet their shirts. The banker met our SpringSUBSCRIPTION:— $1.50 A YEAR IN ADVANCEOUTSIDE OF COUNTY:— $2Valley sports at the train and escorted them toIhotel. He confidently assured them that all arrange-ii^flstw«d m second class matter at the Po» toff ice at Spring Valley, Illinoisunder the Act of March 3, 1879.ments had been made as planned; and upon that assur- janee John put$2fhe had with him, confident jthat he would return home with $4,000 inifkickffflttfcl«tli«d WMklySam had brought nothing with him but his unmitigated \gall; but he had oceans of that.IOn the next day the race came off;not as our \Spring Valley boys had forseen. Instead of the JoplinAman “laying down”, he ran like a house afire- and wonby several yards. This was indeed a blow- a bolt fromthe blue-not even dreamed of. John’s credulity nev-IWhen Spring Valley Was Younger envisioned anything like this,“sucker”.He never expectedtoBut he was a good sport-neverbatted an eye. He took it with a Swedish stoicismI By GEO. L. HOFFMAN 1that was a revelation to his friends, and wanted theCARLSON'S F00T-RACERwhole affair hush-hushed,Hardly a week went by, in the old days, whenwasSpring Valley was not treated to a sensation of some drunk not a difficult accomplishment for Sam -And notleast absorbing was the mulcting;and blusteredof John Carlson, in a swindle foot-race, down at Joplin,no onebut it workedframe-up, whichwrong way. Afterssouri.sticking around Joplin a few days and nursing theirwasdisappointment, John and Sam came home- sadderof businessin the Valley Hotel building. He was|WIEer men*everybodyharmedhis life•lipped from his lips to entrancebrogue thatJohn’splacetin-horn gamblers, and themelodious din of poker chipstheanderouslygen-gularers wasftSam” Hornerthe hotel next door.proprietorwas Sam who introduced himto the sharpers who enveigledracer, whofcourse, could not lose. Whetherparticipant of thethatJohn wasand interested in John’s makingwaspositively known- butfany ratewasbeing privyfromAnywaywastoIn thosedays, foot-racingcurrencyresults, though aNgreatThat’s how John got“took in”. Those were the times when Soring Velievwasall kinds of itinerant footrace rsgent rynovisible means of support o-aining a semewhous living by mem ri Ii , and iuClio c Jthe especial protege of prosperous saloonkeepers. Mostof them had pleasant personalities, could tell risquestories well artd cadge enough free drinks throughoutthe day and night to make it profitable for the “house»*to keep them hanging around. Such a one- a foot-racer had attached himself to John andSamHornerOne day, a banker from Joplin, Mo., dropped intowaswas a tough town - tougher than Spring Valley thenwas, if that were possible the banker found compatible friends here, and as a result started an amiabledrunkOf course, he had plenty ofmoney and a disposition to spend it; so he became thebosomconfidedUnwittingly he hadasbecame an ideal banker; but once a year he liked to gofarSpring Valley ?At the time of the banker’s sojourn at John’splacehostelryno other saloonkeeper. Sam’sent for a protracted souse. Sleen. eats, and boosewere all under one roof.Now 't so happened that an itinerant foot-racerwas domiciled with John at the time, with whom thewoozy banker became intimate; and as there was afoot-raeer in Joplin who had been cleaning un everything in that vicinity, a conspiracy was hatchedere-fov the barker, John and Sam, and the foot racer, con'dclean up some coin of the realm.mhbanker claimedan intimate relationship with the Jo- lin athlete andassuredSpring Valley friends that when hereturned home, after sobering up, he would contactthe Joplin man and arrange for him to lose any proposed match for a specified sum. The scheme thenwas to bring John’s racer to Joplin, with plenty ofmoney to back him, for a 100-yard race, the acceptedstandard distance.The banker wasn’t long home, when the SpringValley conspirators received a telegram from him say-everythingThen “On To Joplin !” went the Spring Valley enthusiasts, John, Sam, with their racer, who claimed tobe a 10-second man and that his opponent didn’t haved ownanywaywaswasnever seen again. Byfiascothe IA wave of just this sort of thing was sweepingcountry at that time, and John should have beenwise to it—and he probably waswasgravyyou never know whether you are “in” or “out”.game
Newspaper Details
Spring Valley Bureau County Democrat
Spring Valley, Illinois, US
Thu, Mar 25, 1943
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
IL, USA 13 Jan 2022
Other Publications Near Spring Valley, Illinois
Spring Valley Gazette
Spring Valley Bureau County Democrat
