Show = A GAMBLERS NERVE i PIttsburg Phils retirement from the turf is not In the naluro of any posl l llvely last and final Patti farewell but the real thinS said n Washingtonian who Is Intimately acquainted with Georgo E Smith tho famous turf plunger who Binder Bin-der the sobriquet Plllsburg Phi has been n distinctive figure on the American turf for about a decade and a half So far as heavy speculation goes Smith Is through with the game Ho Is a man of admirable commonsoiisc and although ho has a temperament of Ice and nerves of steel he told me in the course of a quiet chat In his New York apartments last winter that he felt that the game had begun to mako Inroads upon his ncr voua system and that many years ago he had determined to give up horse speculation spec-ulation when he felt this sort of thing happening to him George Smith Is easily worth a million and 0 half all but 100 of which ho mado out of the horses The IO was money that he earned a LH wages while working asa as-a cork outterH apprentice In PIttsburg He saved the O up with the deliberate Idea of risking It on tho horse races Ho won from time beginning and baa never known a losing season Ho camo by his Plltsburg Phil nickname In a peculiar way After winning a couple of thousands In Plltsburg he gave up his corkcultlng job and went to Chicago where during thl winter season he risked his winnings In a poolroom That vas In tho days of auction pools and In making his wagers he fell Into tho habit of passing arers name aa Phil There happened to be another Phil who patronised that particular partic-ular Chicago poolroom and to differentiate differ-entiate between tho two the poolroom clerks put Smith down on their sheet as Plttsbtirjr Phil and tho nickname has otuck to him ever since Smith Is only 3 years old now and ho has always taken care of himself He scarcely drinks at all smokes only once In IL while and has made the care of his health his first object ever since ho became be-came prominent In the racing business He has nOr lost his head at any time throughout his extraordinary bolting career ca-reer Ho has employed business methods In his betting transactions ant the business busi-ness methods have won out for him Tho extent of his caution Is shown by tho fact that when he had made his frt 150000 ho Invested every dollar of I In the purchase of an annuity that gives him a handsome Income ITo doesnt hesitate to express the opinion that for most men tho horse game la a bad and often ruinous business I had nothing to lose when I went Into Itr he has often said to me I had no advantages of any sort and saw nothing almond of mo but n life spent in Inn In-n corkcutlcr3 wages r didnt mind the work but I wanted something better out of life an education for example Tho best thing that Ive pot out of my success on the turf Is the chance to pick up u Ive sono along a fair average education With nothing to lose and something to gaiu > then tho horse came stood no chnnco to damage me But It docs damage worso than that It absolutely destroyu cvcry year thousands of fellows of a different sort men of education and ability with their chances In life all open ahead of them They got the horse virus Into their systems and Im telling you that thats a powerful hard polnson to eradicate once It takes a good hold No man who has a gooU chance In life who Is able to chart out his way and sec something worth while at the end has any right to Ramble en Iho horses lo gamble at all In fact Ive had a lot of luck and havo contrived ant to keep my head above water and my health sound but If I had a family of eons I think Id come dangerously qloge to preachlfylnc In warning them of tho dangers of th racetrack Its a mad manu name and thats n fact So thoroughly convinced has Smith always al-ways been o the ovll of horsclxsttlnc In its effect upon the average man that throughout his racing career ho has been averse to have the newspapers publish timings concerning his personality and particularly tho stories of his great turf winnings t Such stories ho has often told me aro bound to inflame time minds of young fellows and got them daffy on tho ouns It causes them to grab at and run away nnt with tho len that there are millions In horscraco gambling for nil hands nnd It makes me sore to think of how many decent fellows have gone to the dogs through reading of my luck In tho newspaper news-paper stories and endeavoring to siring along after the style of my name 1 Plttsburg Phils first gioat winning was made on tho horse King Cadmus at Brighton Beach When he went to Now York from Chicago with something over 2000 he looked over the ground with his characteristic caution for some time b fore he risked a dollar Ho obtained a pilvatc line on all of the horses running run-ning at Brighton Beach When thIs King Cadmusi race camo along he had his nerve with him and he was ready Ho was convinced that nothing In the raco could beat the King and he put his entire 2000 on the horse straight at 10 to 1 King Cadmus won In n wall and Plttsburg Phil has had hiM feet on the high rungs of tho ladder ever since There has been really n comparatively small element of luck In connection with the mans huge successes as r turf gambler Ho has nearly near-ly 1 as fine an eye for a horsu and n horses condition ns tho Incomparable John Madden Mad-den for one timing and In the second place he pays staggering sums for inside Informallon not Informallon au to Jobs and that ort of thinG but a to the con dition of horses owners Intentions respecting re-specting them and so on He only let on races In which he secs a winning chance nail I have seen him nit In tho Bland for two weeks at a stretch without ever making r wagen Ho rarely takes less than 2 to 1 on a honta although ho Is by no means C longshot player I would be Impossible to exaggerate tho coolness of the man Lasl summer 1 stood bcslclo him on tho lawn Just after n race when tho jockey whose horso finished second went Into tho stewards stand and claimed n foul against tho horse that had finished first After lout ton minutes discussion In tho Bland the number of the winning borne was lakon down and that of llio fouled second sec-ond horse put In Its place I 5 That makes a difference of JO000 tome to-me quietly remarked Smith HIt face was absolutely exprcsslonloM and I clonl believe tIm shrewdest reader of physiognomies on earth could havo detected from a close scrutiny of the man face whether thnt difference of MOOfiy was a Winning or a losing him S A forty thousand loseout I asked i No win he said I played the acc pac and horse And the lawn wan cluttered with men who wero throwing their hats up In tho air because of the disqualification making dIHqlnlt aton them winners of from J10 to J20 mainG Washlnston Star rO |