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Show Dan Patch's Owner Dies of Broken Heart 5 S2 2 SS Affection of Man Returned by the Horse Successful Career of M. W. Savage, Turf King, Reads Like Romance. A FEW days ago there occurred a tragedy that no one save a real horseman can understand. Last Tuesday Dan Patch, the most wonderful pacer the world has ever known, died of an "athletic heart." The next day Dan's multi-millionaire owner, M. W. Savage, still a young man, at the zenith of his career, passed away. Those who knew Savage and who knew Dan Patch know that it was the death of the great pacer that resulted in the death of Savage. Dan died of an athletic ath-letic heart his master died of a broken heart. Few persons, save the horseman of the old school, ran appreciate the attachment at-tachment between the horse and the man. No father loved a child more than Savage loved Dan, and those who were acquainted with the horse and the man know that the love of Savage for his wonderful horse was warmly returned re-turned by the horse. Less than twenty-five years ago Savage Sav-age was the owner of a small secondhand second-hand store on Second avenue south in Minneapolis. The store was a small one and not very profitable. It was managed man-aged by his excellent, wife. Meantime Mean-time Savage drove a hack. There were no automobiles in those gay days and the old-time sea-going hack was at its best. It served its turn at christenings, weddings and funerals, and most of all was in constant demand late at night when it was a long time between owl ears. Too Gentle for Hackman. There are many old-time haekdrivers in Minneapolis today who are either driving taxicabs or sitting on the curb sadly observing the march of progress who wdll tell you that Savage didn't make much monoy as a hackdriver. He was too busy looking after his horses. He nursed them as tenderly as a mother would a baby. He wouldn't keep them out long hours and he would rather have a competitor take a hurry-up job than chance the risk of straining 'his team. Savage was very careful about the diet of his horses, and from a number num-ber of well-known veterinary remedies he evolved a relish for his horses that proved particularly palatable to his animals an-imals when they were out of sorts. He mixed the ingredients at home and pro-pared pro-pared them on the kitchen stove at the rear of his little second-hand store, which was his dwelling as well as his tiny business house. Other haekdrivers learned of Sav-ago's Sav-ago's .mixture and of the success he was having with it, using it for his own horses, and they begged some of it f or their teams. The result was so satisfactory that his mixture became quite famous among the hackdriving profession. At the suggestion, of a M. W. SAVAGE -t f " v. A ? " r I 1 . f yV r - I r ' - 1 I 4 I ? ' - : u I - r 1 j ,j I . 1 3 I " t ' i I f ' v ? 1 1 fiu- ts jyMxi& j friend he patented the formula and placed the food on sate at Ms store. His business grew so that he dropped the hackdriving business and devoted his attention to making the food. Soon nothing was cooked on the kitchen stove save this "conditioner" and nothing else was sold at the tiny store. Mixture Becomes Famous. Clever advertising contributed to Savage 's success. Many persons, not so very old, remember Savage driving about Minneapolis in a trim, highly colored col-ored buggv drawn by a team of perfectly per-fectly matched bays, the rig bearing the slogan, "International Stock Food, Three Feeds for One Cent." As if by magic the business grew. He built a small plant and employed a score of men. A dozen more were put in the field as salesmen and the market mar-ket was the entire United States. Orders Or-ders came rolliug in and Savage made more money than he had dreamed of before. be-fore. Suddenly he startled the public by purchasing the famous Minneapolis Ex-I Ex-I position building. This was a celebrated celebrat-ed municipal hall, on the banks of the Mississippi, beside the famous St. Anthony An-thony falls. It was here that the Republican Re-publican national convention nominated Benjamin Harrison after a spectacular battle over James G. Blaine. This famous fa-mous old building Savage made the fac- tory of the International Stock Food company, and the plant is still there, in what probably still is the most conspicuous con-spicuous building in Minneapolis. About -.that time Mr. Savage entered From Hackdriver to Possessor Posses-sor of Vast Property; Owned Famous Horses. the racing game. He had bought a stock farm near Hamilton, Minn., where he raised fancy horses and cattle and he began to acquire a string of reasonably rea-sonably fast harness horses. In 1903 against the advice of almost every Minnesota horseman he purchased Dan'Patch for ?t50,U00. A few days ago Savage would have laughed at the thought of parting with Dan Patch for $60,000,000. The horse was born in a livery stable sta-ble at Oxford, Ind., in the" summer of 1896, which made, him just 20 years old when he died. Although sired by the famous Joe Patchen, 2:01, it was not believed Dan had the makings of a champion. His mother, Zelica, though blooded, had been lame and hail only been in one race, losing that. Dan Messner, a well-known horseman horse-man of the Great Western circuit, purchased pur-chased Dan when he was a colt for a small amount, . and, recognizing speed, decided to develop the horse. He was placed under the training of John Wattles Wat-tles and given short trvouts over the stable track. His first race was at Oxford Ox-ford in August, 1900. He won the first heat and race easily and since then never was defeated in a full race. He finished that season touring the Great Western, winning everything. His fastest fast-est time was 2:07, made in a workout at Brazil, lud. Begins Wonderful Record. The next year Myron McHonry, a driver of reputation, took over Dan 's training. At Brighton Beach on August Au-gust 16, 1901, Dan lost his last heat. He finished fourth in 2:09. Dan came back, though, winning the next three, making mak-ing 2:04 in the last. From then tho stallion won everything at tracks in Windsor, Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus, Buffalo, Brighton Beach, Cincinnati, Lexington and Memphis. During the winter of 1901 McHenry bought Dan from Messner, paying $20,-0O0, $20,-0O0, a record price for a horse at that time. Messner declared that he could not afford to keep Dan any longer, for fear enemies might poison him. Dan was taken to New York for tho balance of the winter. Dan was campaigned as a racing horse in the spring and earlv summer of 1902. At Columbus, Ohio, 'August 2, that year, he made his first exhibition against time. His first record was made when he stepped the distance in 2:00, a half a second faster than his famous sire. Dan was known as one of the fastest voung pacers in the world in 1903. He had broken tho world's pacing record, rec-ord, only to have his own record surpassed sur-passed bv Star Pointer. That spring his time liad not been quite as good as before. It was thought that the colt couldn't stand the pace. Horsemen universally uni-versally advised Savage not to buy Dau Patch. But Dan and his new master wore soon the best of friends and the. horse in his new environment soon began to shatter records. The first season he brought his master in prize money five times his purchase price and was' once again the world's champion pacer. Each year he improved. Savage soon took him out of dangerous open races and paced him only against time. Mile in 1:55. ... Dan Patch's time for the mile is 1:55, easily the best record of any pacer since race tracks were first used. He made this record pacing against time at the Minnesota state fair grounds September Septem-ber 8, 1906. At the time this record was made there ivas some dispute as to its "official" "offi-cial" character. Now however, the mark is published in all the hooks as the fastest mile ever paced and is universally uni-versally accepted as the world's mark. The reason that the time was at first not recognized by the authorities who make the dope books is because it was reported that in this contest against time Dan Patch made the mark behind a windshield. The authorities fail to distinguish between a windshield and a dustshield. A windshield, of course, is a contrivance behind the Bulky in front of the pacer that would entirely shield the horse from the wind. On this occasion Dan Patch was raced by a running norse nitcnert to a sujkv. .Naturally .Nat-urally the runner, in galloping ahead of Dan, threw from its .flying hoofs clots of mud and dirt. To protect Dan from these, a tarpaulin reaching almost to the track was stretched between the wheels of the sulky just below the seat of the driver of the runner. Coming into the stretch the runner swung out and Dan Patch extended himself unpaced un-paced down the stretch and under the wire. Seven experienced timers snapped their watches in the stand. Five caught the great pacer at 1:55 flat and two at 1:55. At Lexington, in August, 1D0S, Dan was prevented from breaking his own record of 3:55 when one of his pacers. Cobweb, broke because of a burstod blood vessel in his eve. Dan made I lie quarter in 20 seconds flat and was at the half in Sfl'.i seconds, a 1:53 clip. It was at the three-quarter pole in 1:25, still at a 1:53 gait, but just as they turned into the stretch Cobweb broke and that threw Dan off his stride. Ho finished in 1:56',. Savage always said that this was Dan Patch's best effort, and he never tried to surpass it. For the next few years Dan appeared in several exhibition heats, but never tried for a new record. He easily annexed several freak records, such as pacing on half-mile and third, mile tracks, pacing on the straightaway and pacing under the saddle, nil of which he held at the time of his death. Dan a Pet. Dan Patch was the antithesis of the average high-bred race horse. He was always cool and always friendly. He loved crowd:;, adored children and above all else liked to be. petted. He whs a glutton for sugar and he ate it. at the hands of thousands in almost every st;tte in the Union. He traveled in a palatial private car and at race tracks where he appeared he lived in a wonderful glaa stall, from which he poked his head and flirted with al admirers. .Soon after getting Han Patch Pavnge bought the town of Hamilton. Not ail of it, of course, but enough of it so that the town promptly ceased to he Hamilton and for ten 'years has been 8avage. At Savage there is a regulation mile track, entirely covered over. It is a private traek for the workouts of tec Savagi string of fast, horses, instead in-stead of letting his horses grow stale in winter, or taking them south for win-tcr win-tcr he kept them in the bracing air (,i Savage and worked them out on the protei-ied track. Later Savage bought the Gi-ntrv Brothers' dog and pony show, which lie exhibited throughout the United stntes. II" aiso established one of the largest mail older house,- in the middle west and recently he built an extensive in-tc-urban line, the "Dan Patch Line." Mary other horses belonged to Savage, Sav-age, hut none e-.-(.r approached Jiap Latch in the heart of his master. Among the belter hiunvn of the other horses in the Savage stables were Cres'-cus, the v.-orld 'a greatest trotting stallion; George Gano, Hazel Patch, Pat'-hen Boy, Dan Patch Junior and The Broncho. |