Allerton and Axtell

by Gary Lee Martinson

  There was a great conversation at the table and when Ethel asked who Clara’s family was, there was a deafening silence. Clara looked to Gilbert before she spoke, “My parents are Mr. and Mrs. Francis Groober. My father is owner of a brewery here in town.” Clara then added, “My father doesn’t like Gilbert and would be upset if he knew I was seeing him.”

  There was a moment of silence as everyone assessed the situation. Rachel then said, “I understand, my dear.” Ethel showed a sign unapproving of the deception. Rachel looked to her mother, “I don’t believe anyone here will be inclined to say you were ever here.” Emma was delighted to hear Clara wasn’t suppose to see Gilbert.

  The family was very impressed with Clara and invited her to visit them anytime, even if Gilbert wasn’t around. Gilbert walked Clara home that warm evening. She needed to be home before it got dark. She got home, but had forgotten her art material at the Morrisey’s. Her mother noticed, but did not to say anything.

  Chapter Twelve

  The Teacher and the Student

  Gilbert returned to Independence ready to get back to work. The enthusiasm of the people in Independence and Rush Park was high after the successful meetings last year. The town’s people gained a great deal of experience and wealth from the first meetings at the new track. Mr. Williams’s, planned to have a bigger meeting, which was received with great enthusiasm.

  Mr. Williams sent telegrams to head operator of Palo Alto, Robert Bonner for the use of the mare Sunol to mate with Allerton. He offered $10,000, but Robert Bonner was not impressed by the offer.

  During the spring, Mr. Williams had a lake built behind his house using cement and rock. The rock was purchased from Mr. Craft from Brainard and packed on train cars with cane stalks to prevent marring of the rock. He spent $1,000 to build a twenty-one thousand square foot concrete sidewalk circling, ‘Williams Lake’. There was a walk bridge to a small island in the middle of it and the water reached a depth of eight feet.

  He also had twenty-five elm trees transplanted to his estate around the home. Some of the trees were already a foot in diameter. The workman used two teams of horses and a derrick to move trees from other locations in Rush Park, costing $25 a tree.

  Mr. Williams also offered local breeders $2,500 to buy eighty acres of land within three miles of Independence to use as breeding farms. The first to take up the offer was J. E. Jewell.

  There were several other breeders planning to set up breeding farms. One of these farms was Bon Air Stock Farms, owned by J. F. Martindale, he purchased land west of town on the north side of the road to Jesup. This farm had a nice L-shaped two story house with two barns. One barn was large with two cupolas and the other was smaller with one cupola. There were several trees and bushes about the yard with several pastures divided by picket fences.

  Another farm was the Nursery Stock Farm owned by George L. Weeks. His farm was also west of town on the north side of the main road to Jesup. This farm had a large two story house built in three sections in a T-shape. There were three barns, one long and narrow, two were square and one had a cupola. There was a beautiful arrangement of trees with two rows of trees to the north side used as a wind break. A neatly arranged white picket fence surrounded the yard.

  Another one of the larger stock farms was owned by George Brooks, he called it the Pilot Grove Stock Farm. This farm was on the east end of town on the south side of main street. This had a two story square brick house with a large porch in front of the main house. There were three separate barns and nice pasture land for grazing.

  Allerton was jogged as often as possible through the winter, weather permitting of course. By mid April he trotted an eighth of a mile in :17 ½ seconds, an excellent time for early in the season.

  Mr. Williams wanted to print the best horse magazine dedicated to harness racing. So he purchased a building, that housed a barber shop and billiard hall, in downtown Independence on Chatham Street and named the magazine, ‘The American Trotter’.

  Mr. Williams hired an experienced editor to run the magazine, S. S. Toman. His local editor was M. A. Smith, and the business manager for the magazine was his brother-in-law C. B. Gildersleeve. The magazine employed a staff of twenty-five. ‘The American Trotter’ was an immediate success, having a distribution 15,000 copies of a 40 page first issue. It had a continued distribution of eight thousand distributed throughout the country.

  With the beginning of his new magazine, Mr. Williams advertised the greatest race meet ever held in the world. He offered the stakes and purses of $90,000 to be distributed into twenty-six categories. This was an unheard of amount for stakes given for any meet anywhere in the world. In comparison, the Chicago Stakes were considered high at a total of $30,000 in purses and stakes. He promoted his track as the fastest and safest on earth, with the records broken the previous year to back it up. The meet would be held for six days, starting August 24th of 1891.

  He also promoted a stallion race of the fastest stallion trotters in the country. He offered a $20,000 race to the winner of a, ‘Stallion free for all’. He encouraged the owners of Axtell, to participate. Axtell’s owners had not raced him since the purchase from Mr. Williams. Other horses invited to attend the stallion race were; Nelson 2:10 ½, Nelson was the World Stallion Record holder, Palo Alto 2:12 ½, owned by Leland Stanford, Stamboul Alvin 2:13 ½, Allabaster 2:14 ½, Alcryon 2:15 and 2:11 ½, Semi Colon 2:19 ½, and Allerton 2:13 ½.

  The response from horsemen around the country in regards to the meeting in August was immediate. Before long, Mr. Williams realized he needed to expand his accommodations for all the entries. He had accommodations for four hundred horses, however, the list had grown steadily through the spring and summer to six-hundred twenty-five horses. He went to the Independence Driving Committee informing them they would need to accommodate over two hundred race horses in town.

  The magazine advertised a new amphitheater being designed and built to accommodate ten thousand people. The amphitheater would have a band stand and private booths that were auctioned off for around $100. It was publicized that attending the meeting would be a great adventure for everyone, while being catered by the most hospitable people in America.

  Mr. Williams considered a plan to build a tunnel from the new amphitheater to the west to a second amphitheater on the east side of the track. He also seriously considered building a roof and possibly enclosing the half mile track. This would allow training to go on throughout the winter and give local horses an advantage over other parts of the country and equalize warmer climates of the country. Far fetched as these ideas may have seemed, they were taken seriously since Charles W. Williams was involved.

  There was a scare in town, when a rumor Mr. Williams was offered a bonus of $100,000 from an organization in Sioux City to set up a track. When Gilbert mentioned the rumor to Mr. Williams, he responded, “I have not finished building here.”

  Mr. Williams, anticipating the need for more cash to adequately fulfill the commitments he promised in stakes and future endeavors, felt it was necessary to sell part of his horse stock. He announced to the public he was to sell thirty-five of his horses in Lexington the following winter. He made it clear he was not in any financial problems. He also made it clear this would not interfere with his breeding trotting horses.

  When Clara finished school, she left for Independence to stay at her aunt and uncle’s home. She wasn’t needed at the café until July, so she spent June drawing or painting around town. She didn’t think she was very good, but she enjoyed doing it. Gilbert compliment her work, but she knew he wasn’t being honest and how would know if it was good or not. She would often get compliments from the people that saw her work.

  She also spent much of her time at the track with Gilbert. She would take her painting and drawing materials and use Gilbert’s apartment to change into some of his clothes so she could help him with the horses. She would recreate the scenes around the track in h
er drawings. Her favorite horse to paint was Ginger.

  Clara was not the only one drawing pictures in Independence. An artist from the national magazine, ‘Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly,’ was in town to draw scenes from the famous small city. The nation wanted to read and see the activity at Independence. This weekly printing had a circulation of over one half million around the country. This weekly newspaper gained great fame during the Civil War with news accounts and drawings of battlefields. The editor of the Bulletin, encouraged the citizens of Independence to take out an ad in the Leslie paper, to promote the hospitality of Independence.

  It was also in June a correspondent from the Chicago Herald would be visiting to write a story. The article appeared in the Sunday paper in late June. Most people who read the article felt the city was not portrayed in a favorable manner.

  Katie would often accompany Clara to Rush Park to help Barney continue learning to read. Clara helped Gilbert with feeding the horses in the south barn one day. They watched Barney and Katie sitting on a bench near the big cement water trough. Clara and Gilbert walked over to them.

  “How is the reading lessons going?” Clara asked.

  Katie smiled broadly, “Barney is doing very well.”

  “Good for you, Barney,” Clara said excitedly. She looked to Gilbert who was not paying attention. She nudged him.

  He looked at her, questioning the unprovoked attack. He soon recognized the proper response, “Barney, you are progressing very well, faster than most.”

  “Thank you,” Barney said without the hint of a stutter.

  There was an awkward quiet moment as they all stood there. Gilbert finally pulled Clara away and strolled off toward the main barn, leaving Barney and Katie to continue.

  Katie turned the page and encouraged Barney to read. Barney nodded as he read, “Then the layamb–,”

  Katie looked at the book. “Lamb,” She said, “the ‘B’ is silent in this case.”

  Frustrated by that the ‘b’ is silent, he spoke slowly, “Why is it silent?”

  Katie shook her head, “Nobody knows. It’s kind of dumb.”

  “It is one of those stupid rules ya-ya talk about,” Barney said.

  “Much of the English language is redundant and stupid in my opinion. I think a group of overly intelligent people got together and made up rules just to make others feel less intelligent than they are.” Katie pronounced before continuing, “There are letters that aren’t needed. Like the letter ‘C’. There are other letters that make the sounds the letter ‘C’ makes. What are those letters?”

  Barney thought for a moment, “Well, ‘K’ and ‘S’s’.”

  “That’s right,” she said with great pride. “You have done very well in learning how to read. I have also noticed you don’t stutter as much as you use to.”

  Barney was embarrassed by her last observation. “I thought I wa-wa-was’nt. But I wasn’t sure that ya-ya-you noticed.” He and Katie laughed. “I thought I was getting b-b-beeeetter.”

  “You are getting better,” she comforted, “I put pressure on you when I said that. That made you more aware of it. Anyway, I want you to read the rest of this book by Monday and mark lightly, in pencil, any word you aren’t sure of, or don’t understand. We will discuss those words then.” Barney escorted Katie through Rush Park until they found Clara and Gilbert. Then Clara and Katie walked back to town together.

  Barney said to Gilbert as they stood at the gate to Rush Park, “Can I talk to you?”

  “Sure.”

  “There’s a da-da-dance in a few weeks,” Barney paused as if fighting to finish his statement, “I wa-wa-wa-want to ask Ka-ka-ka-ka,”

  “Katie,” Gilbert helped him as he had in the past. Barney nodded appreciatively.

  “To go with me,” Barney said. He looked at Gilbert blankly. Gilbert was caught confused for a moment.

  “How are you two getting along with your studies?” Gilbert asked.

  “We-we-we get along well.” Barney said confused with the question.

  “Do you ever talk about other things? Walk around, pet the horses?” He could see Barney was confused by his questions and wasn’t readily able to answer them. “I mean, does she spend time with you, just goofing around? Being a friend? Not always like a teacher?”

  Barney thought for a moment, then spoke, “Sometimes.”

  “Does she seem to like being with you when you’re not studying?” Gilbert asked, then quickly added, “Be honest.”

  “I think so,” he said with reservations.

  “Let me say this,” Gilbert said seriously, “No one can tell for sure what is going on in someone else’s head. I sure can’t, especially a girl’s head. You will never have a clue unless you try. But we need to think about the consequences of asking her. If you ask Katie to the dance and she says no, are you still going to want to study with her?” As Barney began to open his mouth Gilbert quickly said, “Don’t answer that, because we need to think about her view as well.” Gilbert tried to put his arm over the shoulder, but Barney was much too tall, so he punched him lightly on the arm. “Let’s go sit down somewhere and really talk about this.”

  Barney nodded, “All right.” The two went and sat on the cement water trough. It was completely dark outside now and the crescent moon began to rise over the nearby tree line to the east. “You m-m-make this sound so com-compli-compli,” he rolled his eyes, “so hard.”

  “Let’s start with how you feel about her.”

  Barney smiled, “My ssssstomach would feel sick when I first knew her. She di-di-didn’t seem like the ooother girls. Those that knew m-m-m-me would ignore me or la-laugh at me if I said anything or even smiled at them.” Barney began to kick the dirt around and hung his head as he spoke. “Katie never laughed and often would say, ‘Hi’. Shhhhhe wa-wa-wasn’t like the others. When she offered to te-teach me how to re-re-read I was scared to death.” He smiled, then laughed. “I wa-wa-was so scared, I couldn’t learn a thing at first. She never got tired of me struggling. She is the only girl that makes me feel good about myself. She is very beautiful and she talks so sweetly. I look forward to her visits and I hate it when she leaves. I wish she would never leave and we can stay up all night talking and watching the stars. I don’t know how I feel because I have nothing to compare my feelings too.”

  Gilbert had to ask a painful question, “Have you been listening to yourself? You didn’t stutter when you spoke from the heart about her.” Gilbert smiled while Barney burst with surprise. “I think you feel so strongly about her.” Gilbert got a serious look on his face, “How would you feel if you saw her walking with another guy hand in hand?” He hung his head slowly toward the ground in silent pain. Gilbert could feel the tension in the air. Barney began to twitch his head very slightly as he agonized with the thought. He still did not speak, but when he raised his head, tears had filled his eyes.

  Barney nodded slowly and matched with firm soft words, “I would probably go to my bunk and never get up again.”

  Gilbert shook his head, “That’s it, you’ve been bitten by the love bug. That is exactly how I would feel if I saw Clara holding someone else’s hand.” Gilbert tried to bring Barney back to reality. “We are just a couple of guys in love, Barney. We are doomed to a life of misery. Trust me”

  Barney weakly chuckled, “I guess.”

  “Remember, old buddy, I just made that up about Katie holding some guys hand.” Gilbert then got serious again. “Now, we need to put ourselves in Katie’s shoes.” Barney perked up wiping the tears from his face with a handkerchief. “Katie is a loving person to everyone. She has always been that way. When I was younger and Clara didn’t like me. Well, nobody liked me. Katie was a bit older, but she was still kind to me, always.” He waited for a reaction from Barney, that never came, “She is very pretty, kind, smart, a perfect woman to spend the rest of your life with. Not that you sh
ould be thinking of marrying her. Just that, why go through the agony of asking someone to a dance if she isn’t worth it?” Barney wasn’t ready to respond so he continued, “She has good common horse sense, that you just don’t see in girls very often. In other words she is the perfect girl and is worthy of the gentleman of her choosing. She may already have a date for the dance.” Gilbert stopped because Barney looked horrified. “I don’t think she does. My point is, if you don’t ask, you won’t know. If you do ask, she is still going to want to be your friend. The question is can you still be her friend, if she says no?” Gilbert then smiled waiting for a response.

  “I am going to hhhhave to learn how to da-da-da-dance.”

  “That’s the spirit. You can handle it.” Gilbert said enthusiastically.

  “No,” Barney broke in a serious sweat, “you ga-ga-ga- ta teach me how ta-ta-ta da-da-da-da-da-da-.”

  “Dance.” Gilbert finished for him. Then the thought of dancing popped his eyes open to the fact that he didn’t know how to dance.“I got to learn how to dance.” He was planning to go to the dance himself, but his only thought had been to see Clara there. He hadn’t thought about dancing at a dance. He knew her father would be there so they couldn’t really dance, but what if the opportunity came to dance with her. He would really want to know how. “Mrs. Williams could teach us how. I know she would be happy to.”

  The next day Gilbert went to see Mrs. Williams in the morning. Mrs. Morton and Eva were at the house visiting. Gilbert was hesitant to ask while the other ladies were there, but he did anyway. Mrs. Williams was very gracious when she told him she had her hands full with plans and the children. Eva, however, jumped at the opportunity, “I would love to teach the young lads ’ow ta dance.”

  That night the two young lads met with Eva at the Williams home. They went to the top floor servant’s quarters. There was a nice sized floor area allowing them room for dancing. They had run to the house and up two sets of stairs with the twist at the bottom of each set, showing some fatigue when they found Eva in the top floor.