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* TEOPPAU. 485 TROTWOOD. TROPPATJ, tiOp'pou. The capital of Austrian Silesia, on the right bank of tlie Oppa, 37 miles northeast of Olmiitz {iiap: Austria, F 2). It lias a tJothic church, a castle, a lilirary of 35,000 volumes, and a museum of natural history and antiquities: also the Franz-Josef Museum of art and industry, the provincial insane asylum, etc. Troppau manufactures large quantities of cloth for army use; also stoves, machines, etc. It was founded in the thirteenth century. At Troppau, in the fall and winter of 1820, a congress of European nionarchs assembled for the purpose of dealing with the revolutionary disturbances in Italy. It was one of the scries of European congresses which under the inspiration of Met- ternich (q.v.) sought to check the spread of lib- eral ideas and to carry out the policy of the Holy Alliance (q.v.). Population, in 1900, 20,72.5. TROS'SACHS. A picturesque and well- wooded valley in Perthshire, Scotland, between Lochs Acray and Katrine, eight miles southwest of Cailander, amid hills rising from 1S51 feet to 2390 feet in height (ilap: Scotland. D 3). It has been a great tourist resort since its im- mortalization by Sir Walter Scott in The Lady of the Lnlc and Rob Boy. TROTTING (from Irot, from OF., Fr. trot- ter, probably from OHG. trot ton. to tread, MHG. trotteii, to run, frequentative of OHG. tretnn, Ger. treten, to tread, step). A gait of the horse. Notwithstanding that the foundation of Amer- ica's trotting stock came from England, and that in Russia there are the celebrated "Orloff" trotters and another breed in Norway, the trot- ting racer of to-day is distinctly the product of America. The gait was known to the ancients, but was abominated by them. Trotting was a favorite gait among the English sportsmen of Suffolk and Lincolnshire at the end of the eigh- teenth century, and a special breed there per- formed wonders: "Locksmith's gray" trotted 72 miles in G hours in 1762. Ten years later, a Lincolnshire horse trotted 30 miles in 2 hours and 10 minutes, with a rider weighing 220 pounds, and "Phenomena" 17 miles in 53 min- utes. Yet as an historical fact American trotters owe nothing to these fast English trotters, but everything to the thoroughbred. The modern trotter may be traced back to "Jlessenger," who was imported in 1788 by Thomas Benger, of Bristol. Pa. His father was "Blaze;" his grand- sire "Flying Childers:" his great-grandsire the "Darley Barb." His mother's father was "Turf," who was directly descended from the "Godolphin Barb." So on both sides of his pedigree "Mes- senger" brought the most select thoroughbred blood into America. He was a running-bred horse, yet from him the American trotter de- rives its dominant characteristics, the grit of the Arab, the gentleness of the Barb, and the hardy endurance of the English thoroughbred. The Hambletonians. comprising 90 per cent, of the American trotters, are derived from "Messenger" on both sides through Rysdyk's "Hambletonian." "Abdallah." and "JIambrino Messenger." "Ilam- bletonian's" dam was the Charles Kent mare, the daughter of "One Eye." and granddaughter of "Silver Tail." who was the daughter of "Mes- senser." Hambletonian's family includes "Dex- ter." 2m. 17l^s. : "Goldsmith's Maid," 2m. I4s. ; "Rarus," 2m. 13'!iS. : "Saint Julien," 2m. 11 Vis.: ".Tay Eye See," 2m. 10s.; "Maud S.," 2m. 8%s.; "Sunol," 2m. 814s.: "Naney Hanks," 2m. 4s.; "Alix," 2m. 3%s. ; anil "Directum," 2m. 5Vis. The second great trotting family, the Mambrinos, great for racing quality and beauty, is derived on the father's side from "Messenger," and on the mother's from imported "Paymaster." The mingling of the blood of the Hambletonians and "Mambrino Chief" has resulted in such ideal trotters as "Azota," 2m. 4'Jis., and "Crcsceus," 2m. 2i/4s. The founder of the Oay family was "Young Bashaw," by "Grand Bashaw," an im- ported Barb, but on the female side are "Mes- senger's" progeny. The Star family, too, on the mother's side came from the same horse. In the early trotting days colts were never trained; only matured horses raced, and they were capable of feats of endurance which no modern horse is or could be called upon to perform. "Fanny Jenks" in 184.5 trotted 101 miles in 9 hours, 57 minutes, drawing a sulky weighing 150 pounds. "Lady SulTolk" beat "Dutchman" two three-mile heats in Im. 40V4s. and 7m. 56s. respectively, and she trotted her fastest mile when twelve years old. "Goldsmith's Maid" trotted a mile in 2m. 14V.s. when she was seventeen years old. She started 118 times and beat 2m. '30s. in 115 of them, and "Maud S." made her then world's record, 2m. 8%s., when she was eleven years old. These times, too, were all before the days of the kite-shaped tracks, banked and rolled with scientific nicet.y, and long before the rubber-tired wheel sulky, both of which inventions have helped to reduce the mile record. On August 17. 1903. at the Brighton Beach (N. Y.) track, the trotting record was reduced by J. K. Billings's "Lou Dillon" to two minutes, but in October of the same year the stallion "Cresceus" lowered it to Im. 59%s. The weather conditions were perfect. A few days afterwards "Lou Dillon" regained her laurels by still further reducing the record to Im. 58%s. Weather con- ditions were unfavorable, but the mare had the advantage of two pacemakers, one drawing a wire-net guard. For pleasure driving and friendly road com- petitions a light wagon was in use as early as 1786, but not until after that did the trotter as a racer become prominent. In that year "Boston Blue" trotted a mile in little less than three minutes. By 1825 the New York Trotting Club was formed, and dashes of speed were daily in- dulged in on what is now Third Avenue, from the Bull's Head to Harlem. Up to 1S9S, how- ever, the great bulk of the trotting of the coun- try w-as done on tracks. 2000 of which were scat- tered over the continent. These tracks on which regular races are held are either exactly one mile or half a mile from start to finish, and a horse must win two heats to win the race. The courses are in the main elliptical, though some, built after 1890, are kite-shaped. Since 1898 a great impetus has been given to trotting competitions by the creation of civic speedways, the first of which was constructed by the municipality of New York, along the banks of the Harlem River, from 155th Street to Fort George. Many great cities throughout the coun- try have followed the example. TROTWOOD, Betsy. In Dickens's Dnvid Copperfield, the hero's great-aunt, an eccentric