I recall that the experimental features of the advertisement appealed to me strongly and struck me as being a splendid test of the possibilities of the business. If the horse won and there were few responses to the advertisement it would be convincing on the point that there was no money in the tipster branch of the horse-racing game. I argued that if the racing public would not believe that an Information Bureau was what it cracked itself up to be, in the face of a positive demonstration, how could it be expected to believe the lurid claims of the fakers whose advertisements crowded the sporting papers daily and in which they claimed _after_ the races were run that they named in advance the winners at all sorts of big odds?
The next morning about ten o'clock, Campbell called at my home and said that he had received another "good thing" by telegraph from Mead and that the name of the horse was Annie Lauretta, with probable odds of 40 to 1.
"Jiminy!" he exclaimed. "If we only get a few customers to-day and this one wins, what will happen?"
Leisurely we walked to the office. "If we get ten subscribers to-day to start with, we'll make a fine beginning," I said.
As we approached the Hotel Marlborough, which is opposite the building on Broadway in which the Maxim & Gay Company had its modest little office, our attention turned abruptly to a crowd of people who were being lined up by half a dozen policemen.
"What theater has a sale of seats to-day?" Campbell asked.
As we approached the office, we found that the line extended into our own office building. As we ambled up the rickety stairs, we passed the crowd in line, one by one, until we discovered, to our great astonishment, that the line ended at our door.
We turned the key, walked in, locked the door, and stood aghast.
Holding up both hands, I gasped, "In heaven's name, what have we done?" I was appalled.
"Give 'em Annie Lauretta," cried Campbell.
"But suppose Annie don't win," I expostulated.
"Smokes!" exclaimed Campbell. "Are you going to turn down all those $5 bills?"
"Mead's judgment on Silver Coin is good enough reason to warrant advising people to put a wager on another one of his choices," Campbell argued. I agreed.
How to convey the information in merchantable form was the next question. A typist in the Hotel Marlborough, across the way, was sent for and asked to strike off the name "Annie Lauretta" 500 or 1,000 times on slips of paper. Envelopes were bought and a typed slip was placed in each. The line increased until it was a block and a half long.