Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-09-03

ME Engllsn cavalry officers nave been in-
venting polo, those Of France are trying to re-
generate themselves by means OF equestrian
paper-chases, which they call "rallie-paper Z"
This is not revival of anything established of
yore-it is something altogether new and there
can be no doubt that II it be permanently sub
stituted for "perroquet (vUlgo: absinthe drink
ing) as national sport, the consequences may
be all that a patriot can wish.
We may begin by Saying that the French cav
airy officer is by no means bad rider. He has
the school of Saumur, which teaches TO sit val
iantly; and if he have propensity to pull his
nags mouth AMI make him curvct when there
are ladies by to look on, this must be ascribed
to that gallant desire to please the other sex
which is the charming basis of the native char
acter. On the other hand. one ehonld rather de-
cline pronouncing an opinion on French horses.
taken together, an aSsemblage of French hacks
exhibit an amount of screw power not often
seen in like collection in any other land Out
then, say the British horse dealers who import
steeds, having already finished an honorable
career in Rotton row, "what can you expect in
country where gentlemen think forty pounds
an outside price for good saddle horse~
Frenchmen take so gushingly 10 any novel
amusement that there is nothing strange in the
fact OF the first "meets" for "rallie-papier" hay
ing been crowded. You meet on the plain of
oatory dressed as you please. But as one should
contrlYe to do what Others do it is as well to come
in cords, bottle-Green coat and velvet Jockey
cap. There are two hornsmen who foot merriy
while the cavalcade is assembling. Ladies can
ter up, and among them not a few Americans
who have been attracted by the assurance that,
like Leechs sportsman, they will have nothing
but prime turnpike roads all the way" In the
midst OF the cOhcourse towers a cavalier who is
the cynosure of all eyes, and who is mounted on
brute seventeen hands high. with lGas like
fails. This is the "hare" He is rider, war
rior, and lady killer of distinction. The Prus-
slams, it seems, had taste of his quality in that
curraissier charge at ReichShofen, and the En-
gllSh nave more than once paled with envy at
his doings in their hunting fields. For the pres
ent he is engaged in adjusting a capaci0us bag
nlled with paper cuttings to either side of his
saddle bows. Then brother horseman pins to
his left shoulder a white satin rosette, which is
TO be like the oSs brush, the prize of the first in
at the death A watch is consulted; the
mare is to have ten minutes start. He lifts
his hat, waves graceful adieu with his hand,
and away he goes, his giant roam kicking up the
Satory turf with her big hoOfs, and the two
bags Tapping on both sides of him like wings.
linen the viYandieres of a dragoon and a hussar
regiment circulate among the horses in their
dashing uniforms, and offer cognac and kirsch
to keep the damp out Damp is indeed com
plmentary term, Tor it is drilling, and there is
a hne soaking mist rising over Satory plain,
But never mind that. The hornsmen have
recommended to foot with frenzy the ten min
utes are up; and forty male Nimrods, with
about Il dozen ladies, thunder off TO-
ward the nearest high-road, as above
mentioned, and charge down it at full gal
Top, the mud flying above their heads in
showers and consolidating their clothes with
myriadS of clayey specks. Chatter and splash
20 the hoolsl A village is passed, the cottagers
trooping to their doors amazed at the goodly
sight, and waving their head-dresses. The
American ladies laugh and like it; the one or
two French ladies are not over-pleased at the
plight Of their habits; the Frenchmen spur
away as 1t the eyes of their country were upon
them, and three or four have cigars in their
mouths, TO show that their nerves are quite
under control. The scent" lies straight as a
line. If the warrior here had been carving the
mail-bags, he could not have gone straighter.
But, steady! here is a herd of cows. Disagree
able episode! What shall one do?-rein in
Never. 1t is the cows must yield They pause,
consider the cavalcade, turn tail, and bolt.
Happily they have the good sense to branch of
up the first by-road, so that one avoids the I'm.
pleasantness which might have occurred had
one overtaken them and been obliged to charge
IN their midst The cowboy is heard shrieking
lmprecations from distance when the 'feld"
has flashed by his astonished vision like "a whirl.
wind. Then comes a mile of clear road; then
pony-chaise, which looks at first as if ii meant
TO behave like the COWS, but thinks better of it
and draws up under the hedge-row where its
occupants go through five minutes of rather sen.
satlonal emotions. Then comes a check. Yes, the
scent fails and everybody pantingly pulls III, each
horse being bemudded to the girths, and each
riders face flushed with excitement at the chase.
But can il bc-can it indeed be-that Capt Jules
tine marc has passed through that open farm.
yard gate, dashed through the yard beyond it,
and set his horse at the haw-haw which parts
the said yard from beet root field? Yes, such
is the truth; heap Of paper slips within the
gate hears evidence to the fact. Adventurous
jules nothing can be too bold for that fearless
rderl Eleven of the horsemen and three ladies
scamper through the yard and breast the Law.
haw; twenty-nine of the horsemen aud the re
manning ladies know a way round and take it,
When the two parties have Joined again, q
couple Of the haw-haw champions are missing
The hardy Col. Achilles has had roll in the
ditch; the valorous Lieut.. Hector, who is
mounted on dog-cart horse which has never
been asked to do any jumping before, has been
backed by that pusillanmous animal into the
horse pond. But these are the perils of the
chase. Where danger is, turks no gloryI Or
ride the no trusty hunters over the beet roots
and into the road again. The American ladies
begin TO think battle must be like this
the French ladies ask themselves whether
the mud upon their skirts will much detrac
from their general appearance when lunch
con time comes; the gentleman with the
cigars in their mouths have long ceased
to draw any smoke, but keep the extinct weed
DelWccH tHtlT leeln, neNeGlncleSs, 10 prove thai
they fear nothing Thus the minutes and the
blue kilometre posts fly by in company; the
horses continue to reek, and the riders TO glow
more crimson, until, glorious concusioni the
headlong Jules is seen at two hundred yards
off. He has taken blind road, and has TO re
trace his steps. He cannot escape, daunt
less though he be and spur as he will; and he
does spnr desperately Here the pace becomes
fast and iurious-yertiginous, as the riders
themselves put it. There is no quarter given
boot heels are piled with frenzy, whips whistle
and fall with sounding thwacks, peasant reap.
eers lean on their scythcs to admire and shout.
lhen this is what occurs. The swilt-hoTsed
MAYOR AJAX outstrips the rest of the field, and
calling upon his steed with vibrating voice pur-
sues the hare like Olympic vengeance, nears
him, bumps him, gets abreast of him, and final.
~ snatehes in triumph the rosette from his
shoulder, and rens in, holding high his prize.
aud bawling "Vctoirep The next thing 10 do
is to offer this trophy chivalrously TO pretty
Miss Somebody, of Baltimore, u. s., and The
next 10 seek for the nearest presentabe inn.
and there 10 drink in burgundy to the next
meeting. Vye Rallie-Papieri-PdU Nal Ga
zete.