Wichita eagle., 1888-02-25
AT AN ENGLISH MEET.
AN OCCASION OF EXCESSIVE HOS
PiTAlITY AND SOClABILITY.

An English Country Day In Mtdwinter
Exceeding Mildness of tho Weather
The Riders and Their Costumes-Ar
rival Of the Hounds.
In the first place, the country is much more
interesting than with us in the winter. 1t i:
rare for the mercury to go below &c or q
degs. Fahrenheit. The English people use
the freezing point SO as the indicator. They
speak of or 4 degs Of frost meaning SC
many degrees below 80. They never have
weather which approaches zero. The winters
being comparatively mild the grass remains
| green throughout the year, and but little
snow falls. The morning after Christmas
went over with party OF friends to a meet OF
the houndk Lord Fitzhardinge is the master
Of the hounds for that district. It was the
first English meet had ever seen, and as the
day was absolutely perfect the picture was a
most delightful one to my unsportsmanlke
| vision.
The morning was crisp and clear. There
was light hoar frost on the ground which
soon gave way, SO that the ground became
moderately soft under the rays of the sun.
There was not bit of wind The course to
be run was over a succession of green, grassy
downs skirting bedgerows and thick clumps
OF woodland. These downs ran to a line Of
cliffs overlooking an arm of the sea, beyond
which was a long line Of blue hills-the
Welsh mountains. A meet in England is one
OF IT, most democratic of gatherings. It
was :. new thing for me to learn that any
body in the neighborhood can come to meet
and be received if lie can find quadruped to
carry him. The butcher, the baker, the
candlestick maker can come and ride along
side of the gentry and keep up with them if
they have as good horses and arc as skillful
riders.
AT THE MEET
The meet took place on the broad lawn of
handsome country place Of private gentle
man who has large coal interests at the Cape
Verde islands. There were upward Of
thousand people who came through his gates
and up his walks without any invitation,
driving In all sorts of carriages and carts and
upon all sorts Of horses. Several hundred
came on foot. Another strange feature of
this promiscuous gathering was the fact that
every one who came was made welcome to
tho private hospitality OF the house. The son
of the host actively assisted the servants in
passing out sandwiches and mulled clarct to
whoever rode up to the door There was q
constant procession of lunching horsemen in
front of the door for at least two hours before
the hounds arrived with Lord Fitzhardinge
and the whippers in.
There were all sorts Of riding costumes
The master of the hounds and the whippers
in wore the traditional pink coats, as did a
few OF the other riders. The majority Of the
the riders, however, even among the regular
members OF the hunt, wore dark coats Two
army officers FROM the neighboring barracks
came up on very smart horses, wearing hunt
ing dresses which looked as neat as full
dress uniforms. They wore high silk hats
with small steel chains attached to the brim
IN the rear and passing around their necks
Their coats were four button cutaways with
long skirts and broad tapped pockets. These
coats were buttoned up tight to the throat,
above which appeared a high white collar
and white cravat. Their knee breeches
were white corduroy. Their boots were
high patent leather, with steel spurs upon
the lower part of the heel. They were hand
some, trim looking men, and sat their horses
with perfect ease. One of the most striking
of the lady riders was a relative of the mas
ter of the hounds She was not over IA years
of age. Her slim figure was set off by a dark
blue close fitting riding suit. Her hair, a
dazzling golden silver, floated in the wind
unconfned from underneath black derby
hat. She was mounted on thin skinned,
high bred, iron gray horse, which seemed to
be under the perfect control of his beautiful
young mistress. But the good riders and the
correct hunting dresses were the exception.
This was owing in part to the fact that it was
holiday and upon such occasions the regu-
lar members of the hunt are inclined to stay
away. The trades people of Bristol came
out in great numbers They were very en-
thusiaStic sportsmen, but they made I'D a
motley gathering, coming as they did upon
all sorts of horses and in all sorts of riding
dresses.
THE HOUNDS.
The main interest eliminated when the
bounds arrived. They were such a smart, in
teiligent looking lot Of animals. They all car
ried their heads and tails straight up They
appear ID to be eager and anxious to be away,
but were easily restrained by the whips of
the servants in charge They were moved
about with the precision and rapidity of |
well drilled soldiers. When the hounds came |
into the Enclosure about the house where the |
meet took place they smelled the food of the
lunch and were at once going to
press to the front, but a wave of the whip !
pers-in stick sent them back In a compact |
mass to a corner Of the Enclosure, where they
The amount of lunching and |
drinking done by the people who arrived,
and who must have just come from their
simply illustrated the ability of the
English people to eat at any and all times as
preliminary to anything in the way of
work or fun
There was no great excitement about the
tart. The hunters went away at an easy
,ace and followed the road for several miles.
iates were opened for them all through the
irst part of the morning. 1t was only when
fox was started and the hounds were in
ull cry that anything like hard cross country
iding was attempted. Few of the Bristol
'eople vsntured on jumping any of the
hedges, so within very few moments after
he start the good riders had everything to
themselves. Pedestrians, horsemen and PEG
lie in wagons went about the country all the
morning seeking TO cross the trail of the
unters. l was told that the cost of keeping
p pack of fox hounds for ordinary hunt
ng purposes is $4,000 year. After once
eeing an English meet it is easy to under
tand the interest in it. The fox is merely
n excuse for sharp and brilliant riding
cross lovely country in brilliant, spark
ing weather. the meet is generally made
p Of congenial spirits, and, therefore, has
be additional element and zest Of seciability. |
T. C. Crawford in New York World.
What Do Girls Know?