Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1888-05-11
AT AN ENGLISH MEET.
An OCCASION OF EXCESSIVE HOS
PiTALlTY AND SOCiAEllTY.


Exceeding Mildness of tho Weather.
The Elders and Their Costumes-Ar-
rival of the Hounds.
In the first place, the country is much more
interesting than with us in tho wintor. 1t is
rare for the mercury to go below 26 or 2s
deSs. Fahrenheit. Tho English people use |
The freezing point 30 as the indicator They |
speak of or degs. of frost meaning SO
many degrees below 81. 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
tho hounds. Lord Fitzharclinge is tho MASTER !
OF the hounds for that district 1t was the
first English meet had ever seen, and as the
day was absolutely perfect the picture was u
! most delightful one to my unsportsmanlike
vision
The morning was crisp and clear. There
was light hoar frost on the ground which
soon ga way, so that the ground became
! moderately soft under the rays of tho sun.
| There was not Q bit of wind. Tho cc-~se to
be run was over "A succession of green, grassy
| downs skrting bedgerows and thick clumps
| of woodland. These downs ran to line of
cliffs overlooking an arm of the sea, beyond
which was a long line of blue hills-thc
| Welsh mountains A meet in England is one
of t. most democratic of gatherings. 1t
was - now thing for me to learn that any
body n tho reiShh~-hood can como to meet
and DO received if IL can find quadruped to
carry hir,. Tho butcher, the baker, tho
ca2dlesticl, nlalioT can come and rido along
side OF the gentry and keep up with them if
they have as GOOD horses and arc as sk.llful
riders.
AT THE MEET
Tho meet toci. place ON the broad lawn of
a handsome country place of private gentle
man who has largo coal interests at tho Cape
.crde islands. There were upward of
thousand people who came through Eir gates
and up his walks without any Invitation.
driving in all sorts of carriages and carts AID
upon al sorts of horses. Several hundred
cGmo on foot. Another strange feature of
this prorliscuous gathering was tho fact that
every ono who came was made welcome to
the private hospitality of the house. The son
OF the host actively assisted the servants III
passing out sandwiches and muled clarct to
whoever rode up to the door. There was q
constant procession of lunching horsemen in
front of tho door for at least two hours before
the hounds arrived with Lord FitZhardinge
and tho whppers in.
There were ell sorts of riding costumes
Tho master of tho bounds and tho whippers
in wore the traditional pink coats, did q
few of the other riders. The majority of The
tho riders, however, even among the regula,
! members Of the hunt, wore darl, coats Two
N1y officers from the neighboring barracks
c.-no up On very smart horses, wearing hunt
ing dresses which looked as neat as full
, dress uniforms They wore high silk hat
with small steel chains attached to the brin
in tho rear and passing around their necEs
} Their coats wcro four button getaways witt
long skirts and broad tapped pockets. Thcs'
coats were buttoned up tight to the throat
above which appeared high white collar
| and white cravat. Their knee breeche-
!, were white corduroy. Their boots wer,
high patent leather, with steel spurs upof
che 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 tho lady riders was q relative of the mas
ter of the hounds. She was not over IA year
: of age. Her slim figure was set off by a darl
blue close fitting riding suit. Her hair,
dazzling golden silver, f1oated in the win,
unccnfined from underneath black derb,
) hat She was mounted q thin skinned
high Bred iron gray horse, which seemed t.
=, be under tho perfect control of his beautiful
young mistress. But the good riders and tn
! correct hunting dresses were tho exception
This was owing il part to the fact that it wa
a holiday, and upon such occasions the regu
, lar members of tho hunt hrs inclined to sta,
away. Tho trades people Of Bristol cam,
out in great numbers. They were very en-
,, thusiastic s2ortsmen, but they made up {
motley gathering, coming as they did upoI
all sorts of horses and in all sorts of riding
dresses.
THE HOUNDS.
The main interest eliminated when thu
bounds arrived. They were such a smart. in
! telliSent looking lot of animals. They all car
ried their heads and tails straight up. The,
appear I'd to be eager and anxious to be away
but were easily restrained by the whips OF
the servants in charge. They wero moved
ssoout with tho precision and rapidity Of
well drilled soldiers. When tho hounds cam.
into tho Enclosure about tho house whero the
meet took place they smelled tho food of the
morning lunch and were at onco going te
press to tho front, but wave of the whip
pers-in stick sent them back in q compact
mass to corner of tho inclosurc, where the,
remained. Tho amount of lunchinp anC
drinking done by the people who arrived
and who must have just come from theiI
breakfast, simply illustrated the ability of the
English people to eat at any and all times as
a preliminary to anything in the way OF
work or fun.
There was no great excitement about the
start. The hunters went away at an easy
pace and followed tho road for several miles
Gates were opened for them all through the
first part of tho morning. 1t was only when
fox was started and the hounds wero in
full cry that anything like hard cross country
riding was attempted. Few of tho Bristol
; people venturcd on jumping any of tho
hedges, SO within very few moments after
the start tho good riders had everything tc
themselves. Pedestrians, horsemen and PEG
pie i'll wagons went about the country all the
morning seeking to cross the trail of the
hunters. l was told that tho cost of keeping
up pack of fox hounds for ordinary hunt
ing purposes is 5000 year. After once
seeing an English meet it is easy to under.
stand tho interest in it. The fox is merely
an excuse for sharp and brilliant riding