The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1889-05-02

across the border by the hard riders,
who were to locate claims. A little
further on and this conclusion was
proven to be the correct one, for the en-
tire face of the country as far as the best
field glass could carry the sight was
overrun with horsemen galloping to
the Southwark.
Their feetest horses had evidently
been picked for the work and they were
carrying their riders rapidly to the
longed for goal. Rides of fifteen or
twenty miles were made in an incredi-
bly, short time by old boomers familiar
with the country and who knew where
desirable lands were located. The day
was cloudless, and far away on the
horizon both to the east and west
clouds of dust could be seen ascending
from the hoofs of hundreds Of horses
rushing toward different destinations
in most cases, but some of them toward
the same.
HARD RACING.
One race for a goal could be easily
distinguished. The riders were appar-
emily evenly mounted; they were neck
and neck for mile or two along the
trail as far as they could be seen, and
their eager and intense looks and mer-
ciless slashing were sufficient evidence
of the prize they were running after.
One saddled but riderless horse was
seen galloping along the trail, an omin-
GUS sign of some accident or fatality
which had befallen the rider. Some
men were in charge of the horses and
were evidently riding relays toward the
goal.
Out of the dust which arose toward
the east could be seen, after the train
had reached the summit of a high
ridge, a wagon caravan fully two miles
in length and which was being sped to
the utmost speed Of its horses. These
caravans were plainly outdistanced by
the horseback riders, and after several
miles of the territory had been ira
versed it was sesn that the best riders
were winning the best prizes
ONE OF THE PRIZE WINNERS.
One homesteader, who had secured a
magnificent quarter section of rolling
land, had dug hole two or three feet
deep at that corner of it where the sur
veyors' section was located and where
he had driven his stakes. Not looking
upon these evidences of possession as
sufficient to confirm his title he fired
his Winchester as the train run by and
then emptied his revolver, yelling like
cowboy or a Comanche Indian all the
time. Not only the yells, but the shots
were responded to from the train, and
volley went up into the air from the
entire length of the section, which
proved conclusively how well the party
was armedin expectancy of what might
happen few miles the other side of the
line.
AMONG THE SOLDIERS.
The train stopped at a military post.
where the white tents of the soldiers
and the officers tents, surmounted by
the national colors, were a gratifying
evidence of a power sufficient to main
tain order. Troop D, of the Fifth
regiment of fcavalry of the United States
army, was quartered there, and the
officers said that at the sound of the
bugle at high noon there had been
movement among the boomers camped
along the border which had extended
across the ettire frontier line, and that
the din had been fast and furious ever
since, some of the prospectors running
to Guthrie to file their entries.
THE MAD RUSH FOR LISBON AND
THE SCENE THERE.
LISBON, I. T., (by Courier to Fort
Reno, I. T.), April %, 1SS9.-At noon
the bugle call has sounded. Away in
the distance rings out the report of q
cannon. A low cloud of dust becomes
visible toward the north. Increasing
in volume one hears the steady stroke
of boots on the springy turf of the
prairie. Presently, out of the dust
cloud the forms Of racing horses are
seen. On comes the mad crowd Of
rushing horsemen. The cloud of dust
sweeps along. Several riders have
fallen and horses generally have
stampeded. Nearer and nearer thun-
ders the cavalcade until at last, straight
down Chicago avenue,.a mad crowd of
excited men, teeth set and plying whip
and spur, rushes into the newborn city
of Lisbon. Half an hour ago O. patch
of prairie with a few tents and one
wooden shanty, it is now teeming,
excited camp of thousands of people.
CARRIED TOO FAR.
There are many disappointed men
in the multitude. Uuable to control
their horses in the wild charge they
were swept past the claims they had in
view for weeks, and all their plans are
overturned. Broken bones and heads
abound. Looking in every direction
over the hills and plains, the boomers
are thicker than the locusts were in
Egypt. Thousands still rush along.
The race from the line-one mile aud
a half-has been made in four minutes,
and behind, fast closing up the rear,
comes the trailing mass.