Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-06-19

1t there till perfectly dry. Then take
the rear or hand end in your left hand,
and with the rI coil the whole rope
into that hand, ard you, in coil of
say two feet in u.lmeter, taking care
that the successive coils do no not cross
each other, but lie fiat to each other like
so many hoops held side by side. Tie
cord through and around the coils on one
side to keep them together, and hang
over peg TO let the rope "get aceus-
toned. - The reata, to do good work,
should always be thus cooled and hung up
after use, otherwise it will acquire kinks,
and fail to work just when you want it
most.
Your lasso is now ready for use. You
must of course at first practice on foot,
and at stationary mark-a post FIVE or
six feet high Is best. Begin at a distance
of twelve to fifteen feet, which may be
increased as you gain proficiency to the
range of your rope-thirty-fi feet.
That is far enough to throw lasso. The
higher distances are attempted only by
rare experts with extra long ropes. l
have seen one lasso his running target at
even sixty feet: but he WIS the only man
1 ever saw make it at that astounding
range.
Taking your position, whip out the
rope, reeve the hand-end through the
houda. and run it up till the moose is
about seven feet long. Then take the
hand-end in your left hand, and coil the
rope carefully to it until you are within
six feet of the moose. Take the rope a
foot on each side of the houda together
in your right hand-as Francisco is doing
in figure No. thus making a temper
airy extra loop to prevent the houda
from slipping forward and shutting the
moose.
Now you are ready to Calm Stand
with your right foot little forward,
lift the right arm till the fist easily clears
the bead-about as in swinging Indian
clubs-and begin to reyolve the moose
over your head with an easy motion of
the arm from right to left and perfect
~ flexible wrist. See Figure No. 2. 1t
is the wrist that does the chief work
here, as in most other matters of dex-
terity. Whirl the rope just fast enough
so that you ca guide it into plane to
the ground, the whole moose revolving
on level as II it were a wheel, of which
your uplifted arm is the axle.
When you have the moose going thus
horizontally and have calculated as well
as you can the force necessary to carry it
over tue post SlFe QUICK SIep LOTWbEu
with the left foot in front; and in the
same instant, bringing your hand (palm
downward) forward and down to the
level of the shoulder but at full arm
length and without breaking the rhythm
of the sweep-let go. Figure No.
shows the position of body, arm and
hand in the instant of delivery.
If you have done this properly the
moose will go sailing forward like hoop,
in plane almost parallel to the ground.
Whether it falls over the post is matter
about which you need not worry for some
time. The first great difficulty is to send
the moose level; and when you have
mastered that the proper cultivation of
force will come soon enough without
practice.
The coil in the left hand must of course
be held loosely in fingers upcurved but
not closed, so that it may 'pay ont
easily as the moose ''calls.' The end,
or the last coil, should be securely held,