The Portland daily press., 1892-12-13
VACATION INCIDENTS.
Driving In the Country Has Some
Serious Drawbacks.

A Young Man Who Spent a Summer in
Rural Part of the Country Gives an
Account of His Experiences with Sew
oral Livery Stable Horses.
"There are drawbacks about this vaca-
ton business" remarked highly tanned
young man thoughtfully as he wiped his
glasses and seemed to be meditating on
some unpleasant episode.
.Suoh as WHAT" asked his friend.
"Well, you take country horses. There
are times when the study Of equine char
acter is really painful. I've been up in
the state spending my vacation near a
certain girl think good deal Of, and
the day after I arrived on the scene
suggested drive.
'sShe liked the idea, so hunted up
horse It.was pretty hard to get one in
the village that day, but finally l found
man who had team he occasionally
hired out, and arranged for one Of the
animals and buggy for fifty cents an
hour. He wasn't exactly a horse show
beast-sort of dull peppery color, high
cheek bones and wispy tail. Still the
owner said he was SAFE When drove
up for my fair companion she didn't
seem enthusiastic.
".It isn't livery horse, is ity she in
quired.
"'No, couldn't get one at any price,
said.
"sWhere did you get itY
"tOh, up town.
"4It's one of John P. Hopkins horses,
up at the end of the village, isn't itr
"'I believe the gentleman's name was
Hopkins admitted.
"sWell, it's horrid horse she said
emphatically. He has two, and one
runs away and the other sits down on
every hill. / won't co.
'sIcalmed her fears, told her the owner
finally we started. ! was outwardly joy
GUS, but within was in fever of anx-
iety as to which horse this one was. We
were not long in doubt, and, moreover,
the phenomenon of the wispy tail was
also explained. At the top of the first
hill that pepper colored beast went down
on his launches, and it seemed as if he
slid to the bottom. We did not have a,
pleasant drive. Whenever there was the
slightest variation from the level my
companion insisted on getting out and
walking. We only went two miles. but
it took about four hours.
"The next time proposed a drive
| made sure Of horse at the livery stable.
He seemed like kindly beast. and was
rather good looking. !. His weakness
seemed to be corners. don't know yet
how we got around the first corner. He
took it on the qui vive, so to speak 1t
seemed as if that horse had been brought
up on merry-go- round. We drove out
in the country and came to sawmill
Just as we reached it the wretched boil
er inside of the place let off steam, and
that horse gave a snort and started off
like cyclone. I hung on, sawed and
whoaed, but at the end of the first quar-
ter the pace had increased and my hat
hat few off.
& Shall we jump, Char1eyp asked the
voice beside me quietly.
"sCertainly not l said sternly; 'Ihave
him under perfect CONTROL This turned
out to be true, but think two mile
hill and sand bank had more to do with
it than did. Coming back, we plucked
my hat from a raspberry bush, and
passed the sawInill Indian file. l led,
the horse followed and certain young
woman brought up the rear. We had a
pleasant ride, but somehow we weren't
in the mood for it.
sThe next time went to the other
livery stable. The man had only four
horses, but he recommended one of them
as a safe traveller. He was a good
enough looking horse, but he had sores
on his neck and joints.
He isn't exactly pretty said, not
| liking to hurt the mans feelings.
"sWhat's thatgot to do with his trav-
elm?
"'Well, nothing, suppose, admit
| ted, but to take lady out for drive,
ose-those-boils don't look WELL
{" Mean them three sores?
| eyes ee4f
:" sPshaw, don't bother bout them,'
and with that the owner of the beast
went over to his only buggy and scooped
some of the axle grease out of wheel
and p1astered the stuff on the animals
raw places. Sure enough it concealed
them; so / took the horse. He travelled
| well and we had beautiful time, till of
sudden, six miles from home, one of
the wheels run dry got out to ex-
anime, and blessed if it wasn't the one
that Teller had scraped the grease off.
My companion climbed ont. boosted
the end Of the buggy on stump and
| pried off the wheel. Then we scraped
as much of the grease as we could off the
horse, put it back where it belonged and
managed to get home. tell you don't
believe in horses. New York Tribune.
I Tiger Skins.
The length of the longest tiger skin
after drying is said to be 10 feet inches;
| but it must be noted that skins expand