The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-02-14
RACED FOR BLOOD
TWO SLEIGHING PARTIES MADE
THE SNOW FLY LAST NIGHT.
Everybody Came Out and Gllded
Over the Beautiful, in All Kinds
of Strange Vehicles and with
Divers Implements for the
Manufacture of Music>
"Where tor"
Coax street.

"Where tor"
SOAK street"
''Lct Ter rip"
They did let her rip They were two
sleighing parties One consisted of a
graceful cutter with a young man and his
Juliet huddled close to him.
The other rig was composed of COM
ponent parts of planks, box with Hood s
Sarsaparilla emblazoned upon it, four
chairs, two colored children. an old col
ored gentleman and his wife.
Both these strangely contrasted outfits
were sliding along easily above Thir-
teenth street about 9o'clock last evening.
The old colored gentleman entered the
challenge. The brisk young gentlemen in
the cutter cast contemptuous look at his
opponents Rosinante, gazed approving!y on
his own sleek Pegasus and took the chal-
leDge with the eager manner OF man ac-
ceptng an apology from John L. Sui
livan.
Then the race began. The cutter glided
ahead of the old sled like the fellow
with free pass pushing through the crowd
at theatre. The young man gazed back
on his adversary with smile that rlppled
kiSdl INV IL W AuCcCapS.
But the old man didn't notice him. He
was bending forward, clipping his
horse with stick and he was gaining on
the cutter. The young man quit smiling
after three blocks. He was still ahead,
bet the old man was staying by him with
the persistency of a tramp around hot
stove. At Tenth street the old horse, with
Its skin bellied inward between its ribs.
and painting like the exhaust to steam
engine, shot forward and travelled neck
and neck with the horse to the cutter.
The young man, in desperation, worked
the lash viciously, and out he shot ahead
Of the old sled.
The old man leaned forward. His
eyes bulged out like clothes
in q wash tub. He shouted like mad The
bid horse pushed the United States of
America with his feet. The air was full of
hooves. The sparks sputtered out from
under the runners. The old sled creaked
and lifted off the ground.
There was soft plunk in the snow be-
hind. and binding flash.
''Zscberias," cried the old lady.
''What?" gasped the old man.
George Washington's done fell out!'
But the old man didn't hear, or the loss
of son was below him.
The old sled WAS ripping along ferocious-
~. A blue flame two inches long trailed
behind each runner. The air was clogged
with snow.
'Zacherias," shouted his wife,
what is it," yelled her husband
"Mary Elizabeth done gone, too."
"Leave me alonev' cried the old man.
'Pm passing himl Jehosaphat, Pm ahead.
Get along therel Hi VI, you old bones!
Now cut the pace for him! Keep it up
there"
The old man was five feet ahead. He
looked back at the young man, beaming
triumphantly. Fleeting triumph!
With CRATE, the old sled struck rock.
1t was q beautiful night. The snow
fakes were so many diamonds and the
wind was sougbing gently through the
trees. Presently Zscherias was also
soughing through the trees at 200 feet per
sough. So were the remnants of the
sled. So was his wife. When Zacherias
came 10, he was 1,400 feet above sea
level. He tried to let himself down hand
over hand on the atmosphere, but 1t
wasn't tough enough, and he shot down
to the earth and hit snow bank with a
decorating crush like fat man falling
into Q bird-cage.
The old lady had come down before and
she picked him up. Then they went back
and plucked the old horse from a cotton
wood tree where he was hanging by his
ear. Afterward they hunted up the two
children and in a sorrowful procession,
trudged home.
1t was only one accident of the night.
Wichita rarely sees snow and snow::enough
Or sleighing does not come once in ten
gears. 1t was good sleighing last evening
and anything that could slide was
brought into requisition as sleigh or
sled. Lumber wagons and phaetons, cut
ters and bob-sleds were all mingled to-
gether and everything from dish-pan to
a log-chain were used as sleigh-bells.
Sleighing parties were numerous and up
setting experiences as thick as hops
When two sleighs happened to run side
by side there was almost sure to be race
and it WAS only because there is special
providence for sleighing parties that some
necks were not broken.
The blacksmiths were kept on the jump
all day, making horses rough-shod aud ad-
iustiug bob-runners to the aXles of car
riages