The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-11-20

is that OF three-quarter-b bred, light,
but muscular animal. white or gray IN
color, with considera bic dash of Arab
blood, as seen in the long neck, high
crest and easy, springy gait. The
| horse, though spirited. is remarka bly,
docile. and has entirely put aside the
mere vanities of snowy and FESTIVE
! parade charger Like its owner it
/ gives the impression Of calm power and
/ reserved force. This placid tempera-
rnent was not the effect of any su-
! perior command in the hOrsemanship
/ OF Napoleon-for he had neither good
! seat nor good hands-but simply the
result OF the most careful previous
preparation of the horses designed for
! his use. They were drilled TO stand
/ inmobi1e by the hour. in the midst of
! the most fearful tumult, noise and eX-
| citenent-for il would not have been
/ easy for Napoleon to survey the battle
ground through his feld-glasses on the
/ back OF champing. paving and cara
/ colIing animal-and yet the horse must
/ have 4 lively step in walking and
! swift gallOp in the moment OF need. IN
! the glimpses one obtains Of Napoleon
during the progress Of q battle he
! seems either to be 'immObile' and
/ statuesque. or galloping recklessly at
/ headlong pace.
! With respect to his seat in the saddle
/ it is worth while 70 consider the matter
| in detail Napoleon himself used to
/ take pleasure in describing the aston
! ishment OF the Nameiukes, after the
] 10 e DC ba-
held that this bold and irresistible con-
aueror was a little man who rode ike
z butcher. Yet. to begin with. some
/ reservation must be made as to the
popular notion of NaDoleOn's eXiguity
Of figure. At the time OF the Egyptian
campaign, and also, Of course. at Lodi.
where he gained the title of lie Petit
. Caporal," he was slight and extremely
/ thin: bat considering that on his death
/ bed his physician, Antommarchi, found
! his measurement TO be five feet. six and
one-half inches. he could hardly be
considered very deficient in stature. In
the prime of life he must have been APP
/ preciablv taller, and. with his square
shoulders, broad chest. and command
ing bearing, looked, no doubt. extreme
II well on horseback. This is the more
easy to believe when it is known that
the shortness of his figure was due en-
tirely to the lack of proportion Of his
lower limbs His torso was that OF a
fairly tall man.
Whatever disadvantages Is a rider he
derived from the shortness of his legs,
however must have been considerably
increased by his manner of sitting his
horse He not only rode with n short
stirrup but his saddle was made very
wide and very fat on top, as comfort
able as an armchair, but also very in
/ secure.
OF the latter point there are abun-
| dant proofs, for though there does not
appear to be any detailed account of
Napoleons numerous accidents, yet
from casual reading of various episodes
One might count up a surprising num-
Der of times that he had fallen from his
/ horse.
One of Napoleon's falls ought to be
rather interesting to the amateurs of
premonitions and auguries, for it oc-
Cured in that momentous passing of
the Rubicon-or. rather. in this case.
the Niemen-which was the prelude TO
the downfall of his empire.
NJ. Segur, in his 'Histoire de Ia
Grande Armee," mentions that it was
at 2 o'clock in the morning that Ma
poleon ''reconnoitered the Russian
river, without Disgusting himself, as
has been falsely asserted, but under
cover of the night crossing the frontier
which, five months afterward. ne was
only enabled to repass under cover of
the same obscurity. When he came to
the bank his horse suddenly fell and
threw him on the sand. a voice eX-
Fclaimed: This is bad omen; a
Russian would have recoiled"
It is not known whether it was
himself or one of his retinue who pro-
nounced these words Other nara
tfves aver that il was about eight
o'clock in the morning that Napoleon
crossed the Niemen. and that he was
then disguised in the uniform Of a
Prussian hussar. Possibly both ac-
counts are true. the explanation being
that he had recrossed during the night
after his first adventure.
On other occasions his horse served
him better It was shortly after the
passage Of the Mincio that Napoleon,
/ overcome with grief, rested some little
: time in a neighboring chateau, and was
actually in his bath when the sentinel
warned him of the approach OF a nu
I merous body Of Austrian horsemen. II
appeared that they had lost their way
, and were wandering about the cOun
, try with no very precise intentions
. However. they almost had It in thei'
hands To have settled the campaign
abruptly by capturing Gen. Bouaparte
for that redoubtable individual wa
> compelled to make his retreat by th'
, back door. and in the most hast
l fashion, and. il i averred. in the mos
: undignifed OF costumes. II was thi
/ adventure that suggested the eSta biish
D rnent Of the corps Of guides. as the,
f were then calIed-afterward the IA
+ nous guards OF the great Napoleoni
y ! battles,
g SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.
That lizards VIII catch and eat III