The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-11-15
OVER THE POLES.
How Tandem Was Driven
at Burlingame.
WITH DIREFUL RESULTS.
j. Talbot Clifton the Hero of the
Hour.
A BAD SMASH-UP ON THE ROAD
Two CIubmen Ride Against a Tele-
graph Pole, but Escape With
Their NeCks.

The ethics Of tandem driving is a ques-
ton now agitating the swells of Bur
| ingame, the rus in-urbs club at San
Mateo. Under ordinary circumstances
the premises can be taken that one horse
should 20 first and the other animal last
that is one before the other-and the car
should never precede the equine team.
And, furthermore, it is accepted that
country roads and the centers thereof are
preferable to ditc hes or spiked fences,
telegraDh-posts and the like for drive
ways.
All this, however. is merely the prem
iseS, but it has come to pass at Bur
lingame that conclusions are far wider.
Once with single horse, when j. Talbot
Clifton. the English sojourner, tried TO
clear fence with a valuable animal and
blackboard in which sat his lordship and
"Whitehat" Mccarthy. That was three
or four weeks ago. The result was
entirely uns satisfactory, as Clifton's horse.
full Of high blood and spirits, took the
fence and was spiked and then shot.
Again with tandem when II. r.
Simpkins and j. Is. Lincoln essaved to
drive the team on opposite sides of stout
telegraph-pole. The latter incident
occurred last Sunday afternoon. It was
accompanied with direful results. which
have been jealousy guarded from pub
lcity, although all Buriingame is agitated
thereby.
For various reasOns-courtesy, fear Of
trouble, etc.-lhe discussion upon driving
is carefully confined TO the absence of
Messrs. Simpkins and Lincoln. For it Is
not safe, even for the most stalwaIt polo
player of the club, TO let fall a word about
iandems or telegraph poles when either
SimpkinS or Lincoln are around. Still the
debate has been carried into the Univer-
Sity, Bohemian and Pacfc-U Mon clubs,
forsOoIh with good reason; for it must be
determined if the 400 shall not drive tan
dem or single along the middle Of the
country roads in traditionary vulgar
fashion.
In connection with the incident" of
Sunday afternoon j. Talbot Clifton and
Harold Wheeler were given an opportunity
to appear as heroes of The hour. while Il.
r. S;mpklns and j. B. Lincoln are the
cause of so much ureasiuess over u mere
matter of ethics, about which they lutte
care, seeing without a mirror that their
necks are not broken. 1t all came about in
this way:
Slmpkins and Lincoln went ont for spin
in tandem from the club. The horses
were ultra fashionable with "bObtails, -
cropped names and trappines la Anglaise,
as in vogue at BuIlingame. Every thing
went well on the middle of the road until
half way between San Mateo and Bur-
lingame, when Simpkins ran his horses
against telegraph pole. An eyewitness
described it as an attempt TO drive tandem
at two sides of pole at once.
second horse struck full against the OBJ
struetion and tumbled over. Both riders
were pitched headlong over the ditch with
as much force as if they had been shot out
Of cannon, or off spring trap. Their
elegant English trap was smashed into
very good kindling wood, the shafts
snapped like matches, and the lssding
horse broke his traces and ran away. The
sight of Burlingame horse dashing wildly
down the road startled cubmen, but it
was left to J. Talbot Clifton to be first to
the rescue. He was out driving with BAR
old Wheeler at the time and hurried off in
search of the smash-up.
The rescuing party found Simpkins and
Lincoln dazed, but fortunately not seri-
ously injured. The horses and debris
were picked up by liverled c0achmen from
the club. and the party returned to Bur-
lingame wiser men If not better tandem
drivers.