Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1895-02-06
A SUNDAY FOX HUNT.
An ImPrOmptu Chase That Brought Nor
tifcation to the Participants.

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Benjamin S. Rupp of Talmage, Wis,
tells this story of his personal expert.
ences:
"One Sunday about n year ago |
mounted horse often used for fox hunt
ing to ride down to the back pasture
lot to give the calves bit of salt, and,
as usual, my four hounds followed. 1t
was beautiful, clear morning, lust
after rain, with the roads decidedly
muddy. Suddenly over toward Earlville
heard "a pack of hounds on hot trail.
So did my horse and dogs My horse
was bound to go, and as / could not
keep the dogs back, and fearing they
would be lost, | thought | would 20 IA
little way up the hill and see what the
racket was about. My horse was so ex-
cited that could not hold him.
II passed several staid old Mennonites
going to church and splattered them
full of mud, but pulled my hat down,
looked solemn and as if crying, and they
thought was going for doctor 1 had
not run mile till had met Sam Car
penter, who has 20 dogs; Sylvester Mil
Ter, who has ten dogs, and who were
out sailing their calves and could not
hold their horses any better than
could. AS we went ON, at some cross
roads or forks we met Rudy Frank
houser, Jacob Sewers, ROLAND Roger,
John Sewers, Martin Balmer Mart
Kuppenhafer, Adam Hoover and about
90 more who had gone out that morn
ing also to salt calves. 1t was regular
sailing day, and never knew that there
were so many calves in West Earl town
ship, and that they were all given lick
of salted bran ON the same day. 1t was
really singular coincidence. Now,
some of the men were riding barebacked,
some were on mules, some only with
blind brides on their steeds; none was
dressed for either church meeting or fox
hunting.
'It was the most innocent party 1
ever saw, and they did all they could to
curb mules and horses and call off the
hounds But the trail was hot and the
dogs eager. We might just as we'll have
whistled jigs to milestones and expect
them to dance. So the hunt went on, and
we could not stop it. We ran to Farm
ersville, then to Hinkletown, next to
Vogansville and wound up at Groffdale
about so riders who had all gone out
in the most pious way on Sunday morn
ing to salt calves in the back lots and
were led astray by circumstances over
which they had no control. The worst
of the whole matter was that that in
fernal fox, possessed by the devil, took
us by every church in the neighborhood
He almost ran into one church, and we
were forced to ride by-splattering mud
in all directions, soaring the old people
and taking the thoughts of the young
folks off sacred things.
when we first started, we tried to
make the people believe we were after
a thief, the doctor, priest, or that we
thought we were late for church serv-
ice and SO were riding fast and furious.
But this racket would not do. There
were too many of us and 100 dogs on a
hot trail We pulled our horses and
mules and shouted at the wicked, un-
godly dogs, but no good. He had a
through ticket at special rates and
could not stop off. There were all kinds
of creeds among us riders, and that fox
took us by our respective churches. The
preachers saw us, our elders, deacons,
our wives, daughters and sweethearts
beheld us, and every one wept great
weeps New York Advertiser.