The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-01-12

srecIai Correspondence OF The Sunday Republic
New York. Jan. u-Who says girls ca1-
not run?
once more. Oh, We laurols. and once more,
ye olive crown, is mascuiInitH wrested OF
another prerogative. even unto the heritage
Acquainted from the OIympian slopes by
the feet-footed Apollo!
Who says girls cannot run?
Answer. PSYCHOLOGISTS. who love 20 tell Us
tia We may never learn Ia throw a stone
straight or. what Is Sill worse. that We
may never dare to hope 10 learn, because
because. for the very humiiiating reason
because girls are not built that way.
Who says. though. that girls cannot run?
once. twice. three times in succession the
cirls of the Staten Island Harss anu
Hounds have come in INST al the HIlSh Oh
o-o>s-cuuntry PAPER chases. and now the
whole island - asking the question Ho" do
they do it,
1t is San interesting question. How do girls,
dressed apparently Ike any other athselc
and sensible Yong woman. manage 10 oEt-
rru ~tout-'e-Ge5 young men IN lonG ana
ars7--Er ,Tr.@.s over and under ana throuSt:
.r manner # appalling Obstacles? This
Hey have accomplished uuW three times IL
-r,.,-s-ou. and the wonder increase
.,1 the afternoon If December = the
7fars- and Hounds held their last pap'F
NIaHHH. HE aa'. 81 u~N-H fNahfH go 49, 49," 49, -
.rHiur contests. the girls were IN hfst, me
winners. Ir.s tine being Miss Mary Van
.-rror De'-hauty and Miss Clara NeTs-=-
To one unfamiliar with the sport. 1he
name .;ar-r chase has 4 peculiarly tame
s.guE. something inuocuous. like GU
maid or 'forfeits." COR instance. Ent
here Is nothing tame about the same IL
self. As played b. the staten Island tiar.s
and Hounds. ! chariot race could scarcely
-. more exciting Than the run Of December
o. .H.. = Er..-rrH2fa ..rrF-+
They met d. the cricket club, at Liv-
-7GStru. al haIt-pn~t three. the usual hour.
~ n w.S 90 Saturday atternoon, ana matt
rs. Gzv. +H, ruN membership WAS not pres
.rr. tr5 of these there Was only a Sprink-
ling & men. The HarsS ana HOUNDS are re-
,rriiteH from the best families of the island
TN. girls have beaten us So often, now
sid on" II the Nangu3shed ApoIlos. they
EaNa beaten Us ~ often that II doesn't seem
worth while FOR Us 10 try any more. What
sic. trick Is. We don't know, but they ger
there Just the same
The speaker. a Iong-legged. athletic young
man. waved mis- hand il mock despair To-
ward the TurChful of girls. some Of them
singing. some shouting words Of w3rniiE =
s-.4 farewell to the hares. who had ai-elhN
started with their bags of paper shaV''s~'
Most IF the girls. Il must he pnieSSel-"'L
rigging imnsnieraJeiy. just like al Sshp"i-
.|ri~ IjeEia. whether or not they be cialhH-
Ii"us ut the simple and noble sport OF run
IiuG-
Warned About the wamp-
Look here. YOU hates. don't you go too
far into the swamp I've got my low shoes
on to-day. aud ! don't want To eaten my
Ana don't fool US with any barbwire
te1c. tricks. In afraid Of blood poison
sh.5y R sEs@;r
huy away they started. across the cricket
!, grounds, the two hares. a man in knicker-
, u0kors and d maid in scarlet coat and golf
skirt. and aS they went they lcTI In their
-rail a long. ZiCzaS sitting of futtsriDS
S.faps ~ white paper, which the December
n7F#1 .Ef1plGE mud -nE4at aud gathered nm IN
little heaps on the brown, wed sod. and then
.aughJ MP ana blew away. where,only the
wind knew.
nm he hard GLOWING the chase to-day"
sri,1 one of the hounds. Just look how that
paper is flying. i will be impossible to keep
amy Mind Of a scent ON. / see our finish"
ON. [ see our tiniSh- came. like 4 Greek
nhorus. the voices from the clubhouse
porch.
stick IN the mud in Jones's swamp"
"Wading through Smiths meadow"
walled another
-And there are snakes there" screamed
the chorus.
Thus the time passed. the fifteen minutes
given IT." hares for making their start. 1t
was An impatient fifteen minutes for the
hounds. despite the unfavorable prospects
before them. the cold. dark. cherries aft
eruoor. the w.tersoaked ground. the raw.
biting wind and the barbwired fences and
tie snakes.
Most Difficult Fcnt.
That tho girls should outrun the men was
not 50 NDHieT1ll TO me as the TACT that
they had accomplished the feat in petit
coats. The girls all wore golf skirts OF the
regulation length. with flannel shirt waists
hloomers under the skirt. but the majority
wore little, thin. lightweight petticoats. /
was further surprised to find most Of them
ccnventionally corsetej. All of which went
10 prove. in my mind. that there are no
hard and fast rules in athletics, any more
than there are in theology.
How d" you manage TO do it. anyway
! asked.
To which one Of them replied. briefly and
20 the point. BY long, hard practice
One. two. three, ready announced the
leader of the hounds, Swapping his watch
shut and dashing forward. followed by the
entire pack of girls and boys. shouting and
yelling with the vim of p-andcmonium let
loose On earth.
the girls with whom | managed to catch up
every once in a while during the chase. She
was one Of the ~noyices. and not so swift q
runner as the others.
Oh. wen get on to it further along the
road" was the reply.
And why didn't you go out at the gate,
the way they dld?" asked again.
How They Saved Time.
Because we could save time by climbing
the fence. and perhaps We'll he able 10
overtake them or corner them up when We
get to the crossroads at the beginning CT
the woods"
1T seems Just like a military m~aneuver,
doesn't it?' / suggested.
YES. and that's just what makes it so
fascinating. You never know what's going
10 happen, or where you may run right in
TO the hares and head them off"
on and on the hounds went, now slowly
and cautiously. afraid Of making a mis-
step; now madly. pellmell, and the field
was Gsscl ted-everyhody IN a. different di-
Iection: every hound on his or her own
trail.
"~TIeiChho, Ho, Hurrah"" came the
shouts from the meadows.
On and on. further and further, across va
cant lots, through the gardens of deserted
country places, across the back yards of
The wandering neighborhood. toward the
'kill.' glimmering cold and gray. to the
vest over to the snake-ridden swamps, into
The brown. naked, shivering woods.
"La-ha-hou! La-ha-hoo'" far away trilled
the voices Of the hareS. tantaliZinCly.
"IA-ha-iIoo! La-ha-hOo.' answered back
the hounds from every point OF the hnri-
.on.
Further and further away came the
! voices. and were almost echoes before It
was discovered that nearly everybody was
on a false scent.
Enxnnrcd the Hounds
The crafty fares had eusnared the hounds
and lost them Il good fifteen minutes time
by making three detours. and the not less
crafty wind had assisted IN the deception.
One by one the excited and eXasperated
hounds got back to the place whence they
boj haan lnrpya1 nv & frat ron