The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-09-07
From the New York World.

From the New York World.
 Mrs. Alec Tweedle. the famous English traveller and expert in the saddle. thinks that women should ride astride. Mrs. Tweedie is a beautiful and womanly wo- man; above all she is practical. and that is why she feels that the cross-saddie for her sex is proper.
 This widely known champion of the cross-saddie for femininity has just freely on the subject, quoting iprecedents sufficiently influential to support her contention and lookin gat the matter from many points of view.
 Practical ways and means sad she always receive recognition in the end, however much Mrs. Grundy may growl Cross-riding will come. The bicycle was an innovation. and as women could not possibly ride sideways, and there was no conservative party accustomed to side saddle to shriek at the suggestion of a cross one, bicycling became general and women among its chief devotees. Oar ngeous to health was exclaimed on all sides; but that danger has not accrued, and this cry is now silenced. Propriety murmured; but propriety gave in.
 With riding 1t is different. Society says: "The side-saddle is the right thing; 1t is here, it has been here ever since 1t was first introduced into the country by /, Anne of Bohemia, the wife of Richard IL, and being here. 1t Is. of course, quite right and proper that 1t should remain They forget that this gooo dame used the side-saddle to show off her gorgeous robes; and as velvets, satins and embroid- cries were more important than hard riding, the pommelled chaIr-like seat then In vogue suited the purpose. Some of the best-known portraits of Queen Elizabeth 1 snow her seated on her palfry in this wise, emblazoned in gorgeousness. Long flowing robes, low bodices and enormous l plumed hats were the fashionable riding | attire at later date; and even the early | portraits of Queen Victoria depict her in a long, wide plaited skirt,such as no lady would dream of wearing today, any more than she would a crinoline, on horseback.
 Gradually evolution has dropped these | flowing robes and embroderies, because women ride in earnest nowadays, and no longer amble out on a palfrey merely for show. So far have some women become emancipated from the long flowing robes that they have reached the stage of hunting in a cloth apronl Yes, merely an apronl For surely this is what some of the safety habits amount to. Some queer sights of hnseated femninity in the | hunting field have been the result.
 "If cloth is substituted for whip cord. and weil-fitting habit bodice for a cot ton shirt a neat bowler or top hat for Mexican sombrero the turnout will cer- tainly be smarter.
 field.
 Tt has been found again and again. that little girls. learning on a side-sad- dle' get crooked backs on the off or near side. Does this not prove, in itself, that l the side seat is unnatural?
 "A number of medical men, feeling the necessity of their daughters, at the age of twelve or fourteen. riding on both the | off and near side to avoid spinal curva- ture, have saddles made for the purpose New it costs about fifteen guineas ($7S.75) to have perfectly made saddle, and as one constructed for riding on either side is hideous, and never anything but a miserable compromise, 1t is practically necessary the girl to have two sad dies. This means thirty guineas (s157.5O), | while the pony itself generally costs less. As the girl grows she outstrips her sad 1 dle, and probably when she is fifteen re quires others Now this is an extremely expensive entertainment, and not always as efficacious as it might be. Every sta ble has a mans saddle, which practically fits anybody and provided that it has | good rolls in front of the knees, Is per- fectly suitable for girl of any age.
 ''Women's horses with rubbed backs are not uncommon: but it is rare for a man to give his steed a sore back. Why? Simply because the man sits in a per fectly natural position and is equally balanced upon his beast. A woman is forced into an equally unnatural posi- tion on the side-saddle and unless she is thoroughly good rider her natural in- clination is not to sit square (which really means sitting crooked) and leaning over on her stirrup foot. Called backs and wrung withers are the result.
 "Of course am perfectly aware that 1t is not necessary to give a horse sore back wi-h side-saddle, and I pride my self in my hunting days that I never did such thing, but I am equally certain that if started forth on long tedious journey in roadless countries it would be quite impossible to avoid doing so on the side-saddle. especially one not actually made to fit both horse and rider. As a woman gets tired she is Inclined to re- linquish the exact angle of her seat, the girths loosen with days ride the saddle inclines to become unsteady, and @ sore back is the result.
 Now. days hunting if a woman rides straight to hounds. Is fatiguing per formance. She hacks miles to the meet, and miles home again, and she probably has a long spin across country Into the bargain. The woman who returns tired from her days sport. on q sde-saddle would probably come back as fresh as paint if she rode astride. She must not. however, imagine she can get up without any practice, and merely because she is | a good horsewornan, gallop away. after | the hounds on mans saddle.
 Naturally she needs some experience |