The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-06-03

adventurous monarch. Ferdinand VII.
when he rode his favorite horse TO the
top of the tower of Seville Cathedral
This. however. was a less hazardous per-
Torrance than that of the Dane. for
there is a fairly wide inclined pathway
which climbs the tower. although TO the
spectators il seemed impossible that the
king could ever emerge from the venture
alive.
There is an accoutl of feat of horse
manship which seems more wonderful
than either of those described. 1t is stated
in the records that in the year 1900 a
man rode TO the top of st. PauIs on his
horse Morocco TO the amazement OF the
thousands OF onlookers. If this feat ever
had any existence outside the magma
ton of its chronicler. it is probable that
the ascent was made by a staircase which
may have been feature of old St Paul's
Almost equally wonderful are the feats
recorded of a pair of thoroughbred Ara
bian horses. the properly of Professor
Holloway OF Wyoming These horses
have been trained by thei rowner to make
dives of seventy feet or more into lake
AT signal one Of them starts up an
incline at a quick walk until he reaches
a platform seventy-fve feet above the
lake below. The professor is standing on
the shore, and as the horse looks down
from the platform he calls All right.
AT the sound of his voice, without a
seconds hesitation leaps from his pima
Gle, and. flashing through the air. disap-
pears in cloud of spray. from which
ha ;zI-i
ashore
1t is doubtful whether any horseman
however daring an dexpert. can excel the
skill Of some Coccacks. When riding at
full gallop they will pick up a child from
the groud. toss il high in the air, and
catch it repeatedly like ball. They will
also at a gallop, leap off their horses.
pick up any small object and, without
checking the horses speed. leap in a
standing position on its back
They will ride their horses down pre-
cipitous cliffs, on which there scarcely
seems footing for an agile mountaneer
or leap from thirty feet down into a river;
while d common feat is for Cossack,
galloping at full speed. 10 snatch a needle
and thread from one of his fellows. and
thread the needle in less time that would
seems possible in an armchair.
Few of these performances. however
are more astonishn gthan that credited
TO Mr.. John Leach Manning. who rode
his horse into an upstairs diningro at
the White Hart Hotel. Aylesbury. and
jumped him over the dining table. In de-
scribing the feat he says: Nothing was
removed from the table; in fact the din
ner was actually going on. 1 jumped the
horse barebacked without bride The
horse performed before more than forty
gentlemen who were dining after the
steeplechases. Some of the records of
long distance rides are we'll worthy of
note, as when MIR. Osbaldeston, the
famous squire sportsman of seventy years
ago, RODE two hundred miles at New
market in eight hours forty-two minutes,
November. 1881. using twenty-eight
horses for the journey. In October. 1871
Wilde covered 127 miles on horseback at
the Curragh in six hours and twenty-one
minutes and twenty-siX years ago Leon,
the Mexican rider. rode one hundred miles
at Alexander Park in tire minutes under
five hours AN average speed of more than
lWchLy an nOuI- III AOliOHillS
year con covereu sos miles in less than
fifty houls. a wonderful feat of endurance.
But as test OF staying poyer of both
men and horses it would be difficult TO
rival the recent performance Of five
French lieutenants of the Twelfth Hus-
sars. Leaving Gray at O'Clock in the
morning. the officers rode seventy-two
miles to Belport .arrivin gat o'clock in
the afternoon They then dismounted.
walked a further distance of twenty-four
miles, dined. walked back to Belport. sad
died their horses. and rode back TO Gray.
which they reached the following after
noon at o'clock. Thus. within thirty
six hours these five men completed
journey of 1872 miles of which IA were on
horseback and forty eight on foot.