New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-11-29

Ihefe s a runaway IN central taTh Inc
tatter OF hoofs sounds like alarm. and the
nursemaids pick up their infant charges and
scamper away over the lawn. Along the drive
/ team of thoroughbreds attached to a light
Wagon dashes with the reins futtering out
lehnd like a pennant, and the driver hang
Ing to his seat with a clutch of desperation.
There is a woman huddled up close to him.
With the next turn the horses will plunge head
J ng into clump of trees. The runaways are
Vii rushing straight ahead, when a helmeted
Eorseman dashes up behind them There is a
rack TO neck struggle for a moment. and then
a strong thick fingered hand reaches out and
Irlsps the foam fiecked bride. The horse
breaks his gait, drops into a trot, and swing
iia round with the turn of the road pulls up
IS mate to a standstill.
There is a moment of suppressed excitement.
The driver picks up his reins and pats the
aecks of his horses coaxingly. The woman gets
,ut and walks home" few loungers gather
about and comment the bravery OF the
mounted policeman. Then the team drives off.
lie crowd disperses and again the cavalcade or
,ealth and fashion rolls by. There is nobody
turt and the hero's rescue is soon regarded as
only an incident There had been several SINH
lar runaways that Sunday morning. Had the
policeman slipped in his saddle and ali peeh
dashed TO death, there would have been hrst
page story in the newspapers the next morn
ing and all the world would have talked about
the 'bIuecoated hero" Yet when he does not
Slip and does his duty he should he is passed
by almost unheeded
Not even the man who takes his drive in
the park realizes the daily dangers from which
he is saved by the park police. In the last
three and a half years there have been four
hundred runaways in the wooded heart Of
o,nd of haCa mi a IA
resulted fatally. There is never a Sunday morn
ing that there are not three four runaways.
There is the green horseman from the riding
school for example, who ventures out to SHOW
off" before he knows how to handle the relns
even on a tanbark floor. Another unfortunate
Is the man who has just employed a new
hostler In spite of his array of references the
pew man forgets to fasten all the straps of
the head STALL and later the bit falls out of the
horses mouth Then there is the excitabte
young woman who thinks she has a runaway
horse when she hasn't and who might have
controlled the steed perfectly if she had only
tried.
Because of his record in preventing run
aways the park policeman shows that he sits
astride of no mean sort of animal. Neverthe-
less one might think from the veterinary sur
geon bills paid under Tammany Hall that the
police horse was an extremely sckly animal.
Before the present administration the twenty
six bluecoats who patrol Central Park on horse
back were selected indiscI Intimately. If a pa
trolman had been beating the pavement of a
downtown district until he was tired OF the JOB
he might get 4 chance at lounging a horse"
if his pull strong enough. In the years of
Van wyck's administration there We're many
mounted police who weighed two hundred
pounds. and who had gained good share of
their fat from a restful saddle. Police Com
missioner Greene has ordered that lighter
shall ride, and has fixed the limit of weight at
$50 pounds
In the last year of Mayor Van Wycks reign
the doctor bills for sick police horses amounted
to S13491 80. One surgeon charged high
So 903 70 for his services and another S431G
Under Mayor Low the horses have enjoyed
much better health. Instead of a total of S13-
900. the doctor bills have been cut down to less
than $1,000. Commissioner Greene mace thor
ough investigation Of this entire depart