Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-10-23

by the president the officers showed
themselves to be quite at home In the
saddle and went the route without any
mishaps to speak Of In the first test
twenty-nine army officers, mostly fat
ones. who have been doing desk work
in the war department for years, par
ticipated. They started from Fort
Myer one afternoon at 2 p. m, and two
and a half hours later the party was
back at the fort, having traversed
something over fifteen miles of good
and bad Virginia roads.
Early that morning one of the old
| colonies who had been Il little timor-
! Gus as to the outcome in his case look
ed out of his window at the wild swirl
| Of rain driving over Washington add
| thought with a comfortable sensation
that the test would have to be post
poned. He turned back to bed for an
| other nap, but was instantly routed out
| by this terrifying suggestion: =
IF Roosevelt hears that the ride
was called off on account of rain he
will get out of the canebrakes and be
| here to take US out himself"
1t was a beautiful afternoon for a
| drive, and the road was in fairly good
| condition despite the heavy rain OF
| the night. Just beyond Ballston the
| first rest call sounded, and everybody
| dismounted in a field beside the road.
The column had been followed by four
| troopers with led horses and by a big
| automobile ambulance from the Wash
| ington barracks hospital The ambu-
| lance furnished lot of fun to the
crowd during this rest period.
! The oldest man III the party and one
| of the wiriest was Colonel George
| Ruhlen of the Quartermaster's depart
| ment, who takes perhaps $50 pounds
to carry around his sixty years with
and is the hottest rival of Colonel Nc
| Cain for the thin championship. Nc
Cain called solicitously to Ruhlen:
what you going to do with that
| wagon?"
Put you in it," replied Ruhlen as
promptly.
While the men rested the officers
hurled gibes at each other, such as
Keep away from those medical
stores!' you needn't be shying up to
that ambulance" and others of similar
vein. The second round was the real
test, as by that time some of the men
| were beginning to feel the effects of
the jolts, and it was no easy matter to
reach the stirrup when it came time to
remount. However. all negotiated it,
and Major Galbraith, inspector general.
who was serving as monitor, found
nothing to score against any of them.
On the last round the pace got too
hot for the ambulance horses, and as
the wagon dropped back some one
shouted. Nobody knocked out but the
sponge holderr'
During the journey the only casual,
ties We're two pairs of split riding
breeches and the detection of two
newspaper men, one of whom gave
up the job right after the start, and
the other had to quit when his horse
was kicked by a restless army animal.
The second test, made on the follow
ing day was covered in good time and
without a mishap. Some little delay
was occaSioned at the outset of tho
iaunt by difficulty in finding an ade
quate mount for one of the field Off
GERS, who has professional RECORD
; second to none in his branch of the
service. He was said to weigh $50
pounds. and his appearance certainly
gave corroborative evidence to that as
sertion. The first horse mounted b,
him gave way under the heavy bur
den literally fell to his knees ant
seemed unable to rise. Two othe
, horses were produced. but each in turf
: was declared to be unsuitable. TIL
, ! fourth horse, however, was a BIZ
strong fellow. who looked as if h
could carry ton, and he was chosen
Throughout this testing of the mount
the big field officer was in thesbest o
humor and never showed signs of irri
tation over the jokes made at his ey
pense. He made the ride in excellen
| shane