The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-10-09

From the San Francisco Argonaut'
 TT is reported in A dispatch rom "aila
 Walla. state of Washington, that NIT. x Homer Davenport, the cartoonist' IS arranging for an Unique trial or equiho endurance In the interesting exhio'l made by MT. Davenport at the Portland axnos;tion two years ago there was as 2 center of attraction a beautiful Arabian stallion. bought from an English onlcer who half begged and half stole the anihdi from sheik of the desert Since the fair this fine beast has been kept at the home of it's owners father, near Saieni' Ore. Now it Is proposed to send nm to MT. Davenrorts Plainfield farm, In New Jersey, not by train, but over the rosos under saddle Harry Davenport, stu dent of Whitman college Walla Walia' and a cousin of the cartoonist. has been commissioned to ride the horse across the continent. andshe is preparing early ln April to tighten his girths and start east ward.
 Mr. Davenport's idea is to make an ex- hibition of endurance that will prove the mettle of the Arab breed, in which he has a pa ssionate sentimental interest, as well as business interest, since he has im- norted A dozen or more Arabs of his own selection and bought at first hand In the desert. His theory Is that the Arab is the most enduring of all races of the horse, and he proposes to put this theory to an unprecedented test. Horse lovers will naturally watch the experiment with ex- traordinary interest.
 In the middle years of last century, be- tween the early forties and late sixties horses in great numbers were ridden or driven across the plains from the Mis- souri river and beyond to Oregon and California. The editor of the Argonaut took his early lessons in the saddle on the back of a light-footed pony which his father had previously ridden from Lib erty, Mo, to Yamhill county, in western Oregon. The journey was a slow one, from early April to late September. for the pace was restricted to the slow move ment of OK teams, while food both fer man and beast, had mostly to be gath cred by the way. The little horse, like many another of his day, made the jour ney in good shape. living to gray old age, in useful service to the last. Mir. Davenport's Arab will, of course, make the journey under very different circum- stances. He will find food and shelter by the way, and with the 1.-the and light young collegian on his back he is expect ed to cover from 30 to 40 miles a day.
 It would be interesting to put along side of Mr. Davenport's Arab, on the transcontinental journey typical horse of the native California breed. if indeed there be left in the country a true repre- sentative of the old breed. If such q comparative test of powers were possible. the Argonaut would be willing to wager something handsome that the native horse would at least share honors with tho Arab No horse, we believe. ever lived in any country that could go further on shorter commons or carry a heavier bur den in ratio to his own weight than the native horse. And there was reason for 1t inside of Mir. Davenport's own theory since the native horse was by heredity himself an Arab. His genesis. like that of Mr. Davenport's splendid sorrel, is the ..dcsert The Mohammedan Arab rode hs remote ancestors into Asia Minor; hls de- scendants carried new generations of Mo hanlrnedans into the land of the Moor: the Moors rode still later descendants Of