The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1908-05-19
BEAT HALF A DOZEN HORSES
Il Was Terrific Test of Endurance,
and the Sturdy Hawaiian Native
Won Easily, Though Two Of the
Competing Horses Dropped Dead.

Il Was a Terrific Test of Enduranee,
and the Sturdy Hawaiian Native
Won Easily, Though Two Of the
Competing Horses Dropped Dead.
Ibid any of you ever hear Of thirty
Eve mile steeplechase for man and
beastY' inquired California man III
a party of turf followers when stories
of queer bets and long shots were go
ing around. well, there was an affair
of that kind down in the Hawaiian
bunch in the fall of 1888, when that
genial gambler. Kalakaua, was king
of the islands There were no tele-
phones joining the islands then, and
state messages and mandates were car
ried by the interisland steamers and
delivered by kanaka runners. These
runners could gallop all day, like
American Indians in retreat or on the
trail, and they didn't know what get
ting winded or tired meant
..Kalakaua thought a good deal Of
these runners Of his. He maintained
that they could go faster and farther
than horses over the Hawaiian coun-
try. In this he was disputed by num-
Der of the white attaches of his court
KaIakaua wagered $1,000 in gobs Of
81 900 with five of them that he would
pick ont runner from among the Ka-
nakas who'd get from Hilo to the top
of the burning lake of Kilauea, a dis
lance Of thirty-fve miles, quicker than
any horse and any rider could do the
trip. They snapped the king up at even
money. 1t looked as if they had the
good end of it. The king and big
party from Honolulu sailed In one OF
the interisland steamers to Hilo, on
the main island of Hawaii to see the
finish
.'The king picked up huge, 1.-THE.
sinewy Kanaka. man about thirty
years old, who had been employed as
q runner on the island of Maui for a
number of years. to try the trick for
him. Eight Kanakas made the start
horseback, on native ponies. bred
away back from western cayuses =
strong, sure footed. nippy tempered
little demons. thoroughly used to the
bad roads and the climbing. The king
and his party had gone up to the Vol
cano House, at the top of Kilauea, In
coaches the day before to be on hand
to greet the winner.
Now. | understand that that road
from Hilo up to the burning lake OF
Kilauea has been improved since the
time I'm speaking of, but it surely was
bad trail then Il was only wide
enough for one wagon, and 1t was
a forty-five degree affair in the climb
all the way up The palms that lined
the road used to get blown across the
trail by the score in big windstorms,
and the coach drivers counted it part
Of their business to jump from their
seats every time they came to these
distractions and shoulder them out OF
the way. This work had all been at
tented to carefully. however, in adj
vance of the race by order of Kala-
kaua, and it looked like pipe for the
cayuses, all of which had made the
run up many time.
"Kalakaua didn't ask for any handi-
cap allowance for his man. The run
ner toed the scratch with the horses
and they got off together at the crack
Of the gun. The horses distanced the
runner from the jump, and he let them
distance him. He was dressed in a
| G string, and he just took up steady
lope and let the cayuses get out of bis
| sight For ten miles the cayuses were
| so far above him on the trail that he
| couldn't even see them. but this Kama
l1a knew how to wait.
"The horses began to come back t.
| the runner long before the Halfway
House was reached, and the Kanaks
was just galloping along at the begin
ming of the third hour. with the same
big stride be had started in with, his
arms up and shooting out In front Of
| him like soldiers on the double time
| drill There wasn't a pant in hin
when he fetched up at the Halfway
House. He stopped down there to 6
spring beside the road and took cou
pie of mouthfuls of water The cay
uses were up ahead bit, blowing theil
heads off, for they had been going at
clip that they had never been pushed
| to before.
"The Kanaka headed the bunch q
mile beyond the Halfway House, and
it was big romp for him the rest OF
the distance. He took position fol-
the remaining seventeen miles Of the
Journey about city block ahead Of the
writhing and painting horses. and he
Just stuck to his lope like man wound
up. He never LET 'em get nearer than
block to him for the remaining three
hours of the trip, looking back at them
with a grin, once in awhile. When only
three miles yet remained before the
Volcano House was to be reached, the
Kanaka took another drink out of q
spring and began to draw away. The
Kanaka riders whipped and spurred
their horses. but 1t was no good. The
Kanaka runner disappeared out Of
their sight on the tortuous trail, ano
when six of the cayuses pulled up al
the hotel veranda about three-quarters
of an hour later the runner was sit
ting on the steps. tanning himself and
drinking saki. Two of the horses had
dropped dead in their final effort.
'The Kanaka made the thirty-tivt
mile trip over sticks and stones on 9
miry road in 6 hours and 40 minutes
and he looked fit to run for his life
when he got through" Washington