Daily Arizona silver belt., 1909-10-15
THE HIGH HORSE AND HIS RIDER

every walk of life we fnd the high horse and his rider
 Sometimes he is serious minded; sometimes he is humorist in his own eccentric and in Gividual way But oftener he is dunce set on ia pe lestal, wouldbe diplomat in glass suit, oi 2 human worm gorged to the bursting point witl the sense of his own importance derived from estimates made by himself
 But always he rides the highway of life like straw king or an outlaw
 He may have begun life as menial scullery toiler, and favored by unexplainable circum- stance have been forced to the top of affairs like the scum that forms on the top of boiling liquid. if he is rich, it is simply proof that money, like water oft settles in the lowest places.
 If he is counted wise it is because he is sur rounded by men who receive his sophistries as gospel truth.
 If he assumes a sphinx-like silence and wears a highbrow expression it may be that he fears lest speech shall reveal his ignorance.
 If he is garrulous he may hope to deceive the multitude by noise with no vein of thought running through it. And sadly enough, many are thereby deceived.
 But the rider of the high horse is ever pomp- ous, always n-gorious, and continually dis pensing gasconnade in his own particular way He has long ago ceased to compare himself with his fellows, for he has already adiudged himself vastly superior to any of them. And al though he may have been very humble in the days when adversty was his boon companion, To, he is blessed with such poor memory that the remotest recollection of either his former circumstances or friends has escaped him en- tirely. So with a complacency that would be Imaginable, were 1t not so disagreeable, he goes riding his high horse through life His eyes are fixed on the clouds where he probably imagines he can descry his own image painted ill indelible colors for the delectation of the universe And all along his right of way, which, in his own ex- alted opinion is the world he ruthlessly and serenely over-rides those who are mistaken enough to trust in the merciful character of his humanity.
 In everyday life, we have many deplorable ex- amples of the high horse rider. Sometimes he is a politician, who, once in office, adopts as his rule of life the oft quoted exclamation of the elder Vanderbilt "The public be damned. !" And with this saying as his slogan, he goes mer rily forward, blind to every duty, negligent of every trust. Fortunately, the career of this par tcular type of rider is short. His own mistakes and omissions bring upon him speedy retribu- ton. And Nemisis camps on his trail
 It happens not infrequently that the rider of the high horse is corporation. It may be, for instance, a mining company's management, which in the time of it's early struggles, clamors most humbly for public support, but consigns it to limbo as soon as the first great ore strike IS made Then the management in question mounts it's high horse and gallops at precipitate speed over the landscape, until both steed and rider fall into shaft after several millions of the stockholders money. The sudden and violent contact with the country rock minus any trace of ore, is disillusonng Then amid the weep ing, wailing and anathema of mob of investors, the rider of the high horse makes good his es- cape ma burro, or by some means equally dig nifed. The fate of such company is sad to contemplate, but that fact in no way diminishes what they received they most richly deserved and then some
 And so, in conclusion, let Us remind ourselves that 1t i'll becomes any of us to go cavorting with too kingly an air over this little lukewarm spheroid on which we maintain precarious ex- istence. And let us not have too slight regard for those of our fellows who may be sojourning along our meteoric course For today one may be rider of the high horse called by the sages 'The pride that goeth before a fall," and to- morrow, some passerby may be sorrowfully| saying, "How natural he looks' Therefore, none of us should be above walking through this queer old world, if occasion demands for the vicissitudes of earthly travel are many, and the