The Washington herald., 1913-04-27

mother. He feels as though that child
was not the present him, individually
but an ancestor; just as much an ances-
tor as either of his parents. The saying
that the child is the father to the man
may be taken in a sense almost the re-
verse Of that usually given to it The
child is father to the man i'm the sense
that his individuality Is separate from
the individuality of the grown-up into
which he turns. This is perhaps one
reason why a man can speak OF his child
hood and early youth with a sense Of
detachment.
Having been a sickly boy with no nat
ural bodily prowess, and having lived
much at home, 1 was at first quite un-
able to hold my own when thrown into
contact with other boys of tougher ante
cedents. / was nervous and timid. Yet
from reading Of the people 1 admired
ranging from the soldiers of Valley
Forge, and Morgan's rifiemen, to the
heroes Of my favorite stories-and from
hearing of the feats performed by my
Southern forefathers and kinfolk, and
from knowing my father, 1 felt great
admiration for men who were fearless
and who could hold their own in the
world, and 1 had a great desire to be
like them. Until / was nearly fourteen
shape than day dreams Then an incident
happened that Gid me real good.
Having an attack of asthma, / was
sent off by myself to Moosehead Lake.
On the stage-coach ride thither en-
countered couple of other boys who
were about my own age, but very
much more competent and also much
more mischievous. 1 have no doubt they
were good-hearted boys but they were
boys. They found that / was a fore
ordained and predestined victim, and in
dustriously proceeded to make life mis-
cradle for me. The worst feature was
that when 1 finally tried to fight them
i discovered that either one singly could
not only handle me with easy contempt.
but handle me so as not to hurt me
much and yet to prevent my doing any
damage whatever in return.
In the School of Experience.
The experience taught me that prob
ably no amount of good advice could have
taught me. I made up my mind that 1
must try to learn so that / would not
again be put In such a helpless position;
and having become quickly and bitterly
conscious that 1 did not have the natural
prowess TO hold my own, / decided that
i would try to supply its place by train
ing. Accordingly, with my fathers
hearty approval. 1 started to learn to box.
i was a painfully slow and awkward pupil,
and certainly worked two or three years
before / made any perceptible improve
ment whatever.
My first boxing master was John Long,
an expire fighter. 1 can see his rooms
now, with colored pictures of the fights
between Tom Hyer and Yankee Sullivan,
and Heenan and Sayers, and other great
events in the annals Of the squared circle
On one occasion, to excite interest among
his patrons, he held a series of cham
pionship' matches for the different
weights, the prizes being, at least in my
own class, pewter mugs of a value, L
should suppose, approximately so cents
Neither he nor l had any idea that / could
do anything, but / was entered in the
lightweight contest, in which it happened
that l was pitted in succession against
a couple of reedy striplings who were
even worse than L was. Equally to their
surprise and to my own, and to John
Longs. l won, and the pewter mug be-
came one of my most priced possessions.
/ kept ii, and alluded TO it, and / fear
Dragged about il, for a number of years,
and 1 only wish / knew where ii was
now. Years later / read an account of
little man who once in a fifth-rate handi-
cap won a worthless pewter medal and
joyed in it ever after. Well, as soon as
i read that story / felt that that little
man and / were brothers
This was, as far as | remember, the
only one of my exceedingly rare athletic
triumphs which would be worth relating.
j did good deal of boxing and wrestling
in Harvard, but never attained to the first
rank in either, even at my own weight.
Once, in the big contests in the gym,
got either into the finals or semi-finals,
j forget which: but aside from this the !
chief part 1 played was to act as trial |
horse for some friend or classmate who |
did have a chance Of distinguishing HIM
self in the championship contests.
Not a "FIrst Flight Rider"
| was fond of horseback riding, but |
took to it slowly and with difficulty, ex-
actly as with boxing. 1t was a long
time before 1 became even a respectable |
rider, and 1 never got much higher. I |
mean by this that 1 never became a
first-fight man IN the hunting field. and
never even approached the broncho-bust-
ing class in the West. ANY man, if he
chooses, can gradually school himself to
the requisite nerve, and gradually learn
the requisite seat and hands, that will
enable him to do respectfully across
country, or to perform the average work
on a ranch. OF my ranch experiences
j shall speak later. At intervals after
leaving college i hunted on Long Island
with the Meadowbrook hounds.
Almost the only experience / ever had
in this connection that was of any in
terest was on one occasion when broke
my arm. My purse did not permit me
to own expensive horses. On this occa-
sion 1 was riding an animal, a buggy |
horse originally, which its owner sold |
because now and then it insisted on
thoughtfully lying down when in har-
ness. 1t never did this under the saddle;
and when he turned it out to grass it /
would solemnly hop over the fence and
get somewhere where ii did not belong
The last trait was what converted it into
hunter. 1t was a natural jumper, al
though without any speed.
On the hunt in question / got along
very well until the pace winded my ex-
buggy horse, and il turned a somersault
over fence When / got on it after the
fall j found / could not use my left
arm. I supposed ii was merely strain
The buggy horse was a sedate animal |
which / rode with a snaf1e So we
pounded along at the tail of the hunt |
and / die not appreciate that my arm
was broken for three or four fences. |
Then we came to a big drop, and the jar
made the bones slip past one another so
as to throw the hand out of position.
II did not hurt me at all, and as the
horse was as easy to sit as a rocking
chair. got in at the death.
think August Belmont was master
of the hunt when the above incident &C.
CURED. I know he was master on an