The Dickinson press., 1913-12-20
Over A PREC|PICE
Climax to the Reckless Ride OF
a Fearless Horseman.

|5t- - "a WV SVsbbSAtse t-1=sI&S
HIS WILD LEAP IN THE DARK n,
|lt Carried Horse and Rider Past ths
Edge Of . Sheer Cliff TO = Fall Of Two
Hundred and Fifty Fest 20 the Rocks
and Water Below, Vet the Man Lived.
Perhaps the most extraordinary fall
that a human being ever survived u
that described by Thormanby in his
Sporting Stor1es." The lucky man
was Colonel William .Yorke Moore. Z,
British officer, who rode his horse in
the dark over a sheer precipice PAT
feet in height and came out alive! It
seems incredible that such a fearful
experience should result in anything
but instant death, yet here are the
facts, which once again confirm the
adage that truth 10 more wonderful
than fiction:
Colonel.Moore who commanded the
troops at Dominica. lost his way one.
evening after sunset. In complete
darkness he endeayored to make his
way. home. Two or three times he
had difficulty in making his horse
cross obstacles, and at last they came
to something that the horse would not
| face.
Colonel Moore was a fearless rider.
Again and again he rode his horse at
full speed against the unknown obsta-
Gle, but in vain. At last, urged aerce-
~ by whip and spur, the terrified ami
NAL, with q snort Of terror, cleared the
low hedge-for such the obstruction;
proved to be-and went over the clid.
Colonel Moore says that during his
fight on horseback through the air
every event of his whole life seemed
to pass In a luminous panorama be-.
fore him. Suddenly there came q ter,
rife concussion, which deprived him.
of his senses and left him with his
legs in the sea and his body IN the
rocks. apparently dead.
He must have lain there stunned for
some hours, for when at last the lap.
ping water and the cool breezes restor-
ed him the moon was shining brightly
in midheaven, and its beams fell upon.
the upturned. g~littering shoes of his
gallant horse. which LAY dead and
mangled beside him.
AS soon as he had collected his scat
tered wis Colonel Moore coolly began
to examine himself to ascertain what
injuries llp had sustained. He found
that he .w::s severely cut about the
body ana maNT. that his right ankle
was dis,,n:litsf and thai his back was
benumbpd u tt;r,l. .el hy the concus
sion of IL: ss!i.
When taSs 80. t,.e ii sllynei upon his
bare, b!ecs::.ss. head With satl, intul
cradle heat :.l.a.., rs i r--ote tirn from
its rays. H. tie: his c::tt.n laiE'ser
chief about his. forrt,e:,d Above lis
head projected The :wn ends 1T the
knotted halE!a=e stained crimson with
his blood.
After lying in horrible !aiin for sev.
eral hours he spied Il boatfut of na-
tives rowing toward the spot where he
lay. As they anne near he hailed
them In a faint voice. but the mo
ment they saw the CHASTITY figure of
the colonel, with his bloody headdress,
they set up a yell and rowed away as
II 10000 fends were after them.
After some time a single black man
came clambering over the rocks, in.
tent on catching fish. He was within
a few yards of the colonel when the
latter hailed him. The moment the ne
gro caught sight Of the bleeding head
and the blood stained bandage be. too,
uttered a fearful yell, flung down his
rod and line and scrambled of over
the rocks as fast as his feet and hands
would carry him.
self to the prospect Of a lingering
death, but fortunately his English
servant, alarmed at his masters alb
sence, went In search OF him and, fol-
lowing the horses tracks, at last came
to.the edge Of the precipice.
The sudden disappearance OF the
hoof prints near the low hedge fence
convinced him that an accident had
happened. Heran to the barracks and
got out a boat, which a party of SOL
diers rowed to the foot Of the Cliff.
Very tenderly and carefully the SOL
diers lifted the colonel Into the boat
and brought him back to the barracks.
For some months he lay In great pain
and danger, but IN. time the paralyzed
muscles Of his back recovered, and
eventually he w~assrestored TO complete