The Washington herald., 1913-04-27
In Chapters Of Possible Autobiography Former President
and President Maker Gives Intimate Account of
Himself from His Youth Up
Third section.
THE vIGOR OF LIFE.


when l was out a man was thrown.
dragged by one stirrup, and killed. In
| consequence I bought a pair Of safety
stirrups, which l used the next time
/ went out. Within five minutes after
the run began i found that the stirrups
were so very safe that they would
not stay in at all. First one went OF
at one jump, and then the other at an
| other jump-with a fall for me on each
! occasion I hated to give up the fun
so early, and accordingly finished the
run without any stirrups. My horse
never went as fast as on that run.
Doubtless a first-class horseman can
ride as well. without stirrups as with
them. But / was not a first-class horse
| man. When anything unexpected hap
pened, 1 was apt to clasp the solemn
buggy horse firmly with my spurred
heels, and the result was that he laid
himself out to do his best in the way
of galoping. He speedily found that,
thanks to the snaffie bit, / could not
pull him in, so when we came to q
down grade he would usually put on
steam. Then If there was a fence at
the bottom and he checked up at all.
1 was apt TO shoot forward, and in
such event We went over the fence in
way that reminded me of Leech's
picture, in Punch" of Mr.. Tom Noddy
and his mare jumping fence in the
following order: Mr.. Tom Noddy, 1; his
mare, III. However, I got in at the
death this time also.
1 was fond of walking and climbing.
AS lad l used to go to the North
Woods, in Maine, both in fall and WIN
ter There j made life friends of two
men. VIII Dow and Bill Sewail; I
canoed with them, and tramped through
h.. A.
logging camps on snow-shoes. After
ward they were with me in the West
Will Dow is dead. Bill Sewan was col
lector of customs under me- on the
Aroostook border. Except when hunt
ing l never did any mountaineering save
for couple of conventional trips up
the Matterhorn and the Jungfrau on
one occasion when 1 was in Switzerland
Shooting at Sycamore Hill.
1 never did much with the shotgun, but
practiced a good deal with the rife. I
had rife range at Sycamore Hill, where
often took friends to shoot Once or
twice when I was visited by parties of
released Boer prisoners, after the close of
the South African war, they and / held
shooting matches together. The best
man with both pistol and rifle who over
shot there was Stewart Edward White.
Among the many other good men was
a stanch friend. Baron Speck Won Stern
berg, afterward German Ambassador at
during my Presidency. He
was a capital shot, rider, and walker a
devoted and most efficient servant of Ger
many, who had fought with distinction
in the Franco-German war when barely
more than a boy; he was the hero of the
story of the pig dog in Archibald
Forbes volume of "reminiscences. 1t was
he who first talked over with me the
raising of a regiment of horse rif1emen
from among the ranchmen and cowboys
of the plains. When Ambassador, the
poor, gallant tender-hearted fellow was
dying of a slow and painful disease, so
that he could not play with the rest of
us, but the agony Of his mortal illness
never in the slightest degree interfered
with his work.
Among the other men who shot and
rode and walked with me, was Cecil
Spring-Rice, who has just been appoint
ed British Ambassador to the United |
States. He was my groomsman, my
best man, when l was married-at St /,
Georges Hanover Square, which made
me feel as if 1 were living in one of
novels.
My own experience as regards marks
was DluCu the Same DIS lily ca |
perience as regards horsemanship. There |
are men whose eye and hand are SO |
quick and so sure that they achieve |
a perfection Of craftsmanship to which |
no practice will enable ordinary men to 4
attain. There are other men who can
not learn to shoot with any accuracy |
at all. In between come the mass of |
men of ordinary abilities who, if they |
choose resolutely to practice. can by
sheer industry and judgment make them
selves fair rife shots. The men who
show this requisite industry and judg-
nent can without special difficulty raise
themselves to the second class of re-
Spectacle rife shots: and it is to this
class that i belong.
The Requisites of the Hunter.
But to have reached this point of
with the rife at a target
oy no means implies ability to hit game
n the field, especially dangerous game.
All kinds of other qualities, moral and
physical, enter into being a good hunter
Ind especially good hunter after dam
yerous game, just as all kinds of other
qualities in addition to skill with the
life enter into being a good soldier. With
dangerous game, after a fair degree of
with the rifle has been at
aimed, the prime requisites are cool
Judgment and that kind of nerve which
onssts in avoiding being ratified. . Any
beginner is apt to have buck fever"
md therefore no beginner should go
Il dangerous game |