New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1928-11-10
OLD HITCHING POST
GONE With HORSES
Once Tested Jumping Skill and
Nerve Of Young America

On account OF the passing Of the
horse and wagon as the most gener-
ally used vehicle of transportation.
both for pleasure and business pur-
poses. and the incidental removal OF
almost all the hitching posts in the
city, the youngsters Of the present
day are deprived Of one of the lead
ing sports of a decade ago, namely.
Jumping the posts. This fact in all
probability has little or no signiti-
canoe to the lads OF school age, COM
ing as it does under the general
classification of things that arc not
known and therefore not missed. but
to their fathers the few remaining
posts along the streets are never
passed without serving to bring
back the happy days when every
red FLOODED lad knew the location of
all of them, and was familiar with
the degree of skill required 10 top
them with spring at the great risk
of ripping clothes and getting q
tanning" on reaching home.
SOJlc " Ollu SNAHu "uNbOut uStSh1uS
Hitching posts were put in their
places, of course. to be used TO tic
horses to while the drivers were out
of the wagons or pleasure buggies.
In almost every house in some sec
tons of the city the posts were used.
although other neighborhoods had
few of them. In the latter districts,
drivers having occasion to stop day
after day. such as grocery clerks,
bakers and produce peddlers made a
practice of tying the horses as near
the various houses as was possible
and taking baskets loaded with
their wares to the customers along
the street. Some drivers neglected
to use the posts at all, there having
been some horses Of proven docility
which would stand without hitching
under any and all conditions. Other
drivers preferred to use weights
which they threw on the ground, at
taching one end of rope to the bit
ring in the horses mouth, the theory
being that tine animal would not run
lar il he felt the weight on the
other end.
in the business district the posts
we're of stone. of the type occasion
ally seen in modern times. Most
of them were equipped with metal
rings for tying purposes. In the
residential sections wooden posts
were used almost exclusively. some
of them having metal caps bearing
the rings, while others were provid-
ed with no means Of tying the ropes,
those using them being obliged TO
fasten the ropes about the posts as
best they could. There were also
some iron posts used.
Champion Post Jumpers
The posts being OF varying
heights above ground, some were
more difficult TO jump than others.
and the ease with WHICH the boys
could grip them varied and added
10 he zest of the sport. Some boys
had the envlable distinction of be-
ing able to jump any post III the
city from any position. and the posi-
ton they occupied among their fell
lows was somewhat similar to th:A'
of the champion marble shooter. tn:
best skater. or the clcNcroSt baseball
player of later years. The various
schools Of the city had their own
champions and when word spread
among the boys that some palticu-
larly difficult post had been topped
py hitherto unrecognizcd jumper,
he often found it necessary to do the
stunt in public to prove that some
thing more than luck had been with
him in the first instance.
The most difficult position from
which to approach a post was the
roadside. Some posts were in slant
ing positions due TO long usage and
a settling of the soil and it MAS no
simple stunt for a boy or ordinary
his hands on top Of these posts and
propc+ himself over. letting 60 OF the
hold rs his legs cleared the posts
a-straddlc. 1t required constant
practice and natural skill, and no
modern adding machine could record
the number of articles of clothing
that were ruined in unsuccessful at
tempts at jumping from the gutter.
Onc-Hand Jumpers
The more advanced jumpers
among tn. older boys were never
content with being able to jump any
pole in the city. They aimed at
perfection in one-hand jumping and
some even went SO far in the sport
as to make running jumps without
touching the hands to the posts.
Every route from every school to
every section of the city provided
liitching posts and every day. rain or
shine. the army OF youngsters leap
cd them or tried to. More recently,
the sons Of those lads have taken
pastime on some of the very streets
where formerly the champion post
Jumpers held forth. Here and there
arc reminders Of the post jumping
DAYS but the school boys pass them
by as though they were not visible
The fat topped stone posts in the
business section are used OCCASION
ally as seats for the weary but the
wooden ones have d lonely deserted
appearance, truly a relic of another
age.
Eddy.GIOver Post, A. L.,