| Show TT w of fh 1 bui j ti Slie best and most aristocratic THE families in london and new york have suddenly revived the old fashion of training their children on shetland ponies writes A elmslie crabbe in the philadelphia record the shipment of these sturdy ittle animals for america Is going up by heaps and bounds and wherever you go amongst the smart set in england you wl now so these handsome little beasts carrying the children of the household house hol in tact it you really want to be n the newest fashion and to give children the time of their lives yo must have a string of shetland ponies in your stables experts say Shet lands teach children self reliance and domination ind set off the natural beauties of ue girls as they canter through the parks like no other ponies on earth shetland ponies of course are to some people merely a general name for a small type of pony but this Is a mistake these small animals are bred with as much care in the shetland islands as pheasants are bred and reared in cove in england and other sporting countree le the shetland islands themselves are composed of some thirty or arty small islands and three or four larger ones the largest called the main land Is a bleak hilly island starting at the peninsula alth sumburgh Sum burgh head as au commencement and ending at dunst a whale fishers port the firby they on british soil capital of the island lies dyressay Dr essay one of the larger island and the center of the pony breeding industry here they are reared and eventually exported to the united states nd to scotland eng land and other countries as required A small pure br 1 specimen Is somewhat valuable fetching at the farm ir larger ones are less costly and only make about 25 ponies dislike strangers these animals are usually dark brown shaggy little beasts with long about thirty feet wide paved through out with blabs ot stone there being no distinction between roadway and sidewalk A store here and there en broaches cro aches on the street which gives one the impression when walking along it or the first time that athla must be a blind alley on coming to the supposed terminus however one finds there Is a way round and that the street meanders me andera on the peasant population ot the islands Is extremely interesting the male portion Is mostly devoted to fish ing and pony rearing the female element stays at home cures the fish and when that la done carries peat which la the only fuel used in creeds creels slung on the back while walking outside the town you eee a regular procession ot women coming and going like ants moving their eggs they are all knitting as hard as they can never looking at their work the finished portion ot the shawl 13 wound round their waist leaving just enough tree to work with these are evenou ally taken to the stores and exchanged for the necessities of life darter is tho usual mode ot business amone the poorer class these people wear an extraordinary kind ot shoe which a piece of cowhide the hairy side being outermost I 1 believe these are quito peculiar to the shet lands the ponies are seen roaming about the hillsides hill sides quite tor and seemingly wild although they belong to the peasantry these ponies ot course are the larger and less expensive variety island without trees there Is one distinctive peculiarity of all these islands and that Is that i there are absolutely no trees of any description growing the inhabitants aver that they would spoil the view I 1 took a small boat which piles as often as required across the harbor to bresnay Br essay and by the courtesy ot the proprietor looked over the pony farm there were ponies of all ages and black manes their temper Is by some called playful but vindictive would be more applicable while walking along one othe roads near lerwick I 1 had I 1 to ran to shelter as one of these charming animals made a dead set at me with ears back and teeth showing I 1 informed thai bat la their usual reception of a stranger they are owned by nearly everyone on the main land and act as draft horses being strong As a rule they are unshod to get to this interesting series of islands took a boat from limehouse dock london and in 36 hours arrived in aberdeen from chenco I 1 went by another steamer tor li hours to lerwick the capital of the Shet lands before actually arriving at lerwick early travelers who wish to enjoy cent rock scenery have enough and to spare for on sighting sumburgh Sum burgh head the most southerly point of the main land the eyes are literally fascinated by that headland surmounted by a magnificent lighthouse the steamer follows this peninsula the whole way ui a distance of some thirty miles eich mile presents new and delight ru rock scenes unsurpassed on that cout berc in lerwick harbor eventually I 1 arrived in lerwick bar bor which by the way is one of the best natural harbors la the united kingdom it is protected at its outlet by the island six miles in length which Is the one already men boned 1 I the center of the pony industry this harbor Is capable of sheltering the entire british fleet and Is used y the admiralty as a base during he lerwick Is a quaint town nestling as it does round the harbor with a background of heather covered hills he town some three hundred years old but contains few of the old hoi ses although the principal street corn mercial freetis tre etis a remnant of the old order of things inasmuch as it is merely an irregularly winding alley sizes the smallest being the size of a large st bernard dog and the foals were reminiscent of chamois while on greshay I 1 also walked to the ork heymans ney mans cave which Is situated at the extreme end of the island with the giants leg to guard the entrance small yacht can easily ball between rocks besides lerwick the capital there Is only one other town of any size that being Bc alloway it la seven miles from lerwick across the peninsula and was the harbor town of the old capital of the islands it boasts a castle which waa built in 1610 and in by patrick stuwart wart then governor of the islands he was a particularly brutal and inhuman man for there etall remains a ring on one of the walls through which a rope was run to which be hanged great number of the inhabitants for very trivial ol Tenses or none at all sometimes eo the legend goes other than refusing to pay him unlawful tribute these executions were of dally occurrence and matters came to such a pitch that petitions were sent to parliament which caused him to be called to edinburgh where an inquiry was held ultimately he was hanged his memory was eo odious that the people destroyed the bastla and cow all that remains are the four w alls and the keep |
