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Show A NOVEL RACING MATCH. Tobogganing Down a Ran oi Rocking Horses to Decide a Wager. There is no knowing what an Englishman Eng-lishman will not do to decide a bet. Men have jumpi-il across dining tables, mounted upon nntractable steeds yea, and even kissed their own mothers-in-law in order to settle a wager. In fine, it ought to be an established maxim among us by this time that, given a certain cer-tain number of impossibilities and an equal number of young Englishmen, those impossibilities will not long remain re-main such, provided they be made the subjects of bets. One of those incidents which go a long way toward justifying the reputation reputa-tion which as a nation of madmen we have earned among foreigners occurred at St. Moritz when, "in order to settle a bet," Lord William Manners and the Hon. H. Gibson agreed to go dewn the village "run" mounted on rocking horses in place of ordinary toboggans. A feature of the race was that both competitors were "attired in full hunting hunt-ing kit," and as elaborate preparations had been made for the contest and rumor ru-mor of the affair had been industriously rysed abroad the crowd which had as-i?0led as-i?0led to witness it was both large and distinguished. The start was fixed for 12 o'clock, and shortly before that hour the shouts of the spectators announced that the horses were off. Unlike the custom in toboggan races, both started at the same time. In the first course Lord William Manners led as far as a certain angle of the "run" called Casper's Corners, from the fact that a hotel of that name is situated close by, but "taking it rather high Mr. Gibson passed cleverly onthe inside, which ho maintained to the finish, fin-ish, "Lord William being summarily dismissed from his fractious steed's back some distance to the bad from the winning post. In the second course Lord William Manners again had the advantage as far as Casper's Corners, where Mr. Gibson again tried to pass him on the inside, nut being jocireyed by his opponent his horse swung round and proceeded down the run tail foremost, but leading. The merriment of the spectators at this stage of the proceedings may be more easily imagined than described, nor did it abate in the least when Mr. Gibson, dismounting, seized it unceremoniously by the nose and turned it into the way it should go. Meanwhile Lord William Manners bad suffered disappointment a second time, for in attempting to "take" to use a true hunting term a paticularly awkward part of the "run" called Belvedere Bel-vedere Corner his horse refused to respond re-spond to its rider's exertions to get ii successfully over the obstacle, and horst and jockey came down to the ground in one tumultuous somersault together. Lord Williu l'a -Iib00isi proved ' to bo Mr. Gibson's opportunity. The time and ground that the former had lost by his involuntary flight through the air were never recovered. Mr. Gibson, Gib-son, with the position of his horse reversed re-versed and his legs thrust scientifically in front of him, rode easily and triumphantly trium-phantly forward and eventually reached the winning post some seconds in advance ad-vance of his opponent. Alpine Post. |