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Show A COWBOYS' SCHOOL American Type Is Being Perpetuated Perpet-uated in England. Students Are Taught Art of Breaking Horses and Caring for Them Services Are Still in Demand. London. Notwithstanding the very general impression that the cowboy's vocation is about gone, and that he is a vanishing type, the few remaining specimens of which have gone into vaudeville, there is, in fact, quite a brisk demand for the service of the cowboy in many parts of the world. In Australia, South Africa, Northwest Canada and South America the cowboy cow-boy will find a job open to him for a long time to come. When one comes to think of it, it is a little surprising that some enterprising Yankee has not long ago hit upon a plan for supplying the foreign demand for this distinctively distinctive-ly American institution, but for once American enterprise has been outdone. At Shepperton-on-Thames, almost in the heart of England, one may see any day now real cowboys performing wonderful feats of horsemanship-picking horsemanship-picking up handkerchiefs and hats at full gallop, riding bucking "bronchos," and doing other acrobatic feats. One may see the Colt and Ahe Winchester used in the most expert fashion, and the lasso manipulated by past masters of the aft. There, at night, is the bivouac and campflre, and the story telling and good fellowship, and after that the saddle for a pillow and the blanket for a couch. And this is not Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. It is the "Imperial School of Colonial Instruction," In-struction," from which are graduated cowboys. The need ef such an institution insti-tution was conceived by two Englishmen English-men Capt. Morgan, who was an orderly or-derly under Gen. French in South Africa Af-rica during the Boer war, and was a member of the famous mounted police of northwest Canada, and M. French, who was a member of Dunlop's Scouts and of the First regiment of Australian Australi-an Imperial Bushmen. The idea of the founders of this institution in-stitution was to train selected men for cowboy life, and equp them thor- First Lesson in "Roping" In School for Cowboys. oughly for ;the service in the particular partic-ular country to which they expected to go. The course of study at the Imperial School of Colonial Instruction occupies six months and is somewhat encyclopaedic. encyclo-paedic. Capt. Morgan is the chancellor chan-cellor and around campflre has charge of the department of music, being an expert banjo player. French presides over the chair of riding and is the favorite with the "boys." Capt. Morgan Mor-gan has charge of the department of war and teaches aspirants for the cowboy cow-boy life how to use the Colt and Winchester. Win-chester. Welsh, a cow-puncher from Idaho, is the professor of the lasso, with "Navajo Bob" for an assistant. And there are other studies and instructors. in-structors. The students in the school are taught the art of breaking horses and caring for them. They are taught cowboy cookery, how to locate themselves them-selves when lost, scouting, carpentry, the construction of barracks and fortifications, for-tifications, how to pack the pack-animals, harness making, elementary medicine and other similar things. It is the aim of the school to reproduce at Shepperton-on-Thames as nearly as possible the actual environment of the particular colony for which the student stu-dent is destined, and he accordingly is familiarized with all the peculiarities of each country by the exact reproduction repro-duction of the houses, stables, corrals, the tools with which he will have to work and the food on which ha will have to live. |