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Show M HOPING THE STEER. I Unless present plans fail President Hi I Roosevelt will witness a cowboy rop- HM Ingand steer tj lug contest between Wg t'le acknowledged champions of Texas, faBr Wyoming and" Oklahoma when he fK visits Cheyenne on Maj 4. Texas and I Oklahoma cow boy i met In a contest . mf ri recently at San Autonio.and the Okla- i, 1 homa punchcts won owing to the re- I fX markableworkof Clay McOonlgal.who bw took Ilrst prUe, 01,0. D.E.Illaekallcr mHM of Texas was second, only a shade be- Htpr -t4i - ... Jf .. - HBHBHgPlllllft 'M'-mmJlatiU.'iSlLL. '""J hind McGonigal, winning $:00. Shortly before this contest one was heldatChcjcnnc, Wyo., at which W. E. Fitch carried oil the honors. Efforts Ef-forts arc now being made to get these three cowboys together In a contest for supremacy and to hold the contest at Cheyenne on the occasion of the president's visit. The prospects arc good for the meeting taking place, and there Is no doubt that the man who wins will be entitled to the honors hon-ors as tho champion cowboy of the wot Id. These roping contests arc growing in favor In the west, and they afford excitement for thousands of spectators besides settling the supremacy of one section over another as to the skill of their respective champions. Tills j ear's contest at San Antonio was a three dajs' alhilr and was attended by thousands of spectators. Tlicie was bitter rivalry between the Texas and Oklahoma puuchcis, the latter only winning because of a particularly brilliant bril-liant piece of roping on the patt of Clay McGonigal. Some idea of the closeness of tho contest may be gleaned from the olllclal olll-clal records of the second day. On that day tho Oklahoma boys roped nine stccis In Dm. 54s., and the Texas cowbojs loped a like number of Steers In Dm. 4!)s. McGonigal made some rc-maiUable rc-maiUable Individual scores, one steer being roped In and tied in 52 seconds. Hlackalier at the same contest did oven better In one Instance, teaching the phenomenal figures of 42 25 seconds. W. E. Fitch, who won the contest at Chcjennc, is one of the best known and daring cowboys In the west. Fitch's fame as a roper extends to nearly every cattle state, and he Is so dreaded In a contest that he usually enters under an alias. Tills was the caso at Cheyenne, and his rivals did not know that Fitch had entered until un-til he rode whooping into the ring swinging his lariat. Fitch has a record re-cord under 40 seconds. A steer roping contest Is a sight to stir the blood of any man. The clement cle-ment of dangor is much greater than at a bullfight, yet tho men are so skillful skill-ful that few get seriously hurt. The ranges aro scoured to get the wildest steers, and these arc brought into the arena as wanted. As the steer Is dragged Into the arena and the rope loosened from lis horns the starter megaphones tho cowboy's cow-boy's number and instantly the champion cham-pion gallops toward the animal. Tho steer knows what iseomlng. lie makes a wild chargo.andavvay they go around the arena. At last the cowboy sees his opportunity. The lariat leaves his hand and by a dexterous twist of the loop tightens about one of tho Hying Hy-ing feet of the steer. With a crash the animal falls. The littlocow pony, just as the noose has caught about the feet of the steer, has stopped suddenly sud-denly and braced himself for the shock. Tho lariat Is tlrmly twisted about the horn of tho saddle, and naturally there is nothing but a tumble for the animal. Almost before the steer has touched the earth the cowboy Is at the animal's side. The pony stands braced against the rope. The steer's hoofs aie beating tho air In every direction, and a blow from one of them means death or serious seri-ous Injury. Hut the cowboy, ducking this way and, that throws a noose here and a loop there. The (lying hoofs arc brought together with a tug, and the steer Is helpless, with all four feet perfectly per-fectly "hog tied." While tho cow pony still stands btaccd against the rope the Judges ride up to Inspect the work. Every detail of the tying Is taken In with practiced cjes. Usually a steer is left on tho ground live minutes in order to giv eU a chance to wriggle free. If within that time it can kick so much as one hoof out of the knots the cowboy cow-boy is disqualified. If McGonigal, Hlackalier and Fitch meet at Cheyenne to settle the question ques-tion of supremacy In May, President Roosevelt, who Is no stranger to such sport, w 111 sec the best steer roping contest that has over taken place on tho cattle ranges. |