| Show effs ex ar ajr aff MF aw MM aff AV willcie Will aurili via Cit 1111 JM Lets on oil jno its S 01 0 PY ep JAA gm I 1 Z J VV ir AA aa vl na at INS a 27 V I 1 4 aw 1 3 1 k 4 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON HE other day charles bronco charlie miller trotted his bis brown G mare down the streets of los loi angeles c ces having completed a modern pony express ride of miles from new york city once again the mail has come through in the record time imo of seven months 24 days and CIA 04 hours 1 said press dispatches at the time interesting as was millers teat feat mainly because he Is eighty two years year old and Is said to have once been a pony express rider it was by no means unique for feats of long distance and endurance riding riding have become fairly common in recent ye years as witness the stories told by some of tho aba pictures shown above aboe but the principal interest in such feats lies in the fact that they remind us Amer americans luns that even in this airplane and automobile age horseback riding over long distances I 1 Is s not yet a lost art they also raise the question of records made in such teats feats of endurance and tin an outstanding authority on tle the subject wayne dinsmore secretary of the norse horse association of america has supplied the following information on that subject the longest distance traveled by horse and am rider in 24 hours seems to be that covered by the couriers of gen wesley merritt erritt ll who la in 1879 covered miles in a little less than 0 24 4 hours thle this would be at the rate of 7 miles an hour for the full time it Is not certain whether or not cot they changed horses on the trip in the endurance tests or long distance rides the most important requirement Is generally recognized to be the condition of the horse this form of aport commenced in europe after the close of the franco prussian war and became an international sport beginning in 1892 when there was a race between austro hunger lan ion and german officers these were under the auspices of the emperors of these countries and were in the shape of races bean een berlin and vienna the austro hungarland were victorious but it cost the lives of many horses in 1904 la in a ride bet between ceu lyons and vichy 32 horses took part six of these had to give up in the vienna berlin ride out of horses taking part 27 horses died in another one from brer dresden to leipsic out of 33 taking part not less than ten horses succumbed in the brussels Os tend ride out of 22 taking part two tio died on the road and two more after arrival in the upsala kupsala stockholm ride only one rider out of 21 gave up op this shows that vare arc and attention to the condition of the horse on the long distance rides la Is steadily increasing on october 30 1012 capt prank frank tompkins rode the purebred pure bred arab stallion razzia from northfield vt to fort ethan allen alien a distance of sl 51 miles and back the same day this horse which stood hands high and weighed pounds carried a pounds on his back the most important feature in the performance however was that after the journey of miles in a single day he showed no weariness and was in condition the next morning to have repeated the feat time on the road 15 hours and 30 minutes on september 6 1012 tills this same horse ridden A IWI 1 f charles bronco charlie miller starting on his mile modern pony express ride from new mew york city to los LOB angeles to carry messages of greeting from residents on the at lantic alantic coast to those on the pacific 2 leo Glan marine upon his return to los angeles after riding clear across the united states and back again a trip which with many detours brought his total mileage up to miles 3 the pony express a statue by young 4 boyd jones fifteen year old boy from amarillo texas on his horse molly which he rode from texas to call on president hoover at tho the white house his trip to the national capital took 78 days 5 maj james unger of oshkosh wis shown upon his arrival in atlanta ga during a long journey on horseback which began on thanksgiving day last year he plans to visit every state capital in the united states and return to oshkosh by thanksgiving day this year the purpose of the trip Is to test the endurance of his mount and if he ha Is successful in completing the mile journey he will receive a prize of offered by W J umstead of kensington md a noted eastern race horse owner and breeder 6 senor aime felix an argentine school teacher shown at washington D C after completing his mile ride from buenos alres aires S by parker tompkins went from northfield to winsor vt 70 miles in 13 18 hours including all stops and two day later he returned on oa a very hot day covering the distance including all stops in 15 hours captain reid held rode miles over hilly country carrying pounds in SO 30 hours and 42 41 2 minutes minute winning first prize la in an endurance test the horse was a three quarters arabian tailed called halcyon A purebred pure bred arabian covered the same course with pounds in SO 30 hours and 37 minutes with it II 11 parker up the united states cavalry journal of 0 july 1915 contains an account of an officers endurance race run after three in the afternoon and through the dark over a 71 mile course none of the officers knew where the course T aa s was wag until they were ready to mount capt frank parker won in 8 hours and 25 minutes major henry romeyn in an article in outing in 1004 gives some old records of long di stanca stanco riding in the american army fells felix N aubrey in 1851 1951 rode in 5 days and 14 hours from santa fe to independence mo ido he rode miles and used 7 horses thomas tobin in 1846 carrying dispatches for general kearney rode from santa re fe to fort leavenworth Iea renworth miles in a little less than 11 days using 9 horses most of his fresh horses horsa were caught from herds of horses belonging to the indians john berley in rode from fort bridger to fort leavenworth with dispatches more than 1000 miles in 17 days lulng only 4 horses in 1817 18 17 col john fremont with two companions rode from los angeles to monterey each man had three horses and changed every two hours the first lay they rode miles between daybreak and nightfall on the second day miles between daybreak and nine at night on the third day 70 miles between eleven and sunset and on the fourth day they completed the jour journey Dey riding DO 00 miles at three in the afternoon in june IM 1868 a man named morris rode from to fort garland colo a little less ulan than miles between 3 a m and p m two days later the same horse a coal black bronco was ridden more than SO 80 miles mile after the establishment of the tony rony express just before the civil war many notable rides were made COO ponies and men were engaged in this work 80 of them being riders I 1 the latter asere ere selected mainly on accod account nt of their experience in the saddle because they had been tested and were bere able to stand the fatigue of a gallop extending over miles at that time news was carried from ocean to ocean in less than 10 days the last message of 0 president buchanan Buc hauan in asco was brought into san francisco in 8 days and 5 hours while president Lincol ns first address reached there in 7 days and 14 hours of course these long distance runs were with changes of both horses and riders probably the most notable ride of any single rider n was as that of buffalo dill bill col IV P r cody who on one occasion finding that the rider who was to relieve him had been killed by the indians rode miles in 24 hours changing horses 30 times this was an average of if 10 miles biles an hour day and night bob haslein made one ride of miles james moore a frontiersman in the GOs coa rode aso miles in 22 hours in 1023 1923 the pony impress express celebration committee undertook to reproduce the old pony express run riding from st joseph mo to san francisco the total distance was also miles which was covered in hours nearly two days better than the best old express record across california there were 31 relays a distance of miles chich was covered in 13 hours and 15 45 minutes an average speed of miles per hour Q by western newspaper union |
