Show on 0 e C ah V N r W A T L CAL I 1 I 1 V rava Y F t N t 41 t p FA v W t pe 00 wa A r MM Y aji 4 0 2 caa clipp gl ipp gg W M n R N g 4 aa R f lp N 0 Z 1 7 k E A 4 A V 4 al W N by ELMO SCOTT WATSON HE other day charles bronco charlie miller trotted his brown mare down the streets of los log angeles having completed a modern 1 pony express ride of miles from new york city once again the mall mail has come through in the record time 0 of seven months 24 days and 0 6 hours said press dispatches at the time interesting as was timers millers feat mainly because he Is eighty two years jears old and la Is said to have once been a po pony ny express apresa rider it was by no means unique u I 1 ue for feats ot of long distance and endurance e riding have become fairly common in recent rec years as witness the stories told by so some of t the tie pictures shown above but the principal interest in such feats lies in the fact that they re mind us ns americans americana that even in this airplane i and automobile age horseback riding over long distances Is not yet a lost art they also raise the question of records made in such feats of endurance and an outstanding authority on the subject wayne dinsmore secretary of the horse association of amerl america ca has supplied the following information on that subject h the longest distance traveled by horse and rider in 21 24 hours seems to be that covered by the couriers of gett wesley merritt Merrl tt who in 1879 covered miles in a little less than 24 hours this would be at the rate of 7 miles an hour bour tor for the full time it is not certain whether i or not 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 sport commenced in europe after e the close of the franco prussian war and became I 1 tame an international sport beginning in 1802 1892 i when there was a race between austro hungarian f find and german officers these were under the i auspices of the emperors of these countries and were in the shape of races between berlin and vienna the austro were victorious i but it cost the lives of many it horses in 1004 in a ride between lyons and vichy 32 horses tools 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 dres iden den to out of 33 taking part parte not less than ten horses succumbed la in the brussels Os S tend ride out of 22 taking part two died on the broad t road and two more after arrival in the upsala kupsala stockholm ride only one rider out of 21 gave up cp this shows that fare cure and attention to the r f condition of the horse on the long distance rides Is steadily increasing on october 30 1012 capt frank tompkins S rode the purebred pure bred arab stallion stal llon razzia from northfield vt to fort ethan allen alien a distance 0 of ft 61 miles and back the same day this horse bors e I 1 which stood hands handa high and weighed i pounds carried a pounds on his back the nest moat important feature in the performance how ever was that after the journey of miles in tt single day be showed no weariness and was las in condition the next morning to have re sweated deatel ed the feat time the on road 15 hours and SO 30 minutes y on SeD 0 1912 this same horse ridden 4 M VAR 5 0 na 1 charles bronco charlie miller starting on his mile modern pony express ride from new york city to los angeles to carry messages of greeting from residents on the atlantic 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 big total mileage up to miles 3 the pony express a statue by machroni young 4 boyd jones fifteen year old boy from aman rillo llo texas on his horse molly which he rode from texas to call on president hoover at the white house his trip to the national capital took 78 days 5 mal maj james unger linger 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 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 alme alma felix an argentine school teacher shown at washington D CP C P after completing hla his mile ride from buenos alres aires by parker tompkins went from northfield to winsor vt 70 miles in 13 hours including all stops and two day later he returned on a very hot day covering the distance including all stops in 15 hours captain iteld rofle rode miles over ever hilly conn poun try carrying pounds la in 20 30 hours and 42 11 2 1 ml minutes winning first prize in an endurance test the horse was a three quarters arabian called lI Ual alcyon cyon A purebred pure bred arabian covered the same course with ICO pounds in SO 30 hours and 37 minutes with IL M parker up the united states cavalry journal of july 1015 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 INA was 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 1001 1004 gives elves some old records of long distance riding in the american army felix N aubrey in 1851 rode in 5 days and 14 hours from santa fe to independence mo ile he rode miles and used 7 horses thomas tobin in 1846 carrying dispatches for general kearney rode from santa F fe e to fort leavenworth miles in a little less than 11 days using 9 horses most of Ws his fr fresh esh horses were caught from herds of horses belonging to the indians john kerley in 1857 rode from port fort bridger to fort leavenworth with dispatches more than 1000 miles in 17 days using only 4 horses in 1847 col john fremont with two companions rode from los angeles to monterey each man had three horses and changed every two hours the first day 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 journey riding SO 00 miles at three in the afternoon in june 1808 a man named morris rode from I 1 to fort garland colo a little less than miles between 3 a in and p V in two to days later the same horse a coal black bronco was ridden more than SO 80 miles after the establishment of the arony tony express just before the civil war many notable rides were made ponies and men were engaged in this work 80 of them being riders the latter nere a ere selected mainly on account ot of their experience in the saddle because they had been tested and were 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 president buchanan in 1800 was brought into san jiin francisco in 8 days and 5 hours while president Lincol ns first address reached there in 7 duys 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 was that of buffalo bill col W F cody who on one occasion finding that the rider who was to relieve him had been killed hilled by the indians rode sai miles in 24 hours changing 9 horses 30 36 times this was an average of 10 16 miles an hour day and night bob haslam made one ride of miles james moore a frontiersman in the COS rodo rode miles in 22 hours in 1023 the pony express celebration committee undertook to reproduce the old pony express run riding from st joseph mo to san francisco the total distance was 2180 miles which was covered cove redIn in hours nearly two days daya better than the best old express record across california there livere were 34 relays a distance of 0 miles which was covered in 13 hours and 45 minutes an average speed of 1883 miles per hour Q by western newspaper union |