7v
mm
i u
fASIUNGTON-The riding
jffieers
:red bv
Theodore Roosevelt has
not been discontinued
under the- Taft adminis
tration. From some of the com
ments that have been mad on
these "long, hard rides,"
it would appear that the
piiWic believes that the
iinny officers never were
given nn opportunity prior
to the Itoosevelt admlnis
1 ration to show what they
could do In the way of
covering lone dis
tances in quick
time. No army in
the world, perhaps,
fr j. .
J . it , s
-1-
X'PRE"iSDEftr KQOSZVCLT
has had the same opportunities to test the en
durance of cavalry horses as has the small
regular force of the United States.
The long, level stretches of the plains and
the activity of the marauding Indian mounted
on his tireless broncho have been the condi
tions which gave to Uncle Sam's cavalrymen
his matchless chances for long forced mount
ed marches. Col. Theodore Ayrault Hodge, V.
S. A., collected the of
ficial records of long dis
tance cavalry rides, and
has made them public in a
book so that they may be
compared with tho per
formances of tho soldier
horsemen of other nations.
Col. Hodge declares spe
cifically that he has re
jected all "hearsay rides,
of wnlch there Is no end,"
and has nccepted only
those proved by official re
ports. Col. Dodge says
that Capt. S. F. Fountain,
United States cavalry, In
tho year ' IS!) 1, with a de
tachment of his troop,
rode 81 miles In eight
hours. This record is
vouched for, and it is bet
ter thnn that onto made by
the Natal Mounted Rifles
iby about four hours, the
distance being within one
mile of that made In South
Africa. For actual speed
this forced inarch stands
perhaps at the head of the
American army record,
though other rides have
PY& A WD
been more remarkable.
In the year 1S70, when the Utes succeeded
in getting some United States troops into what
was afterward known as Thornburg's "rat
hole," several mounted couriers succeeded in
slipping through tho circling line of savages.
All of' them reached Merrltt's column, 170 miles
distant, in less than 21 hours. The exact time
was not taken, for, as Col. Dodge puts it, "res
cue was of more Importance than records."
II must be understood, of course, that all
these American rides were made without
(hanging horses. Tho steed at the start was
the steed at the finish. The best rider, accord
ing to cavalry experts, is not the man who
takes a five-barred gate or who can ride stand
ing, but the man who by instinct feels vthe
condition of his horse, and, though getting the
most out of the animal, knows best how to
conserve his strength.
Gen. Lnwton in the year 1870, rode from
lied Cloud agency, Nebraska, to Sidney In tho
same state, a distance or 12S miles, In 20 hours.
He was carrying Important dispatches for Gen.
Crook, and though the road was bad his mount
whs in good condition when Lawton, looking
live years older than he did the day berore,
handed over his bundle of papers to the black
bearded general.
Gen. Merritt has a forced march record that
has no American parallel when the conditions
of his Journey are considered. He was ordered
tn the fall of 1S79 to tho relief of Payne's
command, which was surrounded by hostile In
dians. Merrltt's command consisted of four
troops of cavalry, but at the last moment he
was ordered to add to his force a battalion of
infantry. The "dough boys" were loaded into
army wagons drawn by mules, and with the
cavalry at the flanks the relief column started.
The dlstanco to be traversed was 170 miles,
and it was made, notwithstanding tho handi
cap of tho wagons and trails that wero muddy
and sandy by turns, lu just 66 hours. At the
cud of the march the troopers went into the
flight, and In the entire command not cue horse
trbowed a lame leg or a saddle eore.
WASIUNGTON-The
y&Xj test for army u
VSV-I'W which was orderei
VVfcV V Tl.,1 r i
lv" i v';'::JiB TCffl.. IMy '
Y4b -r ft Jsi
uiw wraw hid
jf If fit ' ' s - -
;.".'.vV, '
Four troopers of
the Fourth cavalry
who had volunteered
for tho particular
service, wero sent
In the summer of
1870 from Fort Har
ney to Fort Warner
with dispatches, and
DRfLL AT TOiT S1YR
were told to make the best time possible with
out killing their horses. The men wero on
their mettle. They made the distance, 140 miles
20 miles of tho way being through loose sand,
tn 22 hours, the actual marching time being 18
hours and 30 minutes. At Fort Warner they
rested ono day, and returned to. Harney on the
same horses at the uniform rate of 60 miles a
day. Capt. Edward G. Fechet started at mid
night for the relief of the Indinn scouts who
had been sent out to nrrest Sitting Hull, and.
who, after killing that chief, were beleaguered
in a small hut by his followers. Fechet took
an ambulance wagon and a Hotchklss gun with
him. The gun carriage broko down and ho
was compelled to fasten the trail of tho piece
to the tailboard of the ambulance and thus
drag it along. Notwithstanding this handicap
he made the first 45 miles in less than seven
hours. Ho fought and drove off tho young
Sioux bucks, then scouted the country for ten
miles, gave his troopers some breakfast and
returned to the fort. Fourteen hours were
consumed in covering 00 miles of ground.
Tho cavalry horses of the American army
have undergone these endurance and speed
testes carrying weights of more thnn 200 pounds
and without any training other than that re
ceived In the ordlnnry course of frontier
scouting and dally drill evolutions. The great
est military ride record, as it appears on pa
per, is that of tho Austrian Count Stahrenberg,
who rode one horse 350 miles in 71 hours.
The animal, however, carried only the count's
weight, 128 pounds; it had been specially
trained for months toundergo the endurance
test, and during the whole time of the ride It
was kept up on stimulants. The horse died
within 24 hours after the completion of its
task. Col. Dodge, in his summary of remark
able rides, tells of a professional express rider,
whom ho personally knew, who for many
months carried mall from El Puso to Chlhau
uau through a bostllo Apache country. Tuli
man on one horse, a broncno, regularly made
300 miles la 60 hours, and then festin'g his
mouut for four dayi, made the return trip. As
ii p a ri i r 8 . " " m i i -
n
i i i-
S. COPY8ICMT 1909 BY W.A
J
this was not n cavalry
nchi. vcnient it Is not used
for purposes of compart
son. Touching the per
formance, however, tho
military writer says, that
"i-xceptliiR the ass, thero
Is perhaps no creature on
earth so stul -'iomly endur
ing as the broncho."
t'ol. Dodge does not
think that if tests . were
Uiailo there would be much
difference between tho
records which English
and American soldiers
would register. Ho says
that a composite plcturo
made of &00 Ilritish and
of TOO American troopers
would show that the three
lines which establish the
"sent" of thu rider aro
practically the same, and
that upon this and the
proper care of the horse
depend largely the mat
te! a of distance accomplished and speed
maintained.
One of the longest and most perilous
rides ever made by nn American soldier was that of a
private In V Company of tho Seventh Infantry.
Early in July In tho year 18TG the forces of Gen. Terry
were in tho field at tho junction of tho Hlg Horn and
Yellowstone rivers In tho Territory of Montana. Only ten
days before Gen. Custer and his squadrons of the Seventh
cavalry had perished at the hands of the Sioux under
M5f I V..:'7:r- ,
. H '. i .:..v ' V.:'?; .. ; ,.; ; "' X V ' 1 II
TWINING CAVALRY HORSE TO LIE DOWN AT COMMAND
Sitting Itull. A detachment of
troops pushing forward In search
of the "vellow-haircd white chief"
had found tho mutilated bodies of
the slain, with tho little .heaps or
empty cartridges at their sides, telling mutely
the story of n desperately heroic defense. The
detachment had joined Terry and the story or
tho Custer massacre was told.
The whole country to the northeast and
tho south was swarming with the Sioux not
yet sated with slaughter. To the southeast
200 miles away, near tho headquarters of tho
Powder river, in the Territory of Wyoming,
lay the command of Gen. Crook. It was im
peratively necessary that the situation of af
fairs just south of tli Yellowstone should be
made known to the general commanding the
southeastern forces.
lietween Terry and ( rook was an unbroken
wilderness inhabited only by wild animals and
wilder men. With Terry's column were six
tried scouts and plaii,.-men. They knew every
Inch or tho country, ( very trail, every hiding
place in the mountain spurs and every patch
or timber on the plains. To these men were
intrusted the dispatches of the commanding
officer, with Instructions to carry them south
eastward to the camp of Crook. The scouts
started on their Journey. Inside of eight hours
all of them wero back and tho report to Terry
was that no man could attempt the Journey to
Powder liver and live.
In F Company of the Seventh Infantry was
a private named .lames Dell. Ho had acquired
n knewiedgo of the country In the campaigns
In which he had served against tho Sioux. Ills
knowledge, however, was but a tithe of that
held by the plalnsmeu, and his acquaintance
with tho ways of the ludluus was as nothing
to theirs, yet Private James Hell went to Gen.
Terry's headquarters and volunteered to carry
the dispatches through the heart of tho hos
tile country and to deliver them to Gen. Crook,
or else, If it must bo, to forfeit his life.
Terry asked tho man If ho knew fully thu
danger of tho undertaking. Dell's answer was:
"The Bcouts came back." In the tour words
h expressed the whole thing, for tho scouts
nevtr loforo had turned In their tracks.
Prfvat's fell tctok Us rattans', a fay e'up'p'Iy
of ammunition, bis rifle apd his revolver, and
4
PATTER J0 1
mounting n horse he started southeast to the
wilderness to look death In the faco.
Ills course took him close to tho scene of
the Custer massacre, where less than two
weeks before 6,000 Sioux had gathered for the
hilling. Ho traveled only ut night, and all day
long he lay hidden In tho timber or In the
gulches of the foothills.
Two hours after sunset on the second night
ho left his day's hiding place and set his
course southward along a range of low hills.
Mo turned asldo to skirt a bit of tlmbor, and
as ho came to tho edge of tho troes his mount
showed symptoms of uneasiness.
Hell dropped from his horso and stolo for
ward. He saw not tnoro thnn 100 yards ahead
or him a war party of fully GO Indians making
preparations to camp for the night. They had
come apparently from a direction opposite to
that taken by tho courier, for ho had not
crossed their trail. Ho stolo back, remounted
and mado a detour, passing tho Indian en
campment on tho right and without awakening
their suspicions.
Notwithstanding the rough nature of the
country through which ho was passing and tho
necessity of sparing his horse, Tlell made 40
miles In that second night's ride. When It
was within two hours of sunriso ho struck a
small creek with a bottom of sand and peb
bles. He knew that If tho war party which
he had passed the night before should find his
trail that it would be followed, and that the
reds would not sparo their ponies in tho at
tempt to overtake the wilderness messenger.
For two miles Hell led his horse down the
bed of tho creek, thus completely obliterating
his trail, but ho knew that the hoof marks
showing where he had taken to tho water were
telltale witnesses of his subterfuge.
He reached a part of tho creek where tho
banks were heavily overgrown with bushes. He
pushed tho green growth nsldo from right to
left and sent his horse through. Then he rov-
ered the marks of the passage as well as he
could, and finally crawled up on the bank him
self, covering his own trail.
He found a hiding place for the day In a
ravine about 300 yards from the bank of the
creek, and after feeding his horse, and eating
his own breakfast ho put all thought of sleep
aside, and climbing to a hilltop he watched the
vicinity of the creek.
Hell believed that tho reds could not have
found his trail, if they had found it at all, un
til near sunrise and he knew that If they fol
lowed him it would take them the better part
of the day to reach his hiding place and that
by that time his horse would be fresh and
their horses Jaded.
At three o'clock in the afternoon he saw
something that set his heart beating, brave
man though he was. The war party was
breaking through the underbrush on the bank
of the creek and Hell knew that his trail had
been followed and that he had but a moment's
time to save his life and his message.
He ran down the slope, vaulted on to his
horso and shot, out Into the open around the
base of the hill.
Tho reds chased the courier for five miles,
tiring now and again, but he distanced them
and after two more nights of peril he gave
Terry's message Into the hands of Crook.
lames Hell was given a medal of honor,
and for five years he was a messenger in the
headquarters of the department of the lakes
In Chlengo. Few people realized that the quiet
unassuming "errand mnn" in the Pullman
building was the courier who had taken on
himself a mission that tried plainsmen had
not dared to attempt to fulfill.
The Home.
Home and Louie life must never become
commonplace. Tho little surprises, the re
mcmbrnncris of the birthday, the unexpected
treat, tho pleasure earned for one by the sac
rifice of another all theso belong under our
head of eplritual exercises. Nor Is thero any
scene erf our life which eo demands such ex
ercise) as thU familiar scene dt home, wrhltt
lys to be reset every day: Edward Everett
Hale.
TCHELEBI IS AfiREAT MAN
Next to Sultan, This Monk Is Most
Powerful Individual In Otto
man rrplrt.
Constantinople. -Next to the sultan,
the tchelebl of Kunlah, who was sum
moned sooner than was planned to
gird the sword of Osmnn upon Mo
hammed V., Is the greatest personage
in the Ottoman empire, for he Is the
direct descendant of Ala Eddin, sultan
(of the Seljuks, who gave up his tltlo
to the founder of tho present dynasty,
Osman the Illustrious, so as to be able
to lead a retired lifo. This happened
early In the fourteenth century, and
Tohelebl of Konlah.
ever since then tho descendants of Ala
Eddln have Infested tho sultan by
girding him with Osman's sword.
The tchelebi and his followers, wbo
are rich in lnnd and live In a monas
tery at Konlah in Asia Minor, aro
known to the European world
dancing dervishes.
I Each dprvlHh on enteritis Tchelebl'i
monastery, has to tako a vow of
chasttly, poverty and obedience, bis
calling answering to that of the monk
of western Ideas. All the same, they
are allowed to marry and have a
'house in the town, though they must
ass at least two nights a week tn
uieir monastery, iseunor ao iney
keep strictly to tho vow of poverty,
for besides a trade, many got large
urns as presents from tl.o faithful.
Humility of soul they profess; but no
man has a prouder manner and ex
terior than a dervish.
Amongst the more educated Turks,
they have lost much of their ancient
prestlgo and they have come down to
.be mere conjurors. But the people
fear and love them, and did tchelebl of
Konlah refuso to gird on Osman's
sword, or did the sultan abolish the
ceremony, millions of the faithful
would refuse to acknowledge Moham
med V. as their caliph.
There are, in the Ottoman empire,
about six of these monasteries, which
the Turks call Mcvllvi, from the name
of their founder Mevlevahinn-Djel-lah-Eddln
el Kouml They have a tekka
or convent at Pern, Constantlnopple;
and a room at Scutari where they per
form their exercises.
IS PRODIGY WITH FIGURES.
Michigan Man Can Multiply Long
Rows Quicker Than One Can
Write Them Down.
Hubbnrdslon, Mich. In this village
lives Thomas Carmel O'Neill, perhaps
Thomas C. O'Neill.
tho most wonderful mathematical
prodigy In the world. Answers to tho
most Intricate problems appear to
ti 1 in Instantaneously, us In a photo
graph. The discovery of his wonderful
gift came to Mr. O'Neill In 1S70, when
he was a boy of 12 attending a coun
try school. Problems In mental
arlthmotlc were solved by htm with
out effort and ho quickly multiplied
two rows of CO figures each.
Mr. O'Neill can reduce years and
months to seconds, miles to rods, feet
to Inches, etc., with lightning like ra
pidity. Ho can take the number 32,
square It, square the products 32
successive times, and the correct an
swer U photographed before his eyes
with oue instantaneous thought,
quicker than the clock licks once.
Not only can ho do this with the
number 32, but with any number,
large or small.
He can take 25 numbers of r.'jO fa
ures each, multiply tho tlrst by the
second and each successive product
agalust each and every oue to tho
termination of tho last row, making a
number of more .than 10,000 figures,
performing each multiplication Instan
taneously. lie will tako 53 rolls or paper, each
100 feet long, containing numbers 25
figures wide and embodying 253,440
numbers, making n total of 20 feet
over ft tulle llo will add thu first
roll, retain the result, unite It with
the second, and eo on, 63 successive
times, almost Instantly,
W"l? f t
lei
