40
77"mr f teflit... WtJMm NrfB llwlW ?J-V.:.-A mZ
HY, of course I'm going to
ride him again."
The speal2r was a brown-
faced, determined-looking little wom
an who had just picked herself up
from the dust of the arena at a cow
boy entertainment in Cheyenne, after
being thrown by a big gray horse a
bucker of the worst type. She was
Miss Bertha Kaepernik, of Sterling,
Colo., and she was determined to show
the crowd that the hard fall she had
just received was merely a slight in
cident in the life of the only woman in
the world who "busts" outlaw horses.
The big gray was brought back, af
ter a. long ohase down the arena, and
Miss Kaepernik once more swung Into
the saddle. Spurs wore sunk and the
quirk was brought down on the ani
mal's flank's, but tho "buck" was all
out of the gray, and he merely "stam
peded," much to the disgust of the
daring rider. Urging her horse back
to the judges' stand, the fair bronco
buster called, for another horse. A
little roan, containing the combined
elevating powors of a volcano and a
charge of dynamite, was brought out
and 'duly saddled, after a hard fight.
In which the animal tried to kill the
horse wranglor by striking the man
down with Iron-shod hoof. Miss
Kaepernik seemed not a whit dis
mayed by the flerce aspect of the roan,
whose eyes were rolling and who was
showing the craft of the wild horse
by bending slightly toward the ground
so that he could bo ready for the first
wild, skyward Jump when the rider
had mounted.
Grasping the saddle-horn - with one
gauntleted hand, and deftly inserting
one foot In a stirrup, and then swing
ing to the saddle with a nicety that
left her well balanced for any Jump
the horse might make, the "lady bron
c& buster" was away on her Tough
voyage. The roan proved to be a bet
ter bucker than the big gray that had
thrown the rider. Ho pitched and
"sunfished" and changed ends, but
Miss Kaepernik wag In the saddle to
stay, and she rode upright until the
horse fairly wore himself out.
"Yes, I guess I have ridden more bad
horses than any other woman In the
world," said Miss Kaepernik, after the
roan had been turned back among the
"wild bunch" in the corrall. "It ought
to be understood right at the start,
however, that I don't adisa other
women to try this work. It is too
hard for the average woman. Why,
even the strongest men who bust
brocos kill themselves If they stick to
the business long enougn. It will
bring hemorrhages to the stoutest pair
of lungs in time. The average woman
couldn't stand those jarring descents.
CHAMPIONS OF
Bob Fitzsimmons Does a
DIGGING through a lot of old' stuff
the other day I' came- across some
pictures of the fighters of a hundred
years age, and they put me In mind of
tho difference there ls"between the fel
lows that stopped into the -squared circle
in those days and the lads that put tho
gloves on now.
When a fellow looks back 'that way he
sees a few changes that set him think
ing. I don't know how long, It Is since
men got together in a personal encounter
to fight with their fists, but I should
guess it was about the time that the old
Ewords and dirks went out of fashion.
I've been told that the tournament was
about the closest thing to modern prize
fighting and there hasn't been .a tourna
ment In a long time, but the idea looks
reasonable.
Of course, men have fought ever since
they've been on the earth, but the fights
I am talking about are the ones where
there was a purse held up, and where
the chaps that fought were not settling
some old grudge. As far as I know the,
first of tire regular boxers was Tom Figg,
and he did some talL wprk from 1719 on
to 1730, when a boy named Greeting took
his measure. Those were the. days whjen
a man stood up against his adversary and
did what things he could to him before
the other fellow knocked him Into a
cocked hat. There was mighty little
footwork in those days, and the silence
of the business was a whole lot In the
luture. ITom all I've been able to find
out about they Just used to pound away
at each other and a. man's ability was
gauged by his staying qualities in other
words, on his capacity to take punish
ment. It was a great game and a fellow
dlda't go Into It unless he could stand
the gaff. As the years went on I believe
fome attention was paid to guards and
blows of a different order, but it wasn't
until well along Into the fifties of last
century that the modern fighter began to
sit up and take notice.
About this time the rules began to look
up and it got to be considered rude to;
whale a' man over the head with a club1
because you had your money on the other
lad. This used to be a .favorite pastlnje
when the fights were held pn the turf,
and'I'm told It used to breed some very
neat and effective little discussions on
the side. However, It was Jem Mace who
was the first man to invent real. punches,
Just . imagine how lC feels when a
heavy horse leaps into the air and
comes down stiff-logged, without a
partlole of spring In him. It is Just
like being hit with a hammer in the
back of the neck. So I say to other
women with bronco-busting ambitions
don't!" Here Miss Kaepornlk's sun
browned face grew very oarnest, but
the next , indtant she set her broad
white teeth firmly together and a look
of determination crossed her foatures.
"But I will say, too, that' I like the
game and find It fascinating, even If
it Is dangerous. 1 guess I am made of
iron, for I never feel any ill effect
from a ride. Oh, yesr, I get thrown
sometimes, and pretty hard, too, but
I always make it a rule to climb right
on any horse that gets me out of the
saddle. It keeps up myown nerve,
besides letting the horse know that I
am not to be beaten. I have ridden
some of the worst outlaw horses in"
the West, such as Dynamite, Cnrrio
Nation, Johnny-on-the-Spot, Tomb
stone and Black Beauty. Any bronco
buster will tell you what it moans to
ride those horses.
Her First Experience.
"I really don't romomber when I be
gan to ride bad horsos," said Miss
Kaepernik. In answer to a question.
THE PAST AND THE FUTURE
Iiluic Prophesying Bis Fights Hereafter Will Be Shorter.
t sidesteps and the like, and he is to be
credited with the modern pugilism, one
might say.
I Tho old-time champion was a fellow
who wquld stand' up with a funny guard
, and beat his man down by main strength
' and awkwardness. It used to be a favor
, ite idea to catch a fellow in a wrestling
j grip and then grind him down into the
mud, but that dropped out after a while.
The rules began to provide that skill was
I the thing that was needed, more than
strength and the bite and chew, kick-ln-the-stomach
idea was asked to take a
back seat. When certain alleged noblo-
i men .used to keep a stable of fighters, just
i like they would horses, things were a lot
I more brutal than was necessary, because
; these folks seemed' to want blood ani lots
of it.
. i
Coming down to cases, however. In the
last IS years or so. the game has 'gone
through a.lot of changes, and perhaps the
difference Js "more to be noticed during
that time than during any other. To go
back to 1SS2 when' John L. Sullivan beat
Paddy Ryan down in Mississippi, you
might say that John was about the last
of the old guard of fighters. Ho was the
boy who would stand up and fight to the
last gasp, and his greatest trouble was
In getting the men to stay where he could
hit them. London prize-ring rules were
never meant for John, and a lot of people
made the mistake of thinking Sullivan
was champion of the world. He never
was, for he failed to whip Charley Mitch
ell when they fought at ChantUly in
France for the championship. That was
the last time I think that the L. P. R.
rules were used, and it was a good thing
for Mitchell that ho fought under them
then, for Sullivan had him going a whole
lot at different times, and if it hadn't
been for the rules and the crowd, that
made It hot for John, a different story
might have been tgld. and Sullivan might
have leen the world's champion.
Well, as I was saying, Sullivan was
the last, of his style. He used to stand
up and pound away at his man until
he had him down and out, and he was
a shifty fighter at that, was John, but
there was a change coming along. - Jim
Corbett went after Sullivan down in New
Orleans, and tried a. new system on him.
a system that had been growing fast.
It was the hit and get away idea, that is
sard to'be the acme of. science, and Cor
bett, then a likely lad, was 'about as
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN. PORTLAND, OCTOBER 22, 1905.
'
"You see, I. was brought up on a ranch
near Sterling, Colo. It is a great cat
tle country around there, and there
have always beenjots of broncos that
didn't like to be ridden. I had a pony
and saddle when I was a tiny girl, but
soon that sort of riding didn't suit me.
I saw the bronco busters nt work
taming the horses right off the range.
I was a strong, hardy girl, and I knew
I could ride as well a? any of tho men,
so It wasn't long until I began to bust
broncos. J had to ride, the first one in
secret, of course, but I tackled some
pretty bad ones and subdued them, and
then I went right. Into the corral one
day when the men were at work
breaking horses, and I showed them
what I could do. After that it all
came easy. Somebody heard of ray
ability to ride buckers and offered mo
an engagement at a Colorado fair. I
took part in a buoking contest and
rode .a couple of outlaws, and since
then I have been doing that sort of
riding right along.
""No, I have never been seriously .In
jured, except one time at an exhibition
in Colorado, when I had my arm torn by
a bad horse," said Miss Kaepernik.
"You see, there is everything in becoming
familiar with horse nature .before you
take up work like breaking horses You
get so that you instinctively know what
shifty on his feet as a cat. He soaked
Sullivan any time he wanted to. but he
was never on the spot when Sullivan
wanted to hit him. and poor old John
punched himself Ured-at nothing. That
was the first of the modern changes. The
gladiator, the stolid man of muscle, gave
way to the shifty man, with the falr
punch, who could-get in quick, strike
'quicker and get away again before bis
man had a chance to counter.
For some years that was tho Ideal
school, and then somebody found out
that Corbett didn't have any particu
larly hard punch and that he mostly
wore his men down by letting them
work themselves out, putting in a good
Jab here and there to help the work
along. I think I can safely say that
I was the chap of the new school who
made the next change. I took Cor
bett's measure because I was pretty
tast with my hands and feet and I had
the punch. Every time I hit a man it
hurt, and "hurt badly, too, and that did
the business, for awhile. You see, I'd
gone to work 'on the principle that a
combination of tho two men who stood
at tho top Sullivan and Corbett
would do the, trick. If I could move
about as fast as Corbett, or noarly as
fast, and . could hit like Sullivan, I'd
etand a fair chance of winning out. I
went to work -along those lines and
they worked out rlght-
a
But there was another change com
ing along, and I didn't see that. -I
don't think anyone will call me If I
say that I couldn't be expected to see
It. I was working along easy, with
the belief that I could trim any appll-'
cant that snowed up, but I thought the
giants had all been done with. I
couldn't know that a young bull was
going to come out of the West, who
moved pretty fast and who wolghed
GO pounds more than I did, and who
had been trained by the foxiest trainer
in the business. I didn't think that an
elephant beg pardon, Jim could
move quick, but I found It out at
Coney Island, and In Just 11 rounds
the elephant pardon again. Jim
had put me away. I say now, just as "I
said then, that Jeffries was and is an
accident, You don't look for many
men of -his kind in a century. He's
not tho regular run of men by a whole
lot. In fact, I guess he's a sort of
a made-to-order boy Xor the particular
f -
ATA
a -horse Is golnp to do, and you are
never off your guard. The horses I break
ar in many cases right off the range.
They hare noer been roped, except when
they are branded, and some of them have
never seen a mag more than once or
twite In their lives. You can tell a good
deal about a horse by his eyes and his
ears when you are saddling, and by the
way he stands, but. of course, you can't
toll what he is going to do when you get
in the saddle. There are many different
kinds of bucking horses, and you have to
job he had to do. I don't honestly
think he's a regular fighter, not the
fighting machine, at least. He's the
best, however. Just now, but if he
sticks to the game some fellow Is
going to get him In time- You-see, he's
big and stronger than the ordinary,
and he hits hard, and then he's fast,
too, on his feet and In bis movements.
He carries out my combination all
right, and my dope is right at that,
but he's too .big for the ordinary man
to take a hack at.
Maybe somo day in the future there
will bo a new style of champion who
will make us of, the present day look
like a piece of debased money, but I
doubt It. . There will 'be mighty few
more of the Jeffries type. sVd it's my
Idea that the coming champion will
be a man of about ISO pounds, who
will combine extreme speed with a
hitting quality that will count for
something, and who will be as shifty
as they mako them. The combination,
as I have doped it out, ought to whip
anything that walks on two legs, bar
ring accidents of the Jeffries kind.
'
I claim to know Jim Jeffries about
as. well as any man can know another,
and I don't believe there's a man In
the business today that can whip him.
I worked with Jeffries a lot after our
second fight in San Francisco, and I
can modestly claim to have taught him
something, too. You'll notice as a gen
eral rule that championship fights are
getting shorter, too. Corbett whipped
Sullivan in 21 rounds. I beat Corbett
In Hf and Jeffries put mo away In 11
the first time and in eight tho. second
time. Of course. If you carried this
much further, you'd have a roan
whipped before ho got into tho ring,
but what I mean when. I point that
out is that the fight of the future Is
going to be between" speedy men. who
will go a short distance.- Something
like the racing of today. There used
to be horses that could travel ten miles
at a fast clip, and hold it to the end.
with a saving burst of speed for a
climax, but today it's the horse with
the fast speed for the short distance
that brings home the money. .
Just tho same, it's quite a long step
from old FIgg down to Jim Jeffries
and, say, did you ever think how many
black eyes, cut lips and twisted noses
were wrapped up in those years? i
ROBERT FITZSIMMONS.
More courteous in Its wordirig than most
epitaphs 13 .one in a Derbyshire church
yard which, after giving particulars, of
birth and death,' concludes: "'Twos said
-he w&3 on honest man."
Co&&lZ5r C&Vr7jZ?7
get used to every kind .of jump. But I
I suppose it is tht element of chance that
makes the game so fascinating. It is a
good deal like looping the loop, or other
circus stunts you don't want- to quit,
even though you know that the very next
ride may be your last."
Though MIs3 Kaepernik advises her sis-
terhood against bronco busting as a pro
j fession, she Is heartily In favor of horee-
bacx riding as a means or exercise lor
women.
"In the first place," said Miss .Kaeper
THREE-MINUTE MUSINGS, BY MARCUS W. ROBBINS
On Acquiring Things Xo Great Difference Between an Indian and a Modern Master of . Finance.
FTTIMES. about the only differ
I 1 enco between a Umatilla Indian
and a commission merchant on
Front street Is a mere matter of
clothes and complexion. They both
have the same old human nature.
Human nature is the cider brother
of all tho sciences. It was hoary head
ed when we first began tb trace out
the stars as we lay on our backs on
a hillock of sand in the plains of Asia.
We understood all Its twists and
turnings before wc.ever made a brick
or fashioned an earthen Jar. It was
old when wo used to squat around the
fire, and, glaring at each other across
tho embers, we' cracked the marrow
bones of somo mammoth that had
mired himself near our cave as he had
come down' to the spring to drink.
Here wo watched him until, grown
weak from hunger, we sprang at him
and beat him, to death with clubs and
stones, and our clan feasted for many
a day.
Thus, in spite of nil the centuries
that have come between us who live
In the twentieth century and -our an
cestors who Jived when the world was
young, we are linked together by that
Intangible human aature.
The satisfaction of egotism is one
of tho strongest traits' of our human
nature. Wo are all desirous of doing
things, of owning things, of wearing
things that will set U3 apart from our
fellows," something that will give U3
Individuality.
Of course, the first means that wo
used to accomplish this were very
crude, like all first efforts are, but it
was the same instinct that i3 prompt
ing us today.
In that long ago wo used to treas
ure up all the eye teeth and claws of
the bears thnt we managed to kill, and
then we would spend hours patientlyj
drilling these teeth and claws, that wo
might make a necklace to wear about
our necks. We thus carried contin
ually about with us evidence of our
prowess, and our ellows judged us by
the size of our necklace. - .
Hero cupidity and passion often j
Worn r n Bronco Buster Instructs Her
Sex on the Management of Outlaws.
nik, when posing for a series of photo
graphs, illustrating the Western woman's
method of saddling, mounting and riding.
t "there Is no use trying to do anything
i wun a siae-saaaie. xnai must oe unaer-
stood at the outset. Any girl who wants
to become a skilled rieer and to acquire
confidence when on the back of a spirited
j horse, must ride cross-saddle. The disad
vantages of the side-saddle are so many
j that there's no- 'use enumerating them,
j The stock saddle, as the regular cowboy's
' saddle Is known In the West, is Ideal for
stepped In. Sometimes a comrade who
had killed a bear never came back to
his place by the fire, for some brother
looking with greedy eyes on those few
teeth and claw3 had met him with a
club, and In a day or two his necklace
was a little longer.
While today we do not collect teeth
and claws, we still have objects that
we chase and long for with an inten
sity as great as. ever shown by naked
savages. Wo call them dollars.
Often people remark at the patience
and drudgery shown by savages In tho
making of a necklace, but could they
not find a great deal more patience
and drudgery displayed by some of
their fellows In the making of a few
dollars?
They wear out their lives before
desks and behind counters. They
bring on the furrows to the temples.
The gray hair, the stomach ruined by
hot food and quick bolting meals, and
at the end It Is only failure. A neck
lace of a dozen claws or so Is all they
can hold up as a life's work.
We have noted how a greedy broth
er sometimes took a short cut to get
a big necklace. Now for many, many
years muscular might made right. The
rude philosophers of that time could
not see it in any other light. Had not
nature given this brother strength of
arm and. wind, and if he gathered In
tho treasures of his fallows by this
superior strength. It was merely their,
misfortune.
So today with the Frenzied Finan
cier. It is not strength of arm and
wind that gains his victories, but rath
er those of cunning and trlokery. He
Juggles the stock market up and down,
and' by this short cut Is enabled to add
to the length of his necklace of dol
lars.
Tho man who killed his bear earned
his teeth and claws; likewise the man
who raises a crate of strawberries or
hammers a horseshoe Into shape earns
his dollars. But the man who Juggles
with the necessities of. life, day after
tomorrow, and thereby makes a dol
women as well as for mon. It Is broad
. and roomy enough to be comfortable,
I and. being so big and fitting the horse so
well, it will not give an animal a sore
back.
"It Is well to observe a few simple
rules when you start to ride. Do jour
own saddling. Let somebody else do your
work and some day you'll have a bad
fall Just because your helper forgot to
pull the cinch tight or to tell you about
a weak bridle. See that your saddle
blanket is smooth when you put It on
your horse's back, and then put your
saddle on well forward. Look well to jour
cinch.' for if that slips you may get a
broken neck. Don't be afraid of cinching
too tight. The average horse has a trick
of drawing In his breast when he feels
tho oinch pull. Wait until he exhales his
breath and then slip the cinch up another
inch or twt, or another hole, if you use a
buckle cinch. It is best, of course, to have
a skilled, careful helper when you are
learning to saddle, but after a few trials
it will come easy and you can throw a
heavy stock saddle on your horse's back
and make ready without trouble.
How to Mount.
"When you are ready to mount, gather
the reins In your left hand and take
hold. of the saddle horn with the same
hand. Turn the stirrup toward jxu.
using the right hand to get It in posi
tion, and then insert the foot. It Is best
to put only the ball of the foot In tho
stirrup at the start, so If the horse bolts
before you are In tho saddle your f 3 t
can be easily withdrawn. For this reason
It Is imperative to wear hlgh-hetled
boots, so the foot will not slip through.
Many a rider has been dragged to death
by trying to ride in flat-hoeled shoes.
"When the foot Is In the stirrup proper
ly, grasp the horn with the right hind
and swing Into the saddle. By graap'rg
the horn Instead of the trantle you can
swing yourself into the saddle ?vcn when
the horse makes a brisk start as sion ns
you rise In the stirrup. Sit well ba'k In
the saddle and keep your feet firmly
braced In the stirrups. Don't hae the
stirrups so long that you can't brace jo jr
self, or so short that your knees are
bent. Just follow the cowboy model as
well as you can. Our Western cowboys
are the finest riders in the world because
they never try to assume an attitude
that is not easy and graceful. Don't let
any Eastern riding teacher take jou
away from the cowboy model. It is bc -ter
to have the natural ease and gra'
of the plains rider than to follow tl.e
rules advanced by teachers who Insist on
the side-saddle for women, and who rull
up the knees of men riders until t .oy
look like monkeys on sticks. If a w : . in
only starts horseback riding In the r's t
way she will llnd it the most fascine; -.g
sport and exercise in the world, ucn
though she never gets to be a trrno
buster." lar, is as much a thief as the man who
a million years ago beat his comrade
over the head and took away his bear
teeth. m MARCUS W. BOBBINS
Grant's "Pass, Or. J
The Barefoot Trail.
Edwin L. Sabln In Saturday Evening Tost,
Oat of the dear front Rate it ran.
Into the un and dew and tan;
Traversed the dusty, peaceful strert
Arched by maples (In mem'ry sweet).
Crossed the pasture, with clover lush.
Entered the copse where trilled the thrush;
Rambled. loitered and played and then
Turned to mother and home again
Street and pasture aniPhiil and vale
Such waa the course of the Barefoot Trail;
Pausing- and veering for this and that
Now for a game of one old. cat.
Now for a rollicking butterfly.
Now for a. nest hung Just too high.
Nor for a brookslde haunt and then
Back to mother and home again.
Never a sun for this trail too hot.
Vpi' j r- n n rfr that trrtnr If nAt
Twisting and turning from scene to scene.
' It checkered the realm of the gold and greet
. Passenger courier boyhood, slim;
Passport whistle and tattered brim.
Province to beokop afar, and then.
To lead to mother and home again.
Many a secret and many a tale.
Ours who followed the Barefoot Trail,
Wonders witnessed and marvels heard;
Kinship of squirrel and hare and bird,
Tho shortest route to the swimming hole.
The flnny spoil of the swaying pole.
Care-free triumphs and Joys and then
(Best) the "mother and home again.
The Country's Attention Secured.
Madras Pioneer.
From an educational standpoint the
Exposition has done a great work. Too
little was known in other parts of the
United States concerning the wonderful
advantages of soil and climate which na
ture has bestowed with such a lavish
hand upqn the Pacific Northwest, and tho
Lewis and Clark Exposition has drawn
tne attention of the entire country to
this much favored section. Its benefits
will be felt immediately, and the state
is unquestionably enterlncr uoon an era
of growth and development such as It
nas never oerore known.