The Sunday Oregonian., July 19, 1908, Magazine Section, Page 3, Image 47

Men in Our
Cavalry - That Make
j Buffalo Bill's
Performers Look
Like Novices 'u
BY WILLIAM AMHT;R DU PL'Y.
FOR daredevil feats In horsemanship
certain of Uncle Sam') calary posts
put up a show that Is without
parallel under the big tent of any caterer
to the thrill lovers. As compared to the
cowboy tournaments of the West these
are complete performances while theirs
are merely vaudeville sketches. There are
troops of horses mounting- In numbers
Into the hundreds each individual of which
would be a seven days' wonder at county
fairs from Maine to California.
Because certain officers who for years
have been detailed for War Department
office work have grown to large propor
tions and have been shown physically un
fitted to the test of a 16-mile gallop, there
has been a tendency on the part of critics
to decry the horsemanship of the United
States Army. Viewing some excellent
pictures taken abroad where foreign
troopers are shown riding down steep
hillsides these same critics, themselves
not knowing that any farmer's lad could
sit a horse with ease on the steepest in
cline that it was possible for the latter
to take, have decried an army that would
scorn picturing so tame a feat.
At Fort Myer, Virginia, Just across the
river from Washington, there may be
seen any day a horsemanship exhibition
that flings a challenge to all the world.
Lean and brawny young men, for there Is
no corpulency in the ranks, train for
months and years that they may excel
In stunts that require horsemanship,
athletic ability and the dash of the man
who is willing to take a chance. The
Bplrit of young America fitted to a task
he loves has done the trick and the show
is now open lor the people who have
already paid their admission in the taxes
that support the Army. The adjutant's
office hands out the tickets and the big
show has already started. Tou will have
to hurry.
Right inside is the tanbark arena.
There is no need of killing the men and
breaking the horses' legs when it can be
avoided and the tanbark helps some. If
a man falls hard he will merely be
stunned here and the troop may gallop
on over him for a horse never steps
on a fallen man. You may see it on the
outside and take snapshots if you like
but here we have the tiers of seats with
Colonel Hatfield and eneral Bell in the
center box and John Drew in the front
row for he is in town this week and all
the live ones come to see the "monkey
drill." Then the President may drop in
at any time for these daredevil cavalry
men are his delight and he comes often
to see them ride.
Captain Phillips of the Black Horse
troop Is the officer of the day and as
you are with him you are rather at a
loss as to the part you are to play when
he Is saluted, Here is Chaplain Brown
who did the praying with Roosevelt in
Cuba. You are again told the story of
his going to the transport ship off Tampa
late at night when the troops were to
sail next day for Cuba. Some cowboy
on guard called a halt but the boat was
carried on by the tide. The cowboy's
gun was heard to cock and the Chaplain
knew he could shoot straight. He stood
up in the boat and it is said that that
volunteer was treated to a rounder and
more eloquent cursing than he had ever
heard in all his 30 years on the plains.
But the troop has burst Into the
arena. The guidon of Troop H. Thir
teenth Cavalry, flutters out In the lead
nd the troops follow at breakneck
speed. The guidon is set up in the
center of the arena and the troops
rally round it in the maze of a fantas
tic figure, winding in and out, every
horse and rider in the right place at
the right time to make the figures perr
feet. The figures are greatly varied
and end with the great cross with the
guidon as its center. As it moves the
horses on the far outside increase their
speed and those in the interior mark
time, maintaining the relative form
when the horses on the outside break
Into a full run. and each individual
horse regulating his speed that the
alignment may not be disturbed.
The preliminary drill which Is merely
the fancy work ends with the saber drill
and the select men settle down to the
feats which . are making the Thirteenth
famous. The Black Horse troop special
ises in bareback work. There will be
none of the feats of the Cossacks today
for those are put on by the Sorrel Horse
troop, nor will there be any of the flag
picking of the Bay Horse troop.
There are 20 of the bareback riders.
They troop past on Individual horses
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standing erect on their sharp-backed
cavalry horses. They break into a gal
lop and the men leap to the ground
but to vault again into the air, entirely
over, the' horse and to the ground on
the other side. Back and forth they fly
like a ping-pong ball over a net. They
ride backward and forw-ard and across
the horse, assuming every position con
ceivable. The horses are now attached In pairs,
and each man works in conjunction with
a partner. The one man drives the horses
and the other does the stunt. Leaping
to the ground he vaults upon the backs
of the two horses, assuming a standing
position. From this he leaps again to
the ground as the horses go wildly on
he vaults entirely over his own horse
and onto the second behind his mate.
This vault may be so directed that he
turns about in the air and lands behind
his partner, but facing to the rear. It
may be of such strength that it will
carry him entirely over the two horses
and beyond. '
For the two horses three are substi
tuted and finally four and the vaults are
taken in the same way and the teams are
driven at breakneck speed by the mate.
It is a long jump from the ground to
the back of a horse that is four away,
but if the speed is accelerated the re
bound will be greater and the galloping
horse will give the body of the man
more impetus. Then there is the hurdle
that may add danger and difficulty to
the performance but If the performer
touches the ground just as the horse is
rising for the hurdle he will be given a
great yank Bkyward that can precipitate
him a considerable distance. Of course
if he does not time his leap just right and
meets the horse coming up as he goes
down he may have his arms Jerked out
of their pits but this is all in the day's
work and he is willing to take the chance.
m
Tou will enjoy the horses more than
all the rest of the show, for they are
Just plain, friendly, homely horses, with
out any of the frills and entirely unac
quainted with such things as clippers or
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAJT, PORTLANT), JULY 19, 1908.
MS
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with docking and roachlng. They are
the plain people in the horse kingdom,
sturdily unafraid of work, intelligent and
straightforward. They are capable of
taking an education without getting
swelled up about it.
For these are the best educated horses
in the world, brought together In so
large a group. There is the occasional
horse prodigy of which a great show is
made, but these are a mass of young
sters who have learned their little book.
If you don't believe it, watch them, for
they are putting on the second act.
When assembled in extended form the
Lieutenant, a youngster two years out of
West Point, gives the command, "Lie
down." The riders pull the heads of
their horses to one side and apply the
spur to the opposite flank. The wise old
horses switch their tails a bit in pro
test, but down they go broadside taking
their riders with them. They lie quietly
while their masters are "standing by,"
and pay not the least attention as they
scamper over their bodies in "taking
cover" by lying down behind their pros
trate forms. At the proper command
they sit upon their haunches, as would
a great Su Bernard dog, in this way
assuming a position that is most unnat
ural and hard to maintain. But they
have come to regard the will of their
riders as the court of last appeal, and
once knowing what is' expected of them
make no protest in doing it.
In going the circus one more than It
has ever been able to do, the men of
the Thirteenth end their performance
with a great end spectacular balancing
act. In which a pyramid of 15 men -.is
formed on the backs of five horses, and
the stunts are pulled off in this forma
tion. It Is from this act that the whole
of the remarkable drill has come to be
known as the "Monkey Drill." The driv
ers of the team are seated on their
backs. The 15 men swarm monkey-like
over the horses and pile upon these five.
In tier after tier they arrange them
selves, the legs of one man locked Into
the armpits of his fellow below. Finally
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upon the very plnacle Is perched one
Individual man, the final cap to the py
ramid. In this position the procession moves
and the men succeed In maintaining their
equilibrium though it Is beyond under
standing to conceive of the horses being
trained to move so evenly as not to up
set their cumbersome load. They break
into a trot and into a gallop. They. dash
down the field and turn corners and still
the pyramid Is intact. They even essay
to attempt the hurdle and at it they
go and though somewhat shaken the
pyramid rights Itself and is born onward
and the drill Is over.
There are no other troops with expert
horsemanship so highly developed as at
Fort Myer. This is the crack portion
of the crack regiment, but there is some
thing done along this line In all the cav
alry posts. Fort Ethan Allan in Vermont
ranking next to Myer in this respect.
Fort Myer is directly under the observa
tion of General Bell, the- chief of staff,
and he takes a great pride in its spe
cialty. Colonel Hatiield, who is in com
mand, has devoted the past three years
In building up the efBciency of the crack
riders, and holds that they are without
anything that approaches a rival on the
face of the globe. He challenges success
ful contradiction. ;
A Kan of Ietten.
Everybody's Magazine.
When Mr. Cyrus Watterhouse grew wealthy
from his slaughter-house
He gave to shellback: College twenty
thousand right away.
So tna faculty rewarded him with hoaor,
and accorded him
The pedagogic title, "Cyrus Watterhouae,
M. A." " . ,
When he merged his corporation with the
Pressed Beef Combination
He consigned a million extra to the col
lege; so you see
Grand old Shellback's Dons of Learning,
tainted money never spurning.
Stretched his name to "Cyrus Watter
house, M. A. and Ph. D."
Next, when Cyrus showed his nature and
fcought out a Legislature
For the Sausage Trust, the college got
lit millions, title free.
And the faculty's requital was another
whacking title.
This time, "Watterhouse. B. S., M. D.,
Ph. D.. Ua D."
Well, ere Cyrus took to liquor, every time
he made a dicker
He endowed the college more and added
on some letters new,
Till nls checkbook looked pathetic when he
signed that alphabetic
"M A.. B. S.. O. K-, Ph. D-, Lit D.,
P. D. J."
But at last of honors tiring, when poor
Cyrus lay expiring.
On-his will he wrote the following, and
settled down to die:
"Gents, please don't misunderstand me
take my coin but don't you hand me
Any more o' that fool alphabet!
yours very simply,
"Cy."
.v, v s r? 1 1 1 ill' ' " "
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PORTLAND BUILT STEAMER'S RECORD
Flyer Has Made 1,280,000 Miles and Is Still Cruck Boat of Paget Sound.
Seattle Railway and Marine News.
llfffUAT is the time?"
1 don t know. My watch has
stopped."
"Never mind. There is the Flyer
whistle. It must be 10:20."
In days' gone by, when Seattle was
not the metropolis she Is today, the above
conversation was not unusual on the
streets of the city. It sbowed then that
the steamer Flyer was as regular as a
clock, and although tne noise and bustle
of a big city has dimmed the echo of the
well-known whistle, the Flyer comes and
goes on time, and continues to be the
most remarkable steamer of her class in
the world. Built on the- Columbia River
m 1890, the Flyer was brought to Puget
Sound In the Fall of 1891, and, barring
the time spent In reconstructing her
houses and hull after a disastrous fire
in the Fall of that year, has been run
ning almost continuously between Seattle
and Tacoma ever since. Up to the 16th
of this month the Flyer had run 6178
days on the route. As she makes 224
miles a day. It will be seen that she
has made an almost incredible distance
of 1,280,032 miles, and during this period
has carried over 3,000,000 passengers.
These facts were brought out at a trial
recently held In Tacoma, and brought
by a woman, who claimed to have been
Injured while boarding the vessel at that
port. This was the first damage suit
that has ever been Drought against the
company, and is the first instance where
a passenger claims to have been in
jured on or about the boat.. The case
was promptly thrown out of court.
An idea of the remarkable number of
miles made by this steamer during tho
time she has been on the run between
tfte two cities is gleaned from the fact
that the distance covered Is 51 times the
distance around the world, which la 26,
000 miles. To bring this comparison
nearer home, it can be stated that the
distance made by the Flyer is equal to
239 round trips between Seattle and
Nome, the distance between these two
ports being 2677 miles. Or, from Seattle
to San Francisco, a distance of 812 miles,
the Flyer could have made 1576 voyages;
or from New York to Liverpool, 358 voy.
ages.
Placing the passengers carried at 3.000.
000, and allowing one foot for each pas
senger, these people, strung out in a
straight line, would make 668 miles of
humanity, or the distance between Cleve
land. O., and New York City. Allowing
5Vi feet as the average height of each
passenger would make a liie 3124 miles
long. As the population ofthe City of
New York, according to the census of
ISOO was 3.437.000. It will be seen that the
ST 3,
?
I rT
Flyer during the time she has been in
the service between the two cities has
carried almost the population of the larg
est city in the new world. To give an
idea of the number of passengers carried
on this steamer in 16 years it can be
Btated that the total is more than the
combined population of Alaska, Arizona,
Delaware, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New
Hampshire, Vermont, Utah and Wyom
ing. As there Is no end of the possibili
ties for statistics, we will let it go at
this, giving these few facts to the pub
lic that people may know what a mar
velous boat the Flyer Is.
The F'yer was built at Portland, Or.,
by Johnson & Olsen. Her hull construc
tion is of fir, cut during the Winter
months, and well pickled with salt. The
plan of cutting fir during the Winter
months Is well known to old-time ship
builders in the Northwest, and adds years
to the life of a hull. While the Flyer
was built on speed lines, care was als-j
taken to make her staunch and sea
worthy. She Is 170 feet long, 21 feet
beam and 15 feet depth of hold. She Is
well arranged for passenger traffic, and
maintains her popularity in spite of tho
efforts of rival companies to place larger
boats on the run.
The Flyer's engine was built by Neafle
& Leavy, of Philadelphia, in 1890, and is
an exact duplicate of the one in J. P.
Morgan's yacht, Corsair. It is of the
triple expansion type, with diameter of
cylinders 21x33Hx54x30 Inches. She la
allowed a steam pressure of 150 pounds.
Vacuum, 27 Inches. Revolutions per min
ute, 105. Pitch of wheel. 16 feet 3 inches.
Indicated horsepower, 1100. Engine fitted
with modified Hackworth valve gear. All
pumps are independent. She is equipped
with one two-furnaoe locomotive boiler,
built by Freeman & Sons, of Racine,
Wis., in 1899. This boiler is allowed a
steam pressure, of 170 pounds. . Oil Is
used as fuel, the daily consumption being
61 barrels. The oil burners used In the
vessel were made by Ansel Hill, the ef
ficient chief engineer. Considering the
speed of the vessel, this consumption of
oil is probably the lowest on any simi
lar vessel In the country. The engines
of the Flyer are built for a maximum
horsepower of 2000, and with sufficient
boiler power the vessel would probably
be capable of obtaining a speed well over
20 miles an hour. The fact that the
Flyer la using about half of her maxi
mum horsepower Is probably one reason
why she has been enabled to make her
remarkable record. Another reason for
her splendid condition, after years of
service. Is the fact that the company has
been fortunate in securing the services of
first-class engineers.
Considering the fact that the Flyer has
been running on an average of 344 days
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f V
a year for the past 16 years, there have
been but few cbanges in he: crew list.
The first master was Captain John Jor
dinson, with Harry Carter as pilot and
Samuel Sutton as chief engineer. It was
while in charge of these men she made
the run to Tacoma in about one hour
and 20 minutes. Other masters have
been Captain Harry Struve, Captain
Baughman, at present on the Humboldt;
Captain Williamson, and the present
master, Captain Coffin. In the engine
room there was one man who served a
few months after Chief Sutton. William
Stone then took charge, followed by the
present Chief, A. B. Hill, who has been
in charge about eight years. Other mem
bers of the crew have seen equally long
service on the vessel. Among these is
"Sam," whose sonorous voice and genial
manner Is known to every traveler who
has boarded the Flyer in the past 12
years. When Samuel Bayllss boarded
the Flyer, Manager Seeley does not know,
but it was a number of years ago.
The Flyer has been very free from
mishaps. When she came around from
the Columbia River she came near -being
destroyed by fire at her berth in Seattle.
She was later in collision with the Utopia,
and was run Into by the steamers Dobe
and Belllngham, these vessels being in
tow.
One of the peculiar accident to the
Flyer was when she ran into the dock
at Seattle, caused by a sheared bolt in
the reverse gear. Had It not been for
the promptness of Engineer Hill this ac
cident might have been very serious.
Since going into commission the Flyer
has laid up 30 days, while a new boiler
was Installed, and she has also been
sponsoned out. Otherwise It Is the reg
ular run without a stop, day arter cay.
Many vessels have come out in this time
that have been designed to beat the
Flyer, and some of these from the Great
Lakes, but through it all the older
steamer still sets the pace. Manager
Seeley lays the good work of the boat
to her heavy machinery and to his crew.
He believes in getting good men and in
keeping them; men who work for the In
terest of the company. The Flyer's of
ficers are paid the highest wages of any
men In the passenger service on Puget
Sound, and while other boats are In
commission and out again, they keep the
old boat on her regular schedule.
Also la Feather-Brained.
"Say, that new girl my wife hired Is
a bird, and no mistake."
"A bird, eh!"
Tes; she acts like a goose, talks
like a parrot, and she's pigeon-toed."
1