| 236Evening Post June 27th
COWBOY RACE OVER.
John Berry the First of the Riders
to Reach This City.
EMMETT ALBRIGHT THE SECOND.
Both Men Thoroughly Exhausted, but
Their Horses in Good Condition
-Prizes in Dispute.
There was a clatter on the rough, stony
pavement of Sixty-third street, then came
a shout, as at exactly 9:30 o'clock this
morning John Berry finished first in the
great cowboy race which started at Chadron,
Neb., thirteen days and sixteen hours
ago. There was only a small crowd at the
gates of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show to
greet the tired man who had ridden a
thousand miles in record time, for the reason
that very few had any idea that the
leaders would make such fast time the last
part of the race.
Those who saw Berry finish were surprised.
"Why, he's only a little bit of a
man," they said. He is a little man, and as
he flung himself from his horse in front of
Colonel Cody's tent in the inclosure his
smallness became even more apparent--
scarcely as tall as his horse, Poison, that
brought him to the last sixty-five miles
from DeKalb to Chicago since 11 o'clock
last night. A gleam of pleasure spread it-
self over this little man's bronzed and
burned features as Colonel Cody stepped
forward and shook him by the hand with
the remark: "You are the first man in.
You are all right, John; you are all right."
The horse was the center of an interested
group and Berry formed the center of attraction
for another. Of the two objects
the man was the sorriest, sleepiest and
most tired. The horse showed no signs of
being sore or tired and his coat was unruffled
and without a bit of lather. He
looked capable of going another 100 miles.
On the other hand, the rider looked jaded
and thoroughly tired, but the gleam from
his little gray eyes showed that there was
abundant determination in the small, wellknit
frame. He made a unique picture as
he stood there shaking hands with members
of the press, vaqueros and Indians.
Thoroughly Tired Out.
A man of about 5 feet 4 inches in height,
of about 135 pounds in weight, small features
that have been reddened to a deep
carnation by the thirteen days' exposure,
hands that would be in keeping with an
athlete of 6 feet covered with an old pair
of riding gloves- such is Berry. A decayed
and dilapidated soft hat that was
originally white flapped down over the
owner's eyes as if it were too tired to have
any spirit at all. The rest of the habiliments
were in keeping with the hat. A
cotton shirt, open at the throat, met a pair
of dun-colored jeans pants that were kept
in place by a pair of suspenders wound
around the waist.
With all Berry's exultation at winning
the race, even under protest, in spite of his
sleepless nights and days, he turned to
Cody and said: "Look out for that horse,
please." Upon being assured that everything
would be done for the animal Berry
allowed himself to be conducted to the dining
tent, where he cleaned up a bit and
tackled some chicken with a gusto born of
1,040 miles of hard riding. When he
finished he dropped on the sofa tired out.
In a second he jumped up and said that he
must go and look after his horse. He went
over to the stable, and after seeing that
everything was all right he took a nap of a
couple of hours. | 236COWBOY RACE OVER.
John Berry the First of the Riders
to Reach This City.
EMMETT ALBRIGHT THE SECOND.
Both Men Thoroughly Exhausted, but
Their Horses in Good Condition
-Prizes in Dispute.
There was a clatter on the rough, stony
pavement of Sixty-third street, then came
a shout, as at exactly 9:30 o'clock this
morning John Berry finished first in the
great cowboy race which started at Chad-
ron, Neb., thirteen days and sixteen hours
ago. There was only a small crowd at the
gates of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show to
greet the tired man who had ridden a
thousand miles in record time, for the rea-
son that very few had any idea that the
leaders would make such fast time the last
part of the race.
Those who saw Berry finish were sur-
prised. "Why, he's only a little bit of a
man," they said. He is a little man, and as
he flung himself from his horse in front of
Colonel Cody's tent in the inclosure his
smallness became even more apparent-
scarcely as tall as his horse, Poison, that
brought him to the last sixty-five miles
from DeKalb to Chicago since 11 o'clock
last night. A gleam of pleasure spread it-
self over this little man's bronzed and
burned features as Colonel Cody stepped
forward and shook him by the hand with
the remark: "You are the first man in.
You are all right, John; you are all right."
The horse was the center of an interested
group and Berry formed the center of at-
traction for another. Of the two objects
the man was the sorriest, sleepiest and
most tired. The horse showed no signs of
being sore or tired and his coat was un-
ruffled and without a bit of lather. He
looked capable of going another 100 miles.
On the other hand, the rider looked jaded
and thoroughly tired, but the gleam from
his little gray eyes showed that there was
abundant determination in the small, well-
knit frame. He made a unique picture as
he stood there shaking hands with mem-
bers of the press, vaqueros and Indians.
Thoroughly Tired Out.
A man of about 5 feet 4 inches in height,
of about 135 pounds in weight, small feat-
ures that have been reddened to a deep
carnation by the thirteen days' exposure,
hands that would be in keeping with an
athlete of 6 feet covered with an old pair
of riding gloves- such is Berry. A de-
cayed and dilapidated soft hat that was
originally white flapped down over the
owner's eyes as if it were too tired to have
any spirit at all. The rest of the habili-
ments were in keeping with the hat. A
cotton shirt, open at the throat, met a pair
of dun-colored jeans pants that were kept
in place by a pair of suspenders wound
around the waist.
With all Berry's exultation at winning
the race, even under protest, in spite of his
sleepless nights and days, he turned to
Cody and said: "Look out for that horse,
please." Upon being assured that every-
thing would be done for the animal Berry
allowed himself to be conducted to the din-
ing tent, where he cleaned up a bit and
tackled some chicken with a gusto born of
1,040 miles of hard riding. When he
finished he dropped on the sofa tired out.
In a second he jumped up and said that he
must go and look after his horse. He went
over to the stable, and after seeing that
everything was all right he took a nap of a
couple of hours. |
