| 3428
"'The bullfighters, they answered breathlessly. 'Peep into the court below at the
maddened mob.'
"I did, and, by jiminy, it was a sight! The court was jammed with men as mad as
so many mad bulls, and they were flying here, there and everywhere, threatening to tear
me limb from limb. I dressed leisurely and put a Colt's revolver in my hip pocket--just to
keep me company, you know-- and then I went downstairs. I got the interpreter to ask
them what they meant. Their spokesman demanded to know why I had put such an insult
to them in the papers, and at that every matador of 'em brandished a morning paper. I told
them that I had merely made that wager and was ready to stick to it. Then they asked me
how much I would wager. Now the people of Spain are distressingly poor, so I offered to
bet 200,000 pesetas, for I knew they couldn't cover it. This crazed them and they tried to
get at me. In the meantime my agent had gone for the American Consul and police
officers to protect me and quell the riot, and I saw I had to talk for time. I began to drop,
offering 175,000 pesatas, and I had got down to 50,000, and was losing wind when the Consul
and officials arrived. The Consul saw that there was blood on the face of the moon, and he
and the police advised me to withdraw my challenge. The bullfighters told them that I had
attempted to ruin the national sport and had grossly insulted them; that they had to make
the people believe that these bulls were very fierce and that no one in the world could
capture and ride them but themselves, or else the sport would die an ignominious death, so I
withdrew my wager. But I had to have police protection during the rest of my stay
in Spain."
THREE NOTED WAR HORSES.
The hundreds of horses from different countries and of different strains employed by
Buffalo Bill's Wild West in transportation, parade and exhibition, collectively, form a living
attraction, full of nobility, beauty, intelligence, fire and fleetness, while in the great gather-
ing are individual steeds full worthy of more than passing inspection and mention. Among
these are included "Knickerbocker" and "Lancer," which Colonel Cody sent with the army
to Porto Rico for his own use in the event of his being called to the front by General Miles,
and which were the only horses accompanying the invading forces that were returned to
American soil, as the following note from General Miles to Colonel Cody shows:
"MY DEAR CODY:
"Your horses are now in Washington, all right. You did not come to Porto Rico, there-
fore I rode them myself, and they are the only horses brought back to America.
"NELSON A. MILES"
Regular army officers who had served with General Miles in the Indian campaigns,
had given him the reputation of being the hardest rider in the service. "He can cover more
ground than any other man in the army and be fresh as a daisy at the end," they told the
troopers in Porto Rico, and an escort of thirty-seven of them, whom he rode to a finish and
nearly out of their saddles during a prolonged tour of inspection, sorely conceded that he
was truly a Rough Rider par excellence. "Knickerbocker," a powerful, plucky gray, was
just the mount required by such a horseman, and carried him triumphantly through the
more arduous work of the campaign; "Lancer," a beautiful sorrel of less weight and stam-
ina, being reserved for lighter service.
Returning with these material steeds came a splendid little Porto Rico-born "Palimena
Stallion," purchased for the special use of General Mile's twelve-year-old son, who accom-
panied the expedition with his father. That he is a chip of the old block may be inferred
from the statement of one of the officers of Troop A, who says: "We made the return in
less than fice hours, starting at the trot, which General Miles rode to perfection. His twelve-
year-old son, a bright-looking little chap, accompanied him on one of the little Porto Rico
ponies. The boy was game, for He stuck righ at the heels of the iron-gray, handicapped as
he was by his mount's short, pounding strides."
ORIENTAL WONDERS.
PHENOMENAL PERFORMANCES BY FAMOUS ARABIAN EQUESTRIANS AND ATHLETES.
There are some things in which the Wild East doesn't have to take off its turban to
the Wild West, and the renowned Sheik Hadj Tahar's troupe of Riffian Arabs--right from
the scorching sands--with Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the | 3428
"'The bullfighters, they answered breathlessly. 'Peep into the court below at the
maddened mob.'
"I did, and, by jiminy, it was a sight! The court was jammed with men as mad as
so many mad bulls, and they were flying here, there and everywhere, threatening to tear
me limb from limb. I dressed leisurely and put a Colt's revolver in my hip pocket--just to
keep me company, you know-- and then I went downstairs. I got the interpreter to ask
them what they meant. Their spokesman demanded to know why I had put such an insult
to them in the papers, and at that every matador of 'em brandished a morning paper. I told
them that I had merely made that wager and was ready to stick to it. Then they asked me
how much I would wager. Now the people of Spain are distressingly poor, so I offered to
bet 200,000 pesetas, for I knew they couldn't cover it. This crazed them and they tried to
get at me. In the meantime my agent had gone for the American Consul and police
officers to protect me and quell the riot, and I saw I had to talk for time. I began to drop,
offering 175,000 pesatas, and I had got down to 50,000, and was losing wind when the Consul
and officials arrived. The Consul saw that there was blood on the face of the moon, and he
and the police advised me to withdraw my challenge. The bullfighters told them that I had
attempted to ruin the national sport and had grossly insulted them; that they had to make
the people believe that these bulls were very fierce and that no one in the world could
capture and ride them but themselves, or else the sport would die an ignominious death, so I
withdrew my wager. But I had to have police protection during the rest of my stay
in Spain."
THREE NOTED WAR HORSES.
The hundreds of horses from different countries and of different strains employed by
Buffalo Bill's Wild West in transportation, parade and exhibition, collectively, form a living
attraction, full of nobility, beauty, intelligence, fire and fleetness, while in the great gather-
ing are individual steeds full worthy of more than passing inspection and mention. Among
these are included "Knickerbocker" and "Lancer," which Colonel Cody sent with the army
to Porto Rico for his own use in the event of his being called to the front by General Miles,
and which were the only horses accompanying the invading forces that were returned to
American soil, as the following note from General Miles to Colonel Cody shows:
"MY DEAR CODY:
"Your horses are now in Washington, all right. You did not come to Porto Rico, there-
fore I rode them myself, and they are the only horses brought back to America.
"NELSON A. MILES"
Regular army officers who had served with General Miles in the Indian campaigns,
had given him the reputation of being the hardest rider in the service. "He can cover more
ground than any other man in the army and be fresh as a daisy at the end," they told the
troopers in Porto Rico, and an escort of thirty-seven of them, whom he rode to a finish and
nearly out of their saddles during a prolonged tour of inspection, sorely conceded that he
was truly a Rough Rider par excellence. "Knickerbocker," a powerful, plucky gray, was
just the mount required by such a horseman, and carried him triumphantly through the
more arduous work of the campaign; "Lancer," a beautiful sorrel of less weight and stam-
ina, being reserved for lighter service.
Returning with these material steeds came a splendid little Porto Rico-born "Palimena
Stallion," purchased for the special use of General Mile's twelve-year-old son, who accom-
panied the expedition with his father. That he is a chip of the old block may be inferred
from the statement of one of the officers of Troop A, who says: "We made the return in
less than fice hours, starting at the trot, which General Miles rode to perfection. His twelve-
year-old son, a bright-looking little chap, accompanied him on one of the little Porto Rico
ponies. The boy was game, for He stuck righ at the heels of the iron-gray, handicapped as
he was by his mount's short, pounding strides."
ORIENTAL WONDERS.
PHENOMENAL PERFORMANCES BY FAMOUS ARABIAN EQUESTRIANS AND ATHLETES.
There are some things in which the Wild East doesn't have to take off its turban to
the Wild West, and the renowned Sheik Hadj Tahar's troupe of Riffian Arabs--right from
the scorching sands--with Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the |
