THE SUNDAY CALL. 15 Effective Methods of San Francisco's Park Police in handling Runaways

to pick a person frcm the back of a run- away steed. Ifthe novice be successful in all the experiments he becomes a full Hedged mounted park policeman. Under the new law Captain Thomson and his mer. remain for life—good conduct, etc., being considered. The principal work for the mounted men is In handling the accidents which are now of daily occurrence. Many a young girl'3 life has been saved by the stalwart arm of one of Thomson's efficient squad, pick- ing her from the— back of a fiery runaway just In time the rlderles3 horse, of course, being allowed to goto be caught farther up the line by a deftlasso. Ifthe rider be too heavy to lift from the fiddle the horse 1s checked by catch- Ing the bit. If the bit be broken there Is no alternative but to lasso the horse and slowly stop him. This, however, requires the greatest skill; first, to throw the rope over the horse's head and not on the rider, and second, to stop the horse In such a way that the rider will not be unseated. The men have become so expert with their lariats that they can catch a bicy- clist going full speed and bring him to a standstill without throwing him from hi3 wheel. Several times expert wheelmen have endeavored to pass on forbidden ground, despite the remonstrance of the officers. Trusting to the speed of their wheels they have rushed ahead only to be brought up with a round turn and a rope around their neck. The police have yelled th« as yet had no experience in roping gaso- •rpsNUNAVTAY! Runaway! horses, they they the grass. Down line but' say are ready \l)) boys playing on to try the automobile if necessary. JpVv th<> came an open carriage Bicycle3 with dogs attached have also road running untilhis rider could grasp the bridle and two black horses, with ahead To the mounted men falls all the bril- recently been forbidden the use of the ]firmly. Then came tho struggle. For a work stopping runaways, saving park—so the man who wishes to exercise the spasmodic Jumps of a rabbit. liant of may hundred feet or more the vaquero horse, riders and drivers, and arresting breakers his pet canine have the opportunity Prop!r;. rigs and bikes shot acroca tha of finding both himself and dog tied to the drive. Wo- almost stiff legged, was tearing the gravel of the speed limit law. the end of the same rawhide. f.oTrer J.r-ds that bordered out of the road as he slowed down the At present of the mrn they'll be killed!" the members mounted To keep the men In ported practice they Rfrnamod. "Oh. weight and rig. By thi3 squad are: been given a drill once a Boys "Stop A man rushed tons' of horses S. M. Thomson. Nelson Nor- have regularly shouted 'em!" time the outer runaway horse wa3 ton, Christopher Arellanes, T. J. Kava- week on the speedway, on lines similar out in the road and waved hat and hand initiate's drill. Vitus' dance. dragged up :half over the back of his nagh and Manuel de la Guerra. to the like a jumping jack with St. mate, upon which the vaquero horse was The "trying process or practical At the last three fcorso shows given in violently away from out" in lS!M-&-t>, The horsrp j-wung leaning. With a useless, llrcd Captain San Francisco Captain Thom- with also .few. examination is left to Thomson son and his men carried off the nrst prize him. throwing the wheels sideways plunges they stopped, and while the po- and John McLaren, park superintendent. for all-around expert riding, rescuing and a wrench that cut Into the hard macadam. liceman straightened his hat and held the lariat throwing. over on Under the new charter In force In San The body of the flying riglurched new shamefaced, choking, panting horse3. Francisco, the park squad has become a Few park accidents have resulted In fa- two whefl?. the coachman shot through uprushing bystanders to regular police force, with talities and none after the police had the assisted tho part of the a taken a hand*. There have been but one the air and struck head first on the gritty ground a woman with the bright Joyful- In salary from $S0 for mounted men and raise or two cases where coachmen were thrown roarJbed. a shapeless heap of flesh ness of a new saved life showing on her and $75 for foot men, to J1CO for each In- from the box and killed before the officer face. Around her neck two frighten;;J dividual, whether on horse or afoot. The arrived on the scene to stop the runaway was a rear prat of the barouche aims --¦ future selection mounted men and save the lives of the occupants. On the still locked. . of will be case of runaway teams, woman with a little pirlof elx years, held placed in left to th«s Police Commissioners of San In the the ob- that . The horses'were charge. of an- ject of the officer is to lasso the more re- to her breast as she had held her other mounted vaquero policeman who Francisco and not to the Park Commis- fractory hcrae and bring him to a stand- first time six years ago. . came up with the runaway buggy norac. sioners, but the examination will prob- still slowly and without upsetting the ve- Straight ahead th«» woman looked, see- Captain Thomson, who had made the ably be the same as heretofore. hicle. Often this necessitates riding up suddenly popped rescue, The aspirant for mounted police close to the team and steering It care- ing nothing. A huRgy was oft to attend'to his other du- — honors fully into some by-road, where there will of to out frcm a r'.&e drive fairly In front ties. Was he forgotten? v having duly qualified as character not be the danger of a collision with other the flyinp team. The driver tried to save • • • and intellect— Is taken by Captain Thom- rigs. If the road la crowded and there Is himself, lie cleared the son and Superintendent McLaren to to loo?*>n a lariat, the man must but before had years ago the first the no time bridle, heavy cocch whwls had thrown his buggy Seventeen mounted trial ground, the speedway — the one place get the runaway by the lift its policeman went on duty in the Golden forelegs bodily from the ground and set upride down and his own horse, torn in the park where driving over ten miles on his Gate Park of San Francisco. Tho park an prohibited. the beast back haunches. loose, had started on a maddened race. hour is not He is mounted But one policeman has lost his life In ground, comparatively unimproved at regulation park horse, Spanish As the man rose from "the dusty was " that on the the service. That was the case of Sam- bloody, a dark shadow passed him. time and not particularly •'. popular, one saddle with high horn, curb bit and raw- uel \V Harper. on<» of the most proficient and force, stopping team, Kllkkity-klika horse and rider went over man being amply sufficient .to maintain hide lasso. The- initiate is first put men on the who. In a law*and order and catch the occasional through paces fellunder his own horse and received in- ' hill, forty miles an hour. It was one \ his as a rider— sent tearing juries resulted in blood poison. Tha for, runaway. , ¦ which the vaqucro policemen with his trained and the handicap of a long head start and in an Instant Its head was choking hand reached the bridle of the horse' up and down the speedway at breakneck plucky fellow suved the lives of the peo- J*-horse. which the runaway had, the end already over the back of its mate. The man next .him.;'; 1 • For over five years S.'. M. Thomson, the pace, picking up handkerchiefs from the ple, but lost his own In the attempt. eight, a turn 'at the foot of the hill. with the riata brought his . horse up As he leaned over the enraged animal present' chief of the park, squad," kept groundv vaulting in and out of the sad- The park Is never left without patrol. No light, fleetfoot pazelle of a horse, in • kept duty rider, stayers. They reeking right-hand ,head, striving escape gallop. mounted man Is on from with a willowy but a heavy horse Hut liorse and man were against the side of the threw back its ' to ; watch alone. Then It was found neces- dle." and all at full Then he Is re- One runaway 3 p. m. to 12 a. m. and two foot men are a heavy rider. Heavy and epeedy, came "P on lhe right-hand side of the run- one in the Tunaway team. his grasp," and jstruck the rider]a smasn- sary to increase the*number to its present quired to catch a horse by the night. Saturdays. Sundays and "Almost blinded; bridle; then en duty all with the weight and swiftness of an ex- ning team, overtaking itas fast as though Dropping his reins upon the neck of his ingblow in the face. tha quotas of 'five mounted men and eleven to stop a horse and buggy, and holidays see the whole squad out in end the strength to conquer. It only etood. His riata swung, shot out horse,, he left the intelligent animal .mas- officer, paused ¦ a second, -when his horse foot men, with extra men for Saturdays and then to lasso an escaping. team. The at when the park Is mosl press engine • force the hours Riding a race with two lives for «. stake, and caught the neck of the further noree ter of its own motions and with his froe took matters into his owncontrol and shot and Sundays. ¦ 1: ;t and most difficult of all the tests Is crowded. r ,