COWBOYS IN LONDON

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 19034, 11 June 1924, Page 11

COWBOYS IN LONDON

LONDON, June 9. Extraordinary scenes were witnessed by thousands of spectators at Kew Bridge, when two cowboys tried to swiin the swollen Thames on horses. They were swept off in midstream and narrowly escaped drowning. As a result of this episode, a horse race across the Thames, in which 39 Wembley cowboys were to participate. was abandoned. Floundering through four feet of Thames mud, cowboys Aldrich and Walker urged their horses into deep water,, where they were caught by the strong flood current and swept like corks downstream. The crowd had hitherto regarded the affair as a joke, but they now realised that the men and horses were fighting for their lives. In a rowboat was a cowboy with a lasso, and Walker’s sister, who is a champion swimmer, made desperate efforts to reach them. Walker was rescued, and his exhausted horse lassoed and tied to the boat. Meanwhile Aldrich, who was unable to swim, was unseated and disappeared downstream. When *his head reappeared, Miss Walker, plunging in, piloted the cowboy to the shore. The horse also reached the bank.