ACROSS THE CONTINENT ON HORSEBACK

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20110, 31 March 1928, Page 15 (Supplement)

ACROSS THE CONTINENT ON HORSEBACK

A PLUCKY MEXICAN GIRL A Mexican girl, Vonceil Viking, has crossed America on horseback in one hundred and twenty days, says the Universal Weekly. She has made a. good wager that modern girls are just as courageous and handy as their grandmothers. She has gained for her sex another distinction to add to those of channel swimmer, women Hyexts and golf champions. She is the first woman to cross the continent on horseback- In addition, she has secured the contract that Ted Wells offered her an • carling lady in his western picture upon the successful completion of her trip.

Just one hundred and twenty days after nor feted- departure from New ’York City, Miss Viking rode triumphantly up the steps of the city hall of Los Angeles. On October 13, 1927, Mayor “Jimmy" Walker sped Miss Viking on her way. Crowds surged around the steps of City Hall. The feat then seemed impossible. The girl seemed too young, too blonde and too

lovely to endure all the hazards that such an undertaking meant. But Von-.-<•11 Viking was brought up on a ranch in New Mexico. From the time she was a mere kid, she had ridden wild ponies. She had entered her first rodeo at the tender age of thirteen. She left New York confidently and radiantly.

Just as radiantly, if a little weary, she rode through the streets of Los Angeles one hundred and twenty days later. She was escorted by Ted Wells, who met her on the outskirts of the city with his band of cowboys, a police escort and about 100,000 people who were eager to catch a glimpse of the girl wonder. Carl .Laemmle, president of Universal Pictures, shared the honour of greeting Miss Viking with the Mayor of Los Angeles, George E. Cryer. Mayor Cryer presented Voneeil with a huge bouquet amid the hearty cheering of the crowd. Carl Laemmle, on behalf of Universal, offered his congratulations. The plucky girl reached her goal in lhe time set only by enduring hardships of a kind that might make tlv* strongest man quail. Delayed during her trip by accidents, mishaps, storms and other causes, she had to make » “forced march" during the last thirty days of her trip. On several occasions she remained in the saddle for almost twenty-four hours at a stretch, covering a maximum of 95 miles in one dav.

Laurence Stallings and Maxwell Anderson have written “The Cock-eyed World" as a sequel to their “What Price Glory," carrying the rivalry of Captain Flagg and Sergeant Quirt info civil life after the war. Victor McLagen and Edmund Lowe will play their former roles.