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Waikato Times, Volume II, Issue 98, 14 December 1872, Page 2

RIDTNQ AOAINST Time.—The announcoment that Clmu TMieker the " Califbraian Boy," whose performances in theSidS hive for him a wide celebrity would ride 50 mi'os in three hours drew a fair number otlru.es and gentlemen to the Haintramek racecourse on the 1/th August, lo enab'o the youn» horseman to execute his arduous undertaking a dozen lleefc California ponies were in waiting near the grand stand, thus enabling the rider to change horses at the end of each mile. Mr Reticker, who is a well-built, active young fellow, was dressed in a jockey costume, lie is about 22 years of age, and for the last ten years has almost literally lived in the saddle. He was for a long tonic in the employ of the Adams Express company on the Flams, and when but 12 years of age rode a pony express from St. Joseph to Sacramento. The wiry little pony was brought m prancing and eager for a start. With one bound the rider was in the Mexican saddle, and the pony was o 1 like a rocket The little sorrel went flying down the backstretcn and past the half-mile post in lm ssec, when Jus rider evidently choc-ted his speed, and lie came in under a. steady, pull in 2m 23ec(>. As Reticker reached the stand he leapt fro-n K> ponv, sprang into the saddle of a ircsn. horse, nn 1 was off again. On this and the succeeding circuits of tho track lie took his time, coming in in 2m 24secand Zm 33«ee Reticker then took a swallow of ice water and started oft , at a pace which indicated fast time. He came, m in 2n 12-ee. Mile after mile was accomplished by the dashiii" rider without sign of fatigue. At the conclusion of t'>e 16th mile Reticker mounted an ugly, vicious, Borrcl pony who admirably answered to tho description of Mark. TVnhi's celebrate;! buskin- horse, and " the Boy' was compello ito dis-n-mnt and take another steed. On tho 17th tuv>} on t'n track '•c male no for lost time, coming home in 2 n'Vscc, the fastest. 1 ime of the rnce. The first 20 miles wore male hi 55m, and the 25 miles in lh om. It was then -ilainly t> bo wn tint ho »vo:il.l ace.) npluh his feat within the altat-ted time, nn 1 have considerable time to snare, so it w;n dreidcv.l not to prolong the race beyond the fortieth mile. Tins was aeconpli-med in 2m 30soc, making the nn'ie, including stoppages and changes, in one hour and 5G minutes.— Detroit Post. Pr Cabarus, who died at Paris last year, was one of thoso jovial physicians whose presenco is equally sought in tho sick-room as in society, and who effect more with humour, and pVa-nntry than' by medicine. Being a brother-in-law of L<!:-sep<, the celebrated engineer, and nearly related to a princely ! h/"ilv of his native land, he moved in aristocratic (• : r.-iles,'which 'deeply felt his loss. One cure, by which, at the commencement of his career, he achcived a groat reputation, is characteristic of the man. The Duchess of D., one of the mes' aristocratic ladies of the Faubourg St. Germain, had cot possessed of the idea that she had swallowed a frog. She folt this said frog, she declared she did, and its presence robbed her of peace of mind, sleep, and even of health. Tho Par'sian physicians had the rudeness to deny the existence of this animal, ignorant as they were that the poor lady mffered martyrdom. A fortunate chance made her acquainted with Dr Cabarus, and to him she told her tale of woe. He felt, with a seriousness worthy of Hippocrates himself, tho puke of ihe fair patient, inquired after various symptom*,, and, when the charming aristocrat had exhausted all her » l or'o of arguments to prove her delusion, the youthful doctor said, after a well-feigned pause, " Madame, the frog is there, but I will remove it." He then prescribed an innocent cme'i", and went to the nearest (lower-shop, where he bought a small g"cn frng. Armed with this confederate, he presented himself once more before the duchess, and planed a large basin of water in readiness. The emetic began to take effect, the duchess's eyes filled with tears, and our doctor took advanta'c of the opportunity to slip the green frog into the barn. On seeing the frog, a load was removed from tho duchess's heart, and for an instant all seemed well. Tho next moment she turned pale, and, as Dr Cabarus supported her tottering frame, she cried in a despairing tone, " Oh, doctor, I am not yet, cured, for the frog has left little ones behind her." " Stop," cried Cabarus, without allowing a trace of embarrassment to be seen in his manner, " that we shall soon see." He then threw a searching glance upon the frog, which he had by this time taken in his hand, and Uttere f with a cerf-ainty that settled the whole question, these words : " Madame, that is an impossibility, i'or the {rov is a ma'e." S r Walter Scott used to relate the following anecdote : — " My cousin Wntty, Paid he was a midshipman some forty years ago at Portsmouth. He and two other companions had gone on shore and ov<>rstaid their leave, spenl all their money, and run nn immense bill at a tavern on the Point. Their ship made signal for sailing, but the landlady said, " No, gentlemen, you cannot escape without paying your reckoning," and she accompanied her words by appropriate actions, and placed them under the keeping of a sufficient number of bailiffs. They felt they were in a scrape, and begged hard to bo released. " No, no," said the Mrs quickly. " I must be satisfied one way or t'other ; you must be aware gentlemen, that you will bo totally ruined if you don't get on boar lin time." They all made long faces, and confessed it was true. " Well," said she, " I'll give jou a chance : I am so circumstanced here that I cannot carry on business as a single woman, and I must contrive somehow to have a husband: at all events I must produce a marriage certificate, and therefore the only terms on which you shall leave to go 6n board to-morrow is that one of you consent to marry me. I don't care a snap which it is, but by all that's good, one of you I will have, or else all three go to jail, and your ship sails without you. The virago was not to be pacified, and the poor youths, left to themselves, agreed after a time to draw lots', and it happened to fall on my cousin. No time wis to be lost, so off they marched to church, and mj poor r lation was forthwith spliced. The bride, on returning gave them a dinner, and several bottles of wine each, and, having tumbled them into a wherry, sent them off. The ship sailed, and the young men religiously adhered to the oath of secrecy lh\y had made previous to drawing lots. The bride, I should have said was the first to propose an eternal separation. Fome months after, at Jamaica, a file of papers reached the mrHiipman's berth, and Watty, who was observed to be lo king over them, carelessly, and forgetting his obligation of secrcsv, cried out " Thank heaven, my wife is banged." ■ The following storv is attributed to Mr Lincoln, the late President of the United States :—Upon the huricane deck, of one" of our gunboats an elderly darkey, with a very philosophical and retrospective cast of counienanee, squatted upm his bundle; toasting his shins against flic chimney, and apparently plunged in a t-tate of profound meditation. Firrlina iinon ''inquiry,'that he belonged to the Ninth Illinois, one of the most rarantlybehaved and heavy los'ng regiments n* fVe Port battle, anil part, of which was abroad, T heian to interrogate him oil the subject:—"Were you in the fk'ht?" " Had a little *fcaste of it, sa." "Stood your ground, did you?" " No, ear;,l runs." "Runs at the first ' fire, did you ?" " Yes), and would have run sonna, but I knowd it oomm'." lr lf our soldiers were like you, traitors might have broken np-ifche government without res'stance." " Yes, sa ; dere would h>ve been no help for it I wout put my life in the scale 'gainsfc'.any gobernment dab eber existed, for no gobernment could not replace the loss to me." "Do you think any of your cenhpany would have misled you if you had been killed ?" "Blaybe not, sa: a dead white man ain't much to dese eogdr9,*Tefc alone a dead nigga ; but I'd miss myself, and dat was *id me." Be Doino Something.—There are nofc persons in the world who pretend to be anxious to accomplish something, but are constantly bemoaning their lack of opportunity. Tho best thing for such people, and, in fact, for everybody, is to determine to accomplish something useful and,beneficent every day. Without work there is little progress. The sum'of many days'intelligent work will not be.,inconsiderable. Do not hesitate too long. Go to "work at the thing that lies nearest your hand. Sydney Smith very wjaely said, " A great deal of talent it lost to tb,e ijrorldfor tho -wpat of a little «mrege."j , v^-X