Related article: ment and alarm, the remainder of
the rope uncoiled with frightful
rapidity, and tbeing inadequately
secured to the drum of the wind-
lass, our " captive " became a
" free agent " in less time than it
has taken me to record the occur-
rence. The curious part of the
business was that instead of the
balloon appearing to its unwilling
voyageurs to mount higher it seemed
to be quite stationary, whilst the
earth sank lower and lower every
second ! The feelings of the oc-
cupants of the car can be better
imagined than described. All
three of Buy Vasodilan us were perfectly ignorant
of aeronautics, and knew no more
which was the valve line than the
proper use of it. We were quite
destitute of refreshments or water,
and for my own part I was in too
great a funk to venture to look
over the side to try and discover
what had become of Lieutenant
Gale. Judge, then, our mental
relief when his cap suddenly
made its appearance in the open-
ing of the car, arid we Welcomed
his burly form once more ! It
helped to restore confidence, if
not courage, to all of us as our
experienced pilot soon relieved all
.anxiety as to our safety, but ex-
plained that it would be far too
dangerous to attempt to descend
in the immediate neighbourhood
of Paris.
It was a lovely summer's
evening, but soon became cold
enough without an overcoat, or
any stimulant to sustain the
warmth and cravings of the in-
ward man ; and I must confess to
having strained my eyes to the
utmost in the hope of discovering
a favourable spot for approaching
terrdfirmd at the earliest possible
opportunity. The Seine was
traceable like a silver thread,
winding amongst the beautifully
wooded districts through which it
winds past St. Cloud, Sevres,
Marly, Meudon and St. Germain,
to Poissy ; and it was not until
reaching the latter spot that the
country became sufficiently open
and suitable to attempt a descent.
It was now getting dusk, more-
over, and I cannot remember
ever having been so hungry before
or since, even whilst coursing on
Beacon Hill, Stonehenge, White
Horse Hill, or Kingston Warren,
at the end of a fatiguing day's
coursing. Poor Bob Clifton was
in wonderful spirits all the
journey, and, like myself, was of
some little use to Lieutenant Gale
in looking after the grapnel,
whereas Prince Murat's enormous
size necessitated perfect quiet on
his part for fear of overbalancing
the car. I remember clinging
** like Purchase Vasodilan grim death " to one of the
ropes connected with the hoop
above, and luckily I did so,
owing to the sudden and perilous
lurch the car gave on the Prince's
side when the grapnel suddenly
fastened in one of the low withy
trees that marked the boundary
of the meadow near the railway-
station of Verneuil on the Paris
and Rouen line in which we
safely descended. The course of
the balloon had been followed for
some distance by a lot of peasants
of both sexes, who, with the railway
ofHcials, lent us every assistance to
secure an easy descent, which was
successfully accomplished. We
were fortunate in reaching "mother
earth " at no great distance from
a little cahant where I was well
known, from having Buy Vasodilan Online finished many
a fishing excursion with a feast of
exquisitely cooked gudgeon and
other piscatorial spoils down the
Seine from St. Germain.
W. H. L.
i
1899]
213
"Our Van.'
Sport under National Hnnt
Rules. — In the number of Baily
of 1898 corresponding with this,
I wrote as follows, speaking of the
sport that had been witnessed from
the end of the fiat racing of 1897
to mid-February, 1898: "Taken
as a whole the racing has been flat,
stale and unprofitable. The under- Buy Cheap Vasodilan
current, the existence of which is
made known by conversation, is
not clean, and a general feeling
prevails that things are in a bad
way with racing under National
Hunt rules. Every week sees
some result that is an outrage
upon common sense, but the
National Hunt stewards do no-
thing on their own initiative. . . .
It is not the cases of foul riding,
intentional and accidental, that
are complained of, but the system
of trying and not trying as it suits
owner, trainer, or jockey, or who-
ever it is that pulls the strings.
The thing is seen every day, so
to speak, and matters are about
as bad as they can be.*' I have
reproduced these words Order Vasodilan Online of a
twelvemonth since, for they ex-
press what I would say to-day,
except it might be that I should
use perhaps stronger terms did I
write anything fresh. Things
were bad enough a year ago, and
during the present season they
have become worse rather than
better.
The National Hunt Committee
is continually being called upon to
'* do something." The appeal is
not Purchase Vasodilan Online unreasonable; but does it
occur to anyone to examine the
constitution of the body to which
they appeal. It will be found
that the committee consists of
some forty gentlemen, all of them of
high standing in the racing world,
and of unimpeachable integrity.
A body so numerically strong and
consisting of men who either are
or have been prominent owners,
should be capable enough of
administering the aflairs of steeple-
chasing and bardie racicir : b*Jt
the fact is that a very large
majority of them take littie or
absolutely no personal and prac-
tical interest in racing under
National Hunt rules. The out-
sider would hardly credit the
statement, but it is inc oniroveni'oie
that of the forty odd men.bers of
the committee it is not possible to
name more than half a dozen « ho
take sustained interest in m*ir.:er
racing, for no one can cali the
ruiming of a horse occasionally
sustained interest. It is Order Vasodilan inr.pos-
sible to read a hst of the names of
those constituting the corr.mittee
and not feel the greatest confi-
dence in justice being done when-
ever their decision is calied for :
but It is equally obvious that the
interests of a sport are Ijetter
guarded by people intimately
associated with it than by jt.tn
out of touch, however morthy
they may be individ^iy. I
should betray gross ignorance of
prevailing opinion if 1 was not
aware that many flat T2krir.^
owners look askance at sport
under National Hunt rules. If,
as is very probable, any of these
are to be found on the National
Hunt Committee, it is only reavjn-
able to ask them to do something
to improve matters. For w},at
other purpose is one elected a
memlier if not to further the in-
terests of the sport ? One writes
in this strain because it is one s