418 



HONDURAS. 



HORSEMANSHIP. 



The reverses of the Unionists in Salvador cre- 

 ated a precarious situation for President Bogran. 

 For months his enemies perfected their plans, and 

 on Nov. 7, while large detachments of the army 

 were away on the frontier, where strong garrisons 

 were posted for observation to guard against at- 

 tacks from Salvador or Nicaragua, a part of the 

 garrison of Tegucigalpa, led by the commandant, 

 Gen. Longinos Sanchez, revolted, and, after severe 

 fighting with the loyal troops, gained possession 

 of the arsenal and of the Capitol building. For 

 the next three days there was constant skirmish- 

 ing in the streets. Simeon Martinez, Minister of 

 Finance, and another member of the Cabinet fell 

 into the hands of Sanchez, and were shot. The 

 President and his other Cabinet ministers, with 

 a body of faithful soldiery, defended themselves 

 in the Camayaguela ward, and a considerable 

 body in one of the barracks held out after all 

 the others had been reduced. To capture this 

 Sanchez reduced the guard that surrounded the 

 President, and Gen. Bogran, who was an old and 

 experienced soldier, seized the chance to cut his 

 way through the lines, which -he accomplished 

 after a desperate and sanguinary combat. He 

 set up his Government at Tamara, a neighbor- 

 ing town, whence he sent a dispatch to Presi- 

 dent Ezeta, asking him to remain neutral. The 

 President of Salvador had already defined his 

 attitude as one of strict neutrality in a procla- 

 mation upholding the principle that none of the 

 republics had a right to interfere in the internal 

 dissensions of the others, and conveying a warn- 

 ing to President Barillas of Guatemala. The 

 latter was sending troops to the aid of Bogran, 

 but recalled his army when Ezeta made prepara- 

 tions to intercept it and the Presidents of Costa 

 Rica and Nicaragua intimated a readiness to 

 take part in the conflict. It was the attitude of 

 these states that had deterred Bogran from join- 

 ing forces with Barillas against Ezeta in the 

 summer, for they would have been hardly able 

 to cope with a league of all three republics'. 



As soon as the rebellion was heard of, the ar- 

 mies of inspection on the frontiers and detached 

 forces in all parts of the country set out by 

 forced marches to succor the President, with the 

 exception of those whose officers declared in 

 pronunciamientos for the revolution, and they 

 marched likewise for the scene of conflict. The 

 refugees in Salvador and Nicaragua who were 

 eager to fight against Bogran were kept in check 

 by the measures taken by Presidents Ezeta and 

 Sacara to prevent a violation of the frontier. 



By Nov. 13 the President, having been re-en- 

 forced by some 2,000 troops, marched from Ta- 

 mara upon the capital, driving in the scouts and 

 advancing cautiously with an extended skirmish- 

 ing line, yet suffering severely from ambuscades. 

 They halted for the night near the city, every 

 approach to which was guarded by artillery. In 

 the early morning Bogran charged three times 

 on the three pieces and intrenched infantry that 

 defended the high road, and at the third charge 

 carried the position and drove the rebel troops 

 back into the city, where the fighting was con- 

 tinued in the streets until they were cleared, one 

 after another, and the barracks were recaptured, 

 all except the San Francisco barracks, in which 

 Sanchez and the remnant of his army were 

 closely besieged. During the night Sanchez at- 



tempted to escape. He was pursued and over- 

 taken, but resisted capture, was wounded in the 

 fight, ran into a house, and with a charge left in 

 his revolver took his own life. In the morning 

 the walls of the barracks were battered down 

 with solid shot and shell from the guns that had 

 been brought up in the night, and the soldiers 

 of the Government charged through the breaches. 

 The desperate men within fought to obtain venge- 

 ance for their doomed lives and to die with 

 weapons in hand, until only a handful remained 

 alive. The captured officers were led out to one 

 of the large squares, blindfolded, placed in line, 

 and shot in the presence of the citizens. There 

 was general rejoicing over the victory of the 

 Government. Nearly every family was in mourn- 

 ing. The city was badly wrecked by shells. 

 Most of the captive revolutionists were tried by 

 court-martial and shot. 



HORSEMANSHIP. That inborn admira- 

 tion for feats of mastery over the horse which 

 was so freely given vent to in loud applause at 

 exhibitions of the National Horse Show Associa- 

 tion of America in the old Madison Square Gar- 

 den became louder and stronger, and finally the 

 people determined on becoming participants in 

 this health-giving delightful recreation. The 

 growth of equestrianism in the eastern part of 

 our country in the past fifteen years has been 

 marvelous. It is true that there were horsemen and 

 horsewomen years ago ; there is the evidence in 

 Central Park, where are bridle paths that provide, 

 in most instances, for two riders. But much 

 less than fifteen years ago a horsewoman in Cen- 

 tral Park was enough to collect a crowd, and a 

 single mounted man drew more curious than 

 admiring glances, no matter how fine his horse, 

 how suitable his equipments, or how magnificent 

 his skill in the saddle. Not only is all this com- 

 pletely changed and the bridle paths become 

 altogether inadequate to the demands made upon 

 them by the hundreds of clever horsemen and 

 horsewomen whose skillful riding gives them 

 health and pleasure and delights other visitors, 

 on foot and in vehicles, but the last horse show 

 in the new Madison Square Garden, early in 

 November, 1890, was the scene of fine exhibitions 

 by amateurs, and of some really wonderful feats 

 in the saddle. 



To begin with, in learning to ride one does 

 not need to know anything about horses, much 

 less to procure one that is, if he lives in a large 

 city, or near enough one to visit a good riding 

 academy. It is perhaps well, even if the beginner 

 is perfectly able to afford it, not to think of pur- 

 chasing a saddle horse until he has had practice 

 in equitation. One's views on the kind of horse 

 that would be desirable for him change with 

 almost every lesson until he has become a compe- 

 tent horseman. The horses favored in New York 

 come principally from Kentucky and the near 

 neighborhood, and from Canada and the north- 

 ern portions of the United States. The horses 

 from these regions comprise two distinct classes, 

 as widely different as the sections in which they 

 are bred*. The Kentucky horses are largely thor- 

 ough-bred and excel in the more delicate kind of 

 equine beauty, nearly all of them being remark- 

 ably fine and graceful, superior, as a general 

 thing, for ladies. Kentucky horses are apt to be 

 sharp, supple, graceful, and speedy, but not as a 



