Chariot Racing in California 253 



constitute the prizes in the chariot races in 

 Pasadena, California. 



The races are held on the first of the year at 

 a large park on the outskirts of Pasadena, about 

 four miles from the Sierra Madre Mountains, 

 which are from six to ten thousand feet high, 

 and often white with snow down to the three 

 thousand feet limit. They overlook the San 

 Gabriel Valley, a garden of blossoms. 



For days the chariot teams practice. The men 

 who are to appear on the fateful day in full 

 Roman costume now wear a " derby " and look 

 very unlike Romans or Athenians. The chariot 

 is modelled after those which may be seen on 

 the prized vases from the Panathenaic games of 

 Athens, on exhibition in the British Museum, 

 which are quadrigas, or chariots adapted for four 

 horses. In this case there is a pole, and two 

 horses are harnessed to it with one on each side, 

 the four making a spectacular team. 



All these chariots and those seen on the vari- 

 ous monuments were of the most primitive de- 

 scription, resting directly on the axle, with no 

 springs of any kind. The body of the chariot 

 had a floor on which the driver stood, a three- 

 foot guard in front to lean against, and was 

 entirely open in the rear a provision that has 

 saved the life of many a driver who could easily 

 drop out if the chariot rolled over, or was run 

 down, as was often the case. 



