Chariot Racing in California 259 



to catch up, waited until the team came around 

 the third time, and as they went whirling by, 

 they started. They ran for one hundred yards 

 or so, one on one side of the runaway chariot, 

 one on the other, whirling their riatas, and 

 then, like snakes, the lassos went twisting 

 into the air and dropped over the heads of the 

 animals. The riders then began to hold them 

 back, and a splendid, accidental, and unpre- 

 meditated display of clever horsemanship was 

 given. The speed of the horses became less 

 and less, and at the grand stand they were 

 brought to a walk, and the driver was assisted 

 out after two miles of what in all probability 

 was one of the most whirlwind-like performances 

 ever witnessed. 



As a national pastime, if excitement and brav- 

 ery are considered, nothing can exceed this 

 chariot racing, especially when given in Southern 

 California under blue skies and in an environ- 

 ment of flowers. 



In 1909 the chariot races were particularly in- 

 teresting from the fact that it was said that there 

 was a strong feeling between the men. The day 

 dawned bright and beautiful, the twentieth of 

 the tournament. Seventy thousand people were 

 brought to the city by one electric road alone, 

 and at the time of the races it was estimated 

 there were two hundred thousand strangers in 

 Pasadena, a third being tourists from the East 



