Munsey's Magazine, Vol. VI, No. 1, October 1891Various
History
Munsey's Magazine, Vol. VI, No. 1, October 1891
Various
American periodicals
But more observers’ eyes, probably, are turned upon the driveways and
their wonderful parade of vehicles than upon the panorama of wood and
meadow. Such a sight as the wheeled procession that pours through the
entrance at Fifty Ninth Street and Fifth Avenue cannot be found elsewhere
in America, and is indeed only matched by the displays of Rotten Row
and the Champs Elysées. Other American cities admittedly look to New
York as their leader and mentor in the matter of fine horseflesh and
smart equipages. The very latest and handsomest products of the carriage
builders’ skill are here to be seen whirling along behind teams whose
value represents a small fortune. There comes the banker’s victoria,
drawn by a pair of horses whose clock-like gait and well fed aspect of
sleekness show that they appreciate their position in the establishment
to which they belong. Behind this comes a trim, light phaeton; then a
family party in a barouche; these predominating types of vehicle being
interspersed with the tall and ostentatious four in hand, the more
unconventional buckboard, the natty dogcart, and the democratic park
coach, whose passengers take in all the beauties of the scene at twenty
five cents a trip.
The bridle path, too, on a sunny afternoon in May, is a spectacle to
be remembered. Its pictures come and pass more swiftly than those of
the drive, where moderation of speed is a necessity, and is promptly
enforced, in the rare cases of its infraction, by the mounted policemen.
And, by the way, these sublimated graycoats are themselves worthy of a
second glance. Their animals are a really beautiful and well groomed
set—most of them bays—and the riders’ horsemanship is of such uniform
excellence that a stranger in the park can hardly distinguish one
member of the mounted force from another. And in their patrol over
fourteen miles of driveway and bridle path their duty is by no means a
sinecure. Their courage and promptitude have often been tried by the
accidents caused from time to time by untrained horses or reckless or
inexperienced drivers and riders. At the season and the hour when it
is most frequented, the bridle path is no place for the careless or
unskilled horseman. As much space has been given to it as can well be
spared, but its width is so comparatively small that at some of the bends
serious accidents might easily occur. The rule against riding more than
two abreast is a highly necessary one.
The separation of the drives and the bridle paths is a point in which
convenience has been subordinated to other considerations. If they lay
close together throughout their length, instead of winding through the
park on wholly divergent lines, the enjoyment of both riders and drivers
would be increased. A radical alteration in the plan of the park,
however, would be necessary to effect such a change.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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