A correspondent of the _Chicago Journal_ relates the following feat of
strength, to which he was witness:—
“On Sunday, about nine o’clock A.M., as the train westward was within
three or four miles of Chicago, on the Fort Wayne road, a horse was
discovered on the stilt-work between the rails. The train was stopped,
and workmen were sent to clear the track. It was then discovered that
the body of the horse was resting on the sleepers. His legs having
passed through the open spaces, were too short to reach the ground.
Boards and rails were brought, and the open space in front of the horse
filled up, making a plank road for him in case he should be got up, and
by means of ropes one of his fore feet was raised, and there matters came
to a halt. It seemed that no strength or stratagem could avail to
release the animal. Levers of boards were splintered, and the men tugged
at the ropes in vain, when a passenger, who was looking quietly on,
stepped forward, leisurely slipped off a pair of tinted kids, seized the
horse by the tail, and with tremendous force hurled him forward on the
plank road. No one assisted, and, indeed, the whole thing was done so
quickly that assistance was impossible. The horse walked away looking
foolish, and casting suspicious side-glances towards his caudal
extremity. The lookers-on laughed and shouted, while the stranger
resumed his kids, muttering something about the inconvenience of railway
delays, lit a cigar, and walked slowly into the smoking car. He was
finely formed, of muscular appearance, was very fashionably dressed, wore
a moustache and whiskers of an auburn or reddish colour, and to all
questions as to who he was, only answered that he was a Pennsylvanian
travelling westward for his health. The horse would certainly weigh at
least twelve hundred.”