rter of an
hour after losing my consciousness. Intelligent and prompt treatment
prevented any serious consequences, but the remembrance of that brief
time exposed to the fury of the blizzard will remain with me to my
dying day.

THROWING THE RIATA.

The skill shown by cattlemen in throwing the riata or lasso often
approaches the marvelous. What is more wonderful than the duel
described in the _San Francisco Examiner_, between Mexican vaqueros, in
which the only weapons used were their riatas? The victor overcame the
other by throwing his noose, so that his enemy's noose passed right
through it, and the conqueror lassoed the other man's arms against his
side and jerked him from his steed.

The despatch then went on to tell of the skill of the victorious riata
man, and mentioned among other wonderful feats, his lassoing an
antelope running at high speed 100 feet away. To make the test more
extraordinary, the correspondent wrote that he would pick out one of
the animal's feet and get the noose around that alone.

An _Examiner_ reporter called on Louis Ohnimus, Superintendent of
Woodward's Gardens, who wielded a riata for many years, and probably
knows as much about throwing the lasso as any man on the coast, and
asked him if the feats referred to were possible.

"The Mexican may have won the duel by lassoing his adversary, riata and
all," was the answer. "It is not an uncommon thing for them to settle
their differences by such a fight, and I have heard of the trick of
ringing the other man's rope, but if that man can catch an antelope one
hundred feet away, by the foot or any other way, he is a better riata
man than I ever encountered. In the first place mighty few men are
strong enough to throw a rope such a distance. Then an ordinary riata
is only fourteen or sixteen yards long--twenty yards is a very long
one. So, you see, a forty-foot throw is a pretty good one."

He was asked to explain how to throw a lasso, and consented to do so.

"The first thing about this business," said Mr. Ohnimus, "is to have a
perfect riata. If you have one perfectly stretched, oiled, and in a
thoroughly good condition, you can throw well; if your rope is kinky or
uneven, you will find it impossible to do accurate work."

"What do you consider a good riata?"

"Well, I can only tell you how a good one is made. First, the rawhide
is cut in thin strips, as long as possible, and half tanned with the
hair on. Then these