Hippodrome

“ The performances at the Hippodrome are very various. Sometimes whole troops of horse come in from between two great curtains at one end, all elegantly caparisoned and mounted, some by men and some by girls, but all, whether men or girls, dressed in splendid uniforms. These troops ride round and round the area, and up and down in the middle of it, performing a great variety of evolutions in the most rapid and surprising manner. ”

“ In the afternoon, they go thither to admire the bold horse-men jumping fences, or the women driving chariots in the ring. The Hippodrome audience being, as a rule, frivolous, dandified, and fashionable,—especially on weekdays,—these ladies are almost certain to make their expenses. ”

“ Barcelona in August was like the Hell to which Emile likened it.
The rich escaped from the heat to their villas up in the mountains, those whom business, or lack of money, kept in the city, existed in a parched and sweltering condition. Arithelli still kept her place among the performers at the Hippodrome, though after the fashion of circus artists her name had been changed.
She was now "Madame Mignonne" from Paris, and wore a golden wig, and came on the stage riding a lion in the character of a heathen goddess in the spectacular display which always ended the performance. ”

“ The hippodrome at Olympia was larger and more elaborate than the ordinary hippodrome. Unfortunately, the floods of the Alpheus and other catastrophes have removed every trace of its remains, and we must be content with what we learn from Pausanias and other writers. [775] The hippodrome lay 453between the stadium and the river. On its north side it was bounded by the southern embankment of the stadium, and farther east by a projecting spur of Mount Cronius. To the south a long embankment protected it from the floods of the Alpheus. ”

“ The verse of Pindar, and the prose of Pausanias, have immortalized the names of Olympia and Elis. The latter has left us the minutest particulars of the economy of racing in his day. He describes the Olympian Hippodrome at Elis, and all its gorgeous display of splendid embellishments and ingenious machinery, with a care and prodigality of narrative that give assurance of the importance which attached to the matter delineated. ”

“ As it was, moreover, exceedingly difficult for the charioteer, in his unsteady two-wheeled car, to retain his standing attitude, many were thrown out, when the masterless horses plunged wildly about the Hippodrome, overturning others who had, perhaps, previously escaped every danger, and thought themselves sure of winning. ”

“ When Arithelli ran away she had gone straight to an old friend of her mother's, the widow of an ambassador in Paris. She had made up her mind to earn her own living. She would carve out for herself a career. Having decided that riding was her most saleable accomplishment, she had gone round to the riding school where the managers of the Hippodromes of Vienna, Buda-Pesth and Barcelona waited to select equestriennes. ”

“ The throng of spectators within the Hippodrome, who can be accommodated with seats around the arena, amounts to about 40,000, but this number falls far short of the whole mass of the populace eager to witness the exhibition. From early dawn men of all ages, even if maimed or crippled, assault the gates; and when the interior is filled to repletion 100 the excluded multitude betake themselves to every post of vantage in the vicinity which overlooks the Circus. ”

“ No skater can be considered as having learned the fundamentals of skating until he can do the school figures on both feet and in both directions. On the stage of the Hippodrome I frequently execute difficult spins and jumps on one foot, and then on the other foot, not for the purpose of prolonging the number but for the purpose of showing that I can do them equally well on either foot.
The start of the inside forward rocker is made like the start of the inside forward circle, but a strong inside edge is taken and the rotation of the body toward the circle is held back. ”

“ The Demes or factionaries of the Hippodrome occupy the benches at the end of the arena on each side adjacent to the Kathisma, [419] and are called the Veneti and Prasini, that is, the Blues and Greens. [420] These bodies, which are legally incorporated as guilds, [421] consist of the contending parties in the chariot races, and of such others as elect to enroll themselves as their followers, and to wear the colours of the respective sides. ”

“ The race, run upon the foot-race course, was between fixed boundaries, about a stadium apart. The distances run were from one to twenty stadia, or from one-eighth of a mile to two and a half miles, and sometimes more. This exercise was much followed. Horses were sometimes introduced, but then the hippodrome was the course. They ran without riders, as at the Roman carnival, or with chariots. Horse-racing was most popular in the Roman circus, whose ruins still show its massiveness and great size. ”

“ The most important things to have in mind as one skates the elementary figure are carriage, poise and deliberation. If the body is correctly poised a slight stroke will carry the skater in the right direction; no amount of straining or kicking will cause the skate to execute the right figures if the body over that skate is in the wrong position or wrong balance.
19My own skating as head of the ice ballet at the New York Hippodrome is fast and spectacular, I admit; it has to be so to be theatric, to catch the crowd, to startle the sensation seeker. ”

“ Everything connected with the entertainments admirably harmonizes with the good taste and respectability which give to all of Mr. Barnum’s enterprises a refinement and morality which commend them to the most scrupulous. The great Hippodrome Pageant, in which appear so many elephants, camels, dromedaries, horses and ponies, with men, women and children in costumes representing the Arabs and Bedouins of the desert, Roman knights, heralds, warriors, kings, princes and bashaws of the olden time, is truly interesting and grand, and is worth going a long distance to see. ”

“ This group is of such magnitude that it is not dwarfed by equestrian statues of Trajan and Hadrian, which are placed behind it. [246] Beneath the arch a flying group, representing the chariot of the Sun, drawn by four flame-coloured horses, is elevated upon two lofty pillars. [247]
The Hippodrome or Circus commences near the Milion, whence it stretches southwards towards the sea and terminates in the vicinity of the Sigma of Julian, [248] a crescentic portico verging on the harbour of that name. ”

“ She closed her eyes and sank inertly into the bed of soft and fragrant hay.
Her loose shirt of faded dusky red had fallen open at the throat, and showed the dead-white skin. Her feet, in riding boots of brown leather, were crossed beneath the dark drapery of her cloak. A leather strap served as a belt for the slender hips that were more like those of a boy than a woman. The horses fidgeted and stamped, and a mule dragged at its halter with laid-back ears and vicious sidelong glances. Sometimes a stirrup or a bit clashed against another with a musical ring and jingle. ”

“ The area of the stabling and harness-rooms at the Crystal Palace is no less than 27,456 square feet; and the dressing-rooms alone occupy 3,472 square feet. The elephants, horses, and camels require about 10,000 pounds of corn, 8,000 pounds of hay, 8,000 pounds of straw, 2,000 pounds of bran, and 3,000 pounds of potatoes per week; while the lions consume 400 pounds of beef per week.
Career of Mr. Myers.
Mr. J. W. Myers, the proprietor of the largest Hippodrome in the world, was born in New York in 1828. ”

“ Vide Boxing Hippeis, Helbig’s theory of the, 71 Hippias of Elis, 140; compiles Olympic register, 50 Hippios race, 220, 225, 270 Hippocrates of Cos, condemns athletic training, 128 Hippodrome, 451; absence of spina, 452; on Mt. Lycaeus, 452; at Olympia, 452; aphesis of, 453; Taraxippos, 455; equestrian programme, 457; length of races, 457; four-horse chariot, 458; two-horse chariot, 459; mule car, 460; jockeys, 460; apobates, 461 Hippomachus, trainer, 114 Hipposthenes of Sparta, wrestler, 57 Homer, the joy of sport, 11; Phaeacians and Achaeans, 12; sport spontaneous and aristocratic, 14, 25 ”

“ The rigid tension of her arms and hands as they lay on the coverlet told of her effort for composure, and he noticed for the first time that beautiful as the latter still were in shape and colour, one of the nails was broken, and the finger tips had spread and widened. When there had been meetings up in the hills at night she had always been left to see to the unharnessing of the horses and mules, and these disfigurements were the result of her struggles with saddle-girths and straps. ”

“ The hippo, roaring frightfully, pulled one way, Bartlett and the keepers pulled the other, and at last out came the tooth, and Hippo soon got well again.
No animal in this world is made without a purpose, and we always find that the structure of an animal is admirably adapted to its mode of life. I believe that one of the principal duties which the elephant and rhinoceros unconsciously perform, is to cut paths through the dense forests and jungles in which they live. The home of the hippopotamus is among the aquatic forests at the bottoms of large rivers such as the Upper Nile. ”

“ He was short and tubby; if he had been any shorter he would have been a human Humpty-Dumpty. He was so obviously enjoying himself and getting the best out of his gambols in the water that my heart went out to him. He was ducking and splashing about, rolling and wallowing in a way that reminded me of a hippopotamus I had once shot at—and missed—in happier if not more spacious days spent on the lower Nile. "The Hippo" I christened him, and then chuckled to myself at the singular appropriateness of the name.
Even his bathing dress seemed designed expressly to add to his rotundity. ”

“ The ox showed perfect indifference to the dead hippopotamus, but the horses were very unwilling to be harnessed. They submitted, however, to act as leaders, while the ox had the creature’s head, round which a rope was passed, close to its heels. Even then the animals found it no easy task to drag the huge body along over the rough ground.
“We shall not be long gone, Fred,” said my uncle, placing a rifle and a brace of pistols close to me. “I hope that no other hippopotamus or lion or leopard will pay you a visit while we are away. ”

“ There is in Africa a town called Hippo, situated not far from the sea-coast: it stands upon a navigable lake, communicating with an estuary in the form of a river, which alternately flows into the lake, or into the ocean, according to the ebb and flow of the tide. People of all ages amuse themselves here with fishing, sailing, or swimming; especially boys, whom love of play brings to the spot. With these it is a fine and manly achievement to be able to swim the farthest; and he that leaves the shore and his companions at the greatest distance gains the victory. ”

“ The Hippo is certainly not handsome. He has a huge barrel body submerged in fat mounted on short stumpy legs and a gigantic head with a mouth of such enormous size and capacity as to be positively terrifying. The huge, horse-like nose is covered with stiff bristles, the nostrils flare like fans, the eyes bulge, and the forehead is low and flat, with two foolish looking ears sticking up on either side of it.
The weight of this great beast averages from four thousand to eight thousand pounds. ”

“ FEED A HIPPOPOTAMUS AND HE’LL DO THE REST.
BON, THE BABY HIPPO, FOR WHOM A MAN GAVE HIS LIFE.
[39] Hurrying men “spotted” the cage where a red glow had shown for an instant, then faded—the hippopotamus den, evidently set afire by a spark from the engine. The train stopped. Workmen and performers rushed forward.
The den was dripping with water, evidently carried from the circus water-cart just ahead. A bucket lay beside the cage. But Mike the “hippo nurse” was not to be found. ”

“ A day with the howartis—A hippo's gallant fight—Abou Do leaves us—Three yards from a lion—Days of delight—A lion's furious rage—Astounding courage of a horse.
A LITTLE before sunrise I accompanied the howartis, or hippopotamus-hunters, for a day's sport. At length we arrived at a large pool in which were several sand-banks covered with rushes, and many rocky islands. Among these rocks was a herd of hippopotami, consisting of an old bull and several cows. ”

“ Caliph’s great delight was to take his master on his broad back and plunge into the swimming pool.
Our critical friends say that a Hippopotamus is not intelligent enough to be trained; that they are vicious, are not to be trusted, and have no memory. I give you these facts to disprove their theory and to give the Hippo a square deal. I feel that he is a much maligned beast. Many of them are loving, gentle and faithful, if handled by those who love and want to understand them. ”

“ Now letters went to the coast every week.... ‘My dear sir,’ he cried, ‘I write from dictation.’ I demanded rivets. There was a way—for an intelligent man. He changed his manner; became very cold, and suddenly began to talk about a hippopotamus; wondered whether sleeping on board the steamer (I stuck to my salvage night and day) I wasn’t disturbed. There was an old hippo that had the bad habit of getting out on the bank and roaming at night over the station grounds. The pilgrims used to turn out in a body and empty every rifle they could lay hands on at him. ”