Crack of the Whip

1902

It is Rapidly Becoming a Sound of the Past

"That crabbed old German, Schopenhauer, who said the crack of the whip was like a drink from the bad place, would have found but little to complain of if he had postponed his passing for a while," said a thoughtful man, "for the whip is getting to be an awfully scarce article in this age. I suppose the whip will finally pass out of existence altogether unless it is put to a new use. Of course, the small riding whip, the kind which jockeys use in urging the horses they ride, will be used as long as horseflesh is used, either in the realm of sport or in the more serious affairs of life. But the kind of whip the old German had in mind was of a larger, longer and older type, the kind the ox-driver uses even now in some of the more remote sections of the world. Whips of this kind generally swing easily on the end of a long handle.

"Frequently the handle is eight or ten feet long and is made of hickory or some wood that is supple enough to bend in the green state. The whip itself, which is generally a four and six-plat rawhide, is from ten to fifteen feet in length, with a seagrass cracker on the end, tightly twisted and knotted at spaces an inch apart. It is this article that makes the noise of which the old German pessimist complained, and a whip of this kind in the hand of an expert can be popped until it sounds like the crack of doom. In a quiet forest where timbermen carry on their work this noise is even fiercer than it is in the cities. Teamsters in cities still use the old whip to some extent, but it is gradually going out, and the sharp crack of the seagrass is rarely heard. Speaking of whips, I am reminded of the marvelous accuracy some men acquire in the use of whips. I suppose the Esquimau has reached a higher standard of proficiency in this respect than any other class of men. I have seen boys of this race pop a silver half-dime at a distance of twenty feet every time they swung a whip. They can simply hit anything they want to hit as long as it is within the reach of the whip. But here in the South I have witnessed some rather notable performances in this respect. Up in Arkansas I have seen ox-cart drivers crack off a snake's head at a distance of twenty feet, and they could do it whenever it pleased them to do it. But these old whips are going out, and I suppose when electricity comes into more general use the crack of the whip will be an unknown sound." — New Orleans Times-Democrat.