The Western News

Man-Eater Kercheval Dug Grave With His Teeth.

There is the tale of Kercheval. A popular horse in the West thirty years or so ago, he had won the Burns Handicap, then one of California's most celebrated turf events. But perhaps success went to his head or it may have been that he was a bad one at heart. To this day men will argue about that, but the facts in the case are plain. Kercheval was a man-eater. At first he merely nibbled at his stable boys and since those free and easy horsemen of another era probably figured that there was no accounting for tastes -- nobody took that seriously. Soon not even the biggest helping of oats or the juiciest hay that money could buy could tempt him half as much as a nice bite out of a customer's arm. Even in an era for jaded appetites this was a trifle too much. They wanted to be fair, though, and so they gave him another chance. It was no use. Like many a man who lets temptation run away with him, Kercheval was determined to dig his grave with his teeth. So one afternoon after he had slashed off most of a lady's bonnet as well as two feet of hair and some scalp, they decided that there was nothing else to do. Kercheval was indicted and tried in due form by the sovereign state. There was much that could be said in his favor because, as has been mentioned, he was a horse with winning ways. So they deliberated -- those twelve good men and true -- and then returned with the verdict. Of course there were other alternatives open to them, even though they deemed him guilty beyond doubt. But the thing was new then and the West ever has been a section given over to novelties. Besides there may have been those who noted a wicked gleam in the eye of this horse who stood in the crowded court room with probably never a worry as to where his next meal was coming from. I do not know about that though. I only know the facts in the case and they are plain. While Kercheval looked longingly at the fat foreman the verdict was read. Kercheval had been sentenced to be electrocuted. And these are the tales that are told in the evening.