The Kalem Company has for some time past issued a number of pictures, dealing with incidents in the Civil War. These pictures were all taken in the South, often on or near the very theater of war. They give credit to the bravery and the indomitable spirit of the South and for that reason are welcome North and South, more welcome even in the North, were such a thing possible, for the gallantry of the Southern armies is justly looked upon as a national glory, to be shared in by all sections. In this way the Kalem pictures have a splendid educational value, as they help the newer generations forget the bitterness and only remember the common glories of that heroic epoch. The present picture, while its simple story is based on a historic incident, derives its chief merit from the extraordinary horsemanship of its principal character. To a man with red blood, and no less to a woman, there is something indescribably charming in clever horsemanship. I do not speak of the horsemanship of the circus or the exhibition of the trick rider, which are good enough in their way, but of that skilled and graceful handling of a horse out in the open on a field of battle or over hedge and hurdle following the hounds, or in a thrilling pursuit. Of the latter class of horsemanship this picture gives the finest example I have seen, and I have seen many very clever ones in some of the Essanay and Selig pictures. The "Special Messenger" before the pursuit handles his mount with a gentle mastery, most pleasant to look at. It is only when he is pursued, however, that he shows how thorough that mastery is and how it can afford to scoff at any danger. He sees his pursuers through a spy-glass and at once he bends into a position of safety, crouching over the horse's flanks, horse and rider seeming like one. The pursuers cut off his escape over a bridge, but gathering himself in a swift second for a supreme effort the rider plunges from a height of twenty-five feet into the rushing river below and, amid a veritable hail of bullets, steers his horse through the current and gains the shore. Apparently none the worse for his hardy feat, he faces pursuit once more, for the enraged Federal cavalrymen have ridden around the bridge and are gaining on him. As resourceful as he is daring, the rider grasps the branch of a tree and hides amid the foliage of the twigs, thus successfully eluding his pursuers. He reaches his own home not far away and is there hidden by the brave wife and the aged servant in an old manger that had been in disuse for some time. The wife with rare presence of mind fills the crib with hay and brings a horse to feed on it. When the pursuers come they overlook the very unusual hiding-place and the daring soldier, who had been badly wounded in the pursuit, is safe at last. The adventure of the husband ended, that of the wife now begins. The brave little woman sets out to deliver the message and is captured. How she succeeds in deceiving the Federal officers is best told in the story, but it is an exceedingly clever device, which keeps the spectator in suspense to the last moment. - The Moving Picture World, August 12, 1911