Summary: I. Newsreel item on ostrich racing in San Francisco, summer 1912.
II. Newsreel item on lifeboatmen testing an "unsinkable" lifeboat on the Hudson River, New York, summer 1912.
Description: A group of ostriches assembles with their trainers at a racetrack. One of the birds is fitted with a trotting harness, and then races "one mile in 2 minutes 10 seconds". It is taken out of the harness after the race.
The lifeboat crew demonstrates that the rowing boat can be capsized and, using a special recovery drill, righted almost at once. They row up the river with the wharfs of New York behind them. A final portrait shot of their coxswain.
Personalities, Units and Organisations: United States Life Boat Service (regiment/service)
Keywords: recreation, United States civilian - sport: ostrich race (object name)
animals, birds: ostrich (object name)
ships, United States civilian - assistance: lifeboat (object name)
San Francisco, California, United States of America (geography)
New York, New York, United States of America (geography)
Hudson River, United States of America (geography)
Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W
Sound format: Silent
Soundtrack language: None
Title language: English
Subtitle language: English
Technical Details: Format: 35mm
Number of items/reels/tapes: 1
Footage: 119 ft; Running time: 2 mins
