New-York daily tribune., 1863-10-24
Army Horses-uow they are Beught-Ths
Inspection.

the closed yard where the business Is conducted and
learn now the thing Is done. The location is in
IweniyFsh'' street, near Eighth ayenue The horses
ID squads oi three to sixas many one boy cas-
rdS and cad-and enter by gate which is closed and
locked as soon the horses are throuyh q'he men
those only who have business enter throus, an olce
The yard has OF about two city loss clear Of
buildings with smooth earth floor for excrcise Thu
horses that enter time, say fifty in number are
tied to rail upon side and brought forward one at
time to the inspector. under small shed. where he
examines the mouths, eyes, and legs minutey. II he
finds no blemishes he orders the horse brdlcd and
boy mounts and puts him through bis PAGES including
leapng bar he goes down the yard at gallop. On
course some of the horses are exceedingly awkward md
may be rejected for no other reason Perhaps the poor
brute would show well in wagon; but never having
been ridden, and having been taught to lcapa
fence he makes poor show. Some horses are alarmed
at the novel situation, and cannot well act er part be-
fore such assembly. Upon side is long line OF
horses to be nspccted upon the other are hundred or
two which have already passed been branded and arc
having the shoes taken off the hind feet partoy
to going on ship board Some horses very much
alarmed when the hot iron is applied to mark u ..
upon their flank The owner Of the horse is generally
present but there is no charering in ordinary horse
trades The animal Is ordered up TO the stand and
although the owner may know positively thet he Is tho
best horse in the lot he hears the percmpory ordcf
Lead him off" without offering rcmonstrance Per-
hans after passing first examination, he may shy or
stumble or do something that he never did before aad
perhaps never would again received into the service
Of the country; but the incxorablc Don't want him
has closed tie door against his vautiDg ambition ana
doomed him to the p.owfcld instead Of the battle hcid
We have seen horses rejected for wind gall not big
ger than finger or for sp,nt that never would be
fcl, again for refusing to leap the bar or fof
some cause that could not In ease strong
ynded horse that had been repeatedly on the course a.
a racer was offered and rejected because he IL "s
whistler" In several instances thought the rejected
li,t better than those accepted For instance; red
tape" fixes The hight Of ca...ry horse at Is hands
We have seen spindle slsnked animal that was pto
standard accepted and tie next rejected because an
inch or two too low yet tried the scales the reject
cd on. would make the other "lcl the beam" by 100
p,unds and ia ser, ice he would make linn "kick tho
/ bue ket.'
The harlies, race Of horses in this market are tho
"Canucls" These rejected because too low For
al light work, with hard fare and exposure. strong
Canadian horse is worth more than many one that
would bring the price Of half dozen Of the other sort
THE CONTRACT sYsTEM-OBJEcTIoNs To IT.
At Srst al the horses bought on contsac'. whcA
specified what they to be, and. when Delivered.
they were examined Ia see If all were up 20 contract
II found 20 be So the inspector certified the faet ana
tn Quartegmaster paid or gave certificate ios tho
amount This did not work well Contractors were
ooniaually failing, and new ones advertised oF. wheh
bids were put in that neger intended TO d. ihed
They we're De sold out TO contractor. who aitr
n.v.n t l * mol found ;i,. he cord 70; isGnisl,
thc h ,Ac price bid. unless h' could Ds abe the IN
I spe,tor. or in some WY chca, tlo Government Ger
10 b,,fi
horses. II tie contractor honest Lc hot likely
70 make a fortune and if not. Government. in spite OF
rcd tape was pretty likely to be cheated. We believe
the whole system wrong, except r il exists now
in regard to horses That is, there has be tacit
agreement with Of the large horse dealers in this
market that Government would purchase OF them all Tie
horses that they could procure from the country OF GER
tain descriptions at fixed price. which has ranged
from sl07. two years ago. to sl3o now. All the largo
sablekeepcrs in Twenty fourth street, and many deal
ers from the country, have participated in this trade
Probably joel Holcob has furnished horses than
any other in the country. on his own account be-
side great many thet he has put in for others, only pay
ing iog such as passed inspection.
TIE SYSTEM OF INSPECTION
In 10 the tine Of the burning Of Post Hichols's
stable in Twenty fourth street the horses were IN
spcctcd there by Capt. Thomas j. Barr ho notwith'
standing he had the name Of being pretty rigid, gave
general satisfaction to the dealers because they
learned that all sound horses OF suitable size and tocr
ably uig action would be accepted, and none that were
unsourd or any way evidently unfit for service would
be received So too none rejected from caprice.
or ,hout some reason evident to the owner ~ it
was 70 the inspector.
Under this excellent system Government had no
trouble in getting All the horse men were act
l.. ..fta fnrpf- -hnI
500 to l0C0 at months notice the number rejected
bearing small proportion 10 the number received
that buyers were not discouraged but for small profit
in prospective were willing take all the risk which
really belonged TO Government. In this way. Mr. iol-
comb alone has sometimes had three hundred horses
hand waiting order from the Qnartermaster to Sc
cct and pay for just what he wanted Other dealers
have had as many more and parties from tie country
were constantly arriving and putting up horses in tho
city stables ut an expense Of IS day each. wait
INK for an order to offer them for inspection.
! At pIosent the whole system is changed. During
the rebuilding Of the turned stables, the place of in.
spcction was moved 10 Twenty eighth street. which WAS
a great improvement. Lately the inspection has been
done by Capt. McKee, young cavalry officer, who APP
pears be good Judge of horse. and knows exactly
what "ihe regulations" Of the irregular service re-
oure but If be knows how TO get horses fast the
exrcncies Of Government require. then We are mis-
taken At least, hear dealers swear equal 10 our
army in Flanders" that they viii not buy horses Tor
Government TO have onethird accepted and t"ohlrds
rejected which is about the rate Of the present system
WHAT KIND OF HORSES ARE WANTED
TIA. standard of the cred tape order of things ap
,,ors 70 be a, adopted very long time ago. by tho
cavalry scryicc.' when but few horses were wanted
and when buyers could "pck and choose" Hence the
I Imam ,,u