The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1868-12-05
Horses and Roads in England.

Gin London, there are three general
classes of horses to be seen in the streets.
The omnibus and cab horses average in
weight from ten hundred and fifty to eleven
hundred pounds. The draft horses are i'm
manse creatures of them elephant
inc in proportions. They were originally
of Flemish blood and were so large as to
render 1t necessary to cross the breed with
the English horses. The result is some
what smaller, but in every way a brighter
and better horse. What original Flemish
horses could have been am at loss to
conjecture, for, really some of the London
horses would quite place the Herring s. %
mans ponies in the shade. The third c,asS
is made up Of a breed of ponies, y,o;nI,;nr =,
not more than five hundred and IF, Q
pounds. I have had no ,,,,o,+r,,;+v ~
learn what breed of hors. ss thew belong to-
but they are too NUM- ,rous and too mich
alike, not to be 81 =, distinct blood. They
nave none OF mat is known in America as
the pony build,'' but are simply small
Kolses neatly made and rs nimble as foxes.
wv, with all these horses the rule follows
that every pound Of muscle does just as
much work on the road as two pounds do
in America. The draft horse does as much
as the same horse does in America, and the
little horses, which are driven mainly in
x
cab horse to follow them with no load at
all.
In connection with these statements it
should be recorded that the speed of all We
hicles in London, in which passengers or
light loads are transported, is one which is
considered not entirely safe in Main Street,
Springfield, Mass, and one which, in some
streets Of Boston or New ork, would be
at once checked by the Police. A man
who sits in Hanson finds himself
driven at such an unprecedented pace
through crowded thoroughfares, that Yam
kee though he may be, will often wonder
whether he is going to bring up at last
without a broken neck. Imention this
matter of speed, particularly, because that
it shows that even more work is done by
one horse in London, than by two in New
York. He not only carries as large load,
but he travels with greater rapidity The
streets OF London present such a spectacle
OF headlong activity as no American city
can show, in consequence of the rapid pas
sage of all sorts of vehicles through the
streets. l might add to this statement,
touching the superior speed of the London
horses, word about the greater weight of
the carriages which they are obliged to
draw behind them. All carriages are built
moro heavily in Great Britain than in
America. They ae built to last, and
many of them seem to me to be superflously
heavy.
"The point which wish to impress upon
my American readers is simply this that
the English horse employed in the streets
of city, or on the roads of country,
does twice as much work as the American
horse similarly employed in America
This is the patent undeniable fact. No
man can fail to see it who has his eyes
about him. How does he do it? WHY
does he do it? These are the most import
ant questions to an American. Is the
English horse better than the American
Not at all. Is he over-worked? l have
seen no evidence that he is. have seen
but one lame horse in London The SIM
pie explanation is that the Englishman has
invested in perfect and permanent roads
what the American expends in perishable
horses that require to be fed. We are
nsing to-day, in the little town of Spring
field, just twice as many horses as would
be necessary to do its business if the roads
all over town were as good as Main street
is from Ferry to Central. We are SUPPORT
ing hundreds of horses to drag loads
through holes that ought to be filled, over
sand that should be hardened, through
mud that ought not to be permitted to
exist. We have the misery of bad roads
and actually or practically called upon to
bay a premium for them. 1t would be
demonstIably cheaper to have good roads
than poor ones. 1t is SO here A mile of
macadam is more easily supported than
Door horse,