Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1872-12-05

death. We have come to think OF
him as machine, on whose endur.
ancs We could calculate 40 on that Of
an engine. and tor whose mortality
we could make ample allowance IN
our business under the head OF "wear
and tear" We really ought, there
tore, to be thankful that the present
epidemic has brought us face to face
with th~ startling tact that the sud
den loss of horse lsbor would totally
disorganixe our industry and our
commerce, and would plunge social
lite into disorder, would threaten
the lives of hundreds of thousands OF
human beings, especially if it occur
red in Winter, and might expose our
great cities 10 destruction by fire
In short, We ars now, for tho first
time, torcibly reminded that plague
might break out among horses, as
plaques have broken out among men,
whic!. would sweep them away by
the hundred or thousand every day.
snd which would momentarily battle
science.
What We would now bring to the
notice of the public is that in our
large cities horses are exposed. with
out let or hinirance on the part OF
sanitary authorizes, to just those
conditions from which the great pes.
tllsnccs among human beings have
sprung and do still occasionally
spring. We take precautions In the
public interest against the over
crowding, filth and absence OF vcnti.
lation in tenement houses; but we
take no precautions asainst the over
crowdlng, filth and want Of light and
ventilation OF city stables, and yet
every one OF the large stables may
fairly and properly be called hot
bed Of horse disease.
Light is as necessary TO a horses
health as to that Of man, and yet
nearly all our horses live, excepting
during their few hours OF work out
Of doors, often in the case OF the city
horse not over two or three. almost
i'm complete darkness. In the best
and moat commodious city stables
they have nothing more than twi-
light. Moreover, the lungs Of the
horse are just like those of man.
only larger; their functions arc pre-.
cisely the same; the contact Of oxy
gen with his blood 10 just AZ neces-
sary for the preservation OF his health
and strength; nevertheless, nearly all
OF our stables are built and regulate |
apparently on the theory that the
horse does not need fresh AIR at all.
The windows are small, ani are eth
er not made to open, or are never
opened. There are, in the case of
horses kept for pleasure, and Of
horses kept in the country, mitiga-
tons Of their lot which we need not
point ont; but in the city the work
ing horse is treated worse than q
stcall engine or sewing machine
lie is almost invariably, if his owner
bs poor, shut up during sixteen
hours out of the twenty tour IN a
small, noisome den, every plank and
beam in which is impregnatsd with
foul sxhalations and which probably
stands in fetid alley, or behind a
filthy yard. II he belongs to one Of
tho great car companies, or omni-
bus companies, or livery stable keep
ers, he is either lmmursd in a celler
several feet below the ground, into
which the ligh. and air cannot come,
aud which is probably damp, or els
kept in large rooms, with low col
ings and small windows, and ii
which he is packed together with
several hundred Of his fellows, ,almoso
as closely ~ they can stand together
up to his knees in half-rottcn straw
and with ferment,ng manure al
around him. The result 10 that, a,
anyon may ascertain for himself, ths
stencil OF these places when thd
doors arc opened in the morning il
almost insupportsble; and it is a!
certain as anything can BE- that til.
constitution OF horse which passea
many nights in them rapidly gives
way and he dies; but he is set dowr'
IN the books A. having been sworn
OUT by hard work. The fact is, ht
dies OF foul air and darkness and
lirt-dies, in short. for want OF ordi
nary conditions OF hsalthtul animal
lite. II, instead Of dying in this way
s;ngly, horses should now any day
take it into their heads to fall sick by
tho hundred. and die OF an equine
"blsck death,'it would serve us right
We could not justly complain OF it.
The condition Of the horse among
us II q disgrace to our civilization
The manner In which We permit him
to be used by our companies for To-
cal transportation, the pavements
with which we supply him to do his
| work upon, and the dsns in which We
allow him to be lodged, arc worthy
OF the dark ages. Our indifference
to these thingsls 10 like tho indifference
shown about the physical condition
of workingmen; the result may not
be ono which will rouse our sympa
thy or our tears, ~ the great human
pcstilencss once did, but it may be
one from which our manufactures,
aud commerce, and social lite would
suffer terribly. We tolerate in this
city about dozen great horse esyss
tula, every one OF which not only dis
graccs AS as civilized community
but as community which makes a
pretsnse of knowing something o.
sanitary science; and the only excuse
we offer for it is that the victims o.
those places are merely "privats
property" We now see that they
are not simply private property
they are wheels in our great socia
machine. the stoppage OF winch mean