Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1878-01-10
Fourteen's Fiery Horses.

Turn Out in Six Seconds-Beat
ing the Best Time Ever Made b,
Two-Sixtieths of NTinute-Al
Because the Steeds have beer
Trained to it-A Test.
New York Sun.
Around a red-hot stove in {
saloon in Twenty-fourth street
near Third avenue, four or five
men sat a few days ago talking
AS is the custom in that re-
sort of horses. The conycrsa-
tion turned upon some of the
trick animals that had been ex-
hibited in Gilmore's Garden.
Suddenly a puffy-faced man
who had not said much, took
off his velvet jockey cap and
slapped it upon his knee, and
said, with the air Of one who
knows what he is talking a.
bout:
"While you are talking about
truckers you want to just re-
member that the best trained
three in this city, or out of it,
are chewing hay at this minute
in Fourteen's Engine-house-
unless they are at a fire now,"
and the puffy-faced man put
his cap back upon his head and
looked around as if ready to
answer questions.
"What are they doing there,
DAMP" asked a thin man, who
now and then pulled his finger
joints so that they snapped like
a whip-crack.
"Doing? why, they're the
team"
Somebody was saying that
they could beat six seconds"
said the man behind the bar, as
he mopped the shiny wood with
a towel.
"They can. That's the truth.
Pve seen 'em do it, and that puts
'em away ahead of any team in
the country" said the puffy
faced man. ''They work like a
clock. They don't take a step
too many, and they jump exact
ly into their places.
YES" continued the first,
otis just got around what they
can do. At first a good many
of the team wouldn't believe it.
But they do now. Captain Nc
Cabe has all he can do, when he
isn't busy, showing 'em off. And
it's gone through the country a.
mong the firemen that there isa
team in New York that can beat
six seconds"
The San reporter crossed o.
yer to East Eighteenth street
and Fifth avenue, and there saw
several men standing in front
of No. IA Engine. Captain
McCabe, the foreman, had just
gone in, and it was believed that
he would give his famous team
a little practice, and fer this the
throng waited. But there were
no signs of it as the reporter en-
tered. Away back, fifty feet
from the street, three horses
stood in their stalls, eating hay.
A fireman was singing the
chorus of the "Mulligan Guard"
and, as he began 'Then it's
march, march, march," he kept
time with the pitchfork that he
was using to spread The hay a.
bout evenly. Another fireman
was tilted back in chair, read
ing a newspaper by very dim
light. Captain McCabe sat in
the little space that was fenced
off, looking over his record
book.
"Captain," said the reporter,
"are you going TO practice this
famous team Of yours now"
"Well, no, / didn't expect to
just yet: but I'll willingly do it
for the Saaa."
"Can they really beat six sec
onds, Captain?"
II don't know about their
beating it. They can do it in
six seconds easily. You can
keep time and sce," and the
Captain took a little clock from
a shelf and handed it to the re-
porter.
"Now," seizing,a hammer, II
will strike the gong, and then
you can count the seconds UNI
til you hear the driver say
Ready"
"But, Captain, where is the
driver?'
"Oh, he's upstairs playing
billiards with the men,"
'.Then you don't need to warn
them?"
"Why, no. The same signal
answers for the horses and the
men,"
The reporter heard the click
of billiard balls up stairs, and