Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1881-08-10
FIRE HORSES,
now THEY ARL BOUGHT AND BROKEN IN,

now rHEY ARL BOUGHT AND BROKEN IN
"G'lang Wh,rr-r'rl Git up fnsl
him along Now, all togetherH lhest
aud snndry other observations, eSelama
tions, maledletiOns and general excite
ment attracted the attention OF repof
tor passing the house Of an engin,
company One Of the horses seemed
refractory, aud II required the united
efforts Of the company TO got him start
cd, Ile was q roam horse, In sound
condition, but q little light In tho legs and
nanOwin the chest for fire department
horse, When lao was finally started hf
went along very we'll, hut he had caused
delay Of several seconds, and tho fire
men looked ycSed, for tho company has
the reputation Of being prompt at the
tap Of tho bell, and never beaten at q
fire whore II N the first engine due, IN
view Of the reputation OF fire depart
ment horses for aptness, intelligence
aud training, the reporter stopped IA
inquire the cause Of such an unusual
display. o
dGot some now stock there ?" inquired
tho reporter
"wcll, he Is a little frosh," replied the
foreman,
Cant you break him inS"
'IIe'a more likely TO break me In,
Two trottcd him back and forward
from the stall for five weeks, but some
how ho won't take the finishing touch,
iIc has got 10 ho comes under the collar
well enough, hut We can't got him TO
start ~ hc ought to the instant he IL
hiichcd up, lie stops, turns his head
around, hositatos, holds back, and seems
to have got tho notion that ho has done
his whole duty when ho has got hitchcd
quickly"
as hc lazyS"
"Not bit. When ho gets started hc
is pretty good, but wo can't afford to
lose any time. You see, they keep q
book down TO headquarters, whore they
record the time We get to fire, tho
timo We got the water started, and all
that sort Of thing, We can't afford to
lose second. You should have seen
Jack, the horse We lost on Decoration
Day. We had collision with another
engine, and pole went foot into poor
jacks body. We couldn't save him.
Jack knew as much rs man, You see,
these horses get to bo one Of us. They
know what we say, and they are petted
and praised. There's jim, our of horse,
over there, He's cunning one. We've
have had him two years, and wouldn't
lose him for the world. Shake hands
with the gentleman, jim. That's right.
DO you like the gentleman, jim? Nod
your head. That's right. Kiss the gen.
tleman, jim. That's a great horse, and
anybody that strikes him strikes me"
"Did you find this new horse more
than usually difficult to train?"
"Well, rather You see, the trouble
was, he was an of horse, ard he did not
like to work on the nigh side. We
found that out the first day He has
been broken and trained to work on the
OH side"
"Why dib you not let the new horse
work on the off side and train the old
one to the nigh side ?'
ave tried that once, and only once.
Jim ran out to the pole, found he was
wrong rushed back round the engine,
and up the other side to his old
place, and pushed the new horse away.
We couldn't fool him."
"Will you have to keep this new
horse, now that you have found him
intractable?'
"Oh, no; he don't belong to the
department. We have thirty days to
try every horse, and if we find we can't
use one the department doesnot buy him.
No foreman is obliged to take horse
unless he finds him suitable. This one
will be taken away in few days and
another put in his place until we are
suited. It's pity for he seemed likely
to be good horse for lis. But that's
the way it goes. Sometimes We get
horse for $500 that is worth $4,000 to
the city,"
"Do you find they vary in adapta-
bility?'
"Just as much as men. Sometimes
they learn the work as easily and give
out in pulling"
There are about 240 horses in the fire
Some of them have been
in the service since 1865, and are sound
yet. There is horse hospital for the
in Chrystie street. There
are generally about dozen horses on
the sick list Young horses are apt to
get the distemper This is cured in a
week. Sometimes they get sprained
with slipping on the pavements or going
to fires over icy streets. The foreman
of the hospital said "There's horse
that a doctor wanted to kill short time
ago. He is all right now. There's one
that came here on three legs one was
sprained a week ago. He is nearly
right. You see they run these horses
for all they are worth, because each
foreman wants to get to the fire first.
It's hard ON the horses and men, too.
Most of the horses sent here get well
after treatment and rest"
"If one of team dies, do the compan-
les have to use green horses Immediate
W"
"No there are extra horses to each
battalion. If horse loses shoe, or
picks up nail, or gets lame, or any
sickness or accident happens to disable
lim, there is generally one of the bat
alion horses ready to take his place"
A man named Gale is the buyer of
he horses for the fire department. He
,ets $500 for each horse, and no horse
S bought until after thirty days trial
nd acceptance by the foreman.-N. Y.
Paper.