The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-06-22

nal stage-hOrse, traveller over an eter-
nal tOw-path, or tied to an eternal post
in an eternal winter, or smitten with
| eternal epizOoty. 1t seems outrageous
| that the dumb creatures which first had
| possession of this world should be so
| maltreated by the human race which
| came afterward; the first cOmers abused
by the last comers, the fish and the fowl
created on the fifth day, and the horses
! and cattle created on the morning of
the sixth day, assaulted by the human
| race, which was started on the evening
| of the sixth day. Let it be understood
that he who Over-drives horse, or feeds
1t when heated, or hammers a nail into
the quick of his foot, or shoes him so
that his fetlOcks are red with blood, or
cruelty spurs him for the sake of seeing
him prance, or unnecessarily clutches
his tongue in twisted bit, or checks
his head so high that every step is tor
ture, or puts collar ON his raw neck, or
clips his hair till he has no defense
against the cold, or abbreYiates his
natural defense against insectile annoy
ance, is brute himself, and ought to be
compelled to get out and pull and let his
horse ride.
But not only do we owe kindness to
this creature of God, go further and say
to develop the strength and beauty of
blllO dn1llldl lUO CdulOI Db uOllb.
His anatomy and aptitudes need to be
studied. l am glad that books have been
written pointing out his uses, his best
management, his capacities and the cure
of his ailments. 1t would be a shame
in any age of the world when botany is
turning the thin wild flower into a gOr-
geOus rose, and pOmOlOgy is transform
ing the sOured and gnarled fruit of the
ancients into the very poetry of grape
nd MI md
and the snarling cur of the Orient is
becoming the great mastiff, and the
runt of the barn-yard is becoming the
Alderney and the Devonshire and the
shOrt-hOrned Durham, that at such a
time the horse, which is grander than
all, should get no advantages of higher
civilizatiOn.an Christianity! Gro0med
to the last point of soft brilliance and
his flowing name billow of beauty, and
his neck arched in its utmost rhythm of
curve, let him be harnessed with grace
full trappings and driven on and up to
the furtherest excellence, and then fed
from luxuriant oats bin, and blanketed
in most comfortable stall. So faithful
and lOng-enduring a servant of the hui
man race deserves all kindness, all care,
all reward, all succulent forage and safe
litter and paradisaical pasture-feld.
Those large farms in Kentucky and here
and there in the North, entirely devoted
to the raising of the horse in his perfec-
tiOn or fullness of strength, are we'll.
There is no more virtue in driving slow
than in driving fast any more than
freight train that runs ten miles an hour
is better than an express train that runs
fifty.
By sort of delusion many have sup
posed that anything is good and Chris
tian in proportion as it Is slow and dull.
They seem to think that there is some
thing piOusly humble in a spawned,
gaiied, glandered, stTing-halted, blind
staggered jade. They prefer a Rosin-
ante to Bucephalus. At the rate at
which many drive it would have taken
weeks to get into heaven. We want
swifter horses, swifter men, swifter en-
terprise. The Church of God needs to
get off this ''jOg trOt." Quick lightnings,
quick clouds, quick tempests, quick
streams, why not quick horses? In time
of war the cavalry service generally
makes the most execution, As it is
possible that all the battles of the world
are not yet passed, our Christian patriot
ism must be interested in equinal VelOc-
ity. We could as well afford to have in
our arsenals poorer guns and in our navy
yards clumsier vessels than other ma
tiOns as to have under our saddles and be-
fore our parks of artillery slower horses.
Ever since, at the battle of Granicus,
the Persian horses drove the Macedonian
infantry into the river, down to the
horses which Philip Sheridan and Stone
wall SacksOn rode into battle, this arm
of military service has been recognized.
Hamilcar, and Hannibal, and GustaVus
AdOlphus, and Marshal Ney were cavalry
men. With this arm of the service
Charles Martel at POictiers beat back
the Arab invasion. At Came the Car
thagen1an cavalry, with a loss of six
hundred, scattered the Romans, with
loss of seventy thousand, and the Span
lsh cavalry conquered the Moorish
hordes. The way to keep peace is to be
ready for war: An indispensable part
with such equipment is plenty of light
footed charges. So you see our patriot
ism, as we'll as justice to the horse, de-
mands his complete development of
strength and speed.
But what shall say of the effort now
being made on large scale to make him
the instrument of evil? make no in
discriminate assault upon the turf. /
am in favOr.Of the turf if it be conducted
on right principles and no betting.
There can be no more harm in Offering
prize for the swiftest racer than there
is harm in giving to the farmer prize
at the Agricultural Fair for the best
wheat, or to the fruit grower prize for
the largest pear, or to the machinist a
prize for the best corn thresher, or in
the school volume of Shakspere to the
best reader, or in the household lump
of sugar to the best behaved yOungster.
Rewards, by all means. They are Gods
way of developing man. There are re-
wards for all we'll doing. Why not re-
wards for the strongest or most grace
full or swiftest animal, when only in
that way can the full beauty and power
and value of the horse be called out?
One thousand dollars is not too much,
nor 5000, nor $4,000, for such results.
But the evil begins when the betting
begins. This is gambling OF the at
tempt to get that for which you get no
equivalent, and gambling, whether on
small scale or large scale, ought to be
denounced of all good people as it will
be accursed of God. Whether you made
$1,000 by betting or fifty cents, better
get rid of the money. Hunt up some
body who lost that amount and give it to
him; and if that be impossible, make a
present of it to some great refOrmatory
institution; or, if you do not want to do
that, some day pitch it into the East
River. Get rid of that wager sOma wav