The Iola register., 1882-03-17
Some Long.Headed Horses.

Some Long. Headed Horses.
Ex-Alderman John j. Morris sat il
room II in the City Hall yesterday, witt
his chair by q window and his hat by hi
side. He was comfortably posed. TIL,
engine house at Chambers and Centr,
Streets was well in view, and perhaps
was the sight of it which prompted tn,
ex-Alderman to say:
Fire engine horses show amazing in
telligence sometimes, and do remarkably
things, but it seems to me that the per
Torrance of Chief Bates horse goe
ahead Of everything else on record.
What was it en
Last Sunday the Chief was away, ,
the ex-Alderman said. sin his absenc,
Assistant Chief Shay was driven dowr
town to the big cotton fire by Bates
driver behind the Chiefs horse. Late
they went up again to Fire Department
Headquarters, in Mercer Street, and
Shay and the driver jumped out and
went into the building, leaving the horse
and wagon outside. They had just
mounted the stairs when the big gong in
the hall struck 225. The horse heard il
and started ON a dead run down Mercer
Street, without any driver, at his regu-
lar gait. No. 225 is the alarm box on
the corner of Stanton and Attorney
Streets, way over on the east side. The
horse rushed down Mercer Street to
Canal, swinging out of the way for
trucks and carts exactly as though
steered by his driver, and galloped along
Canal eastward to the Bowery. He
turned up the Bowery toward Stanton
Street, and cleared the vehicles until, in
swerving one side, he collided with a
big freight car going up from the old
depot. and the little red wagon was
caught. The horse got free, however,
and went bounding along alone until he
had nearly reached Stanton Street, when
Battalion Chief Breslin came down the
Bowery and turned into Stanton Street.
The Chiefs horse followed Breslin to the
fire, where he was known and taken
care off,
Had the horse been in that direction
to fire that day?''
'.No; he had just returned from down
town. He didn't run away, and the only
= solution is that he knew the location of
No. 225."
"How long has the Chief had him?''
Two years. He has two horses. He
goes to all fires south of Fourteenth
Street, and all third alarms north, SO it
requires lots of work of the horses.
Horses learn their duties just as boy
learns his trade. Some years ago Thirty
three engine had horse named Buck
skin, on account of his color, that had to
be sold because he was soft-fOoted. You
see, their feet can't stand the terrific
work at the engine forever. and they're
sold at auction when they've outlived
their usefulness on the engine, though.
they're perfectly good for other pur-
poses. Well, Buckskin was bought by a
Seventh Avenue feed store man. He
found him a good horse and used him
well. One day he was on Seventh
Avenue with heavy load of feed, and
was justabove Twentieth Street when
there was an alarm of fire from Thirty
seventh Street. Twelve truck came
sweeping out of Twentieth Street and
went bowling up the Avenue with her
gong ringing. Buckskin was alone; he
had a big load, and he was out of prac-
tice; but he went to that fire in frst-class
style, jerking the load of feed up the
Avenue in a way that made people look.
After that they tied him when there was
any fire under way.
:. That reminds me of Engine Thirty's
old team. They were bought by truck
man. One day he was carting heavy
load of goods from North River steam
er, when he had occasion to pass the
teams old engine house in Spring Street.
When an engine team returns from a fire
the horses walk right up on the sidewalk.
are unhitched, and the engine is backed
in. When Thirty's old team came to
the house they walked right up. too. The
driver might as well have tried to jump
over house as to stop them. There they
stood, waiting to be unhitched, and they
they wouldn't move. Finally one of the
firemen told the driver to get up to his
seat and get a good hold of the reins.
Then he went in and struck the alarm.
The horses thought it was fire, and
away they went like shot, load and all
The truckman avoids Spring Street now.'
:. Very intelligent.
L SuOulU say SOs Ii IcIulutlS Illc VI
Thirty-three's tender horse Bill. You
know the horses have to be hitched up
many times . day without leaving the
house. Along the side of the engine is
q rope that the engineer rings the gong
with when going to fire. When they
have hitch up at Thirty three and don't
20 out, Bill waits till he's released from
the tender and then goes to the engine,
seizes the rope, and rings the gong like
a pirate. That's his idea of fun. He
learned the trick himself. They've some
good horses up in Thirty-three. They're
fed four times dsy-at 8, IL, and 8
O'clock. and exactly fifteen minutes be-
fore feeding time one of the engine
horses. Jim. begins to pound the iron
column at the head of his stall with his
off forefoot. That foot just falls there
with the force and regularity of trip
hammer until Jim gets his feed.
Talking about intelligent animals re-
minds me of Thirty-one's Thomas-cat,
which goes to every fire. In pleasant
weather he jumps on the coil of hose OF
the tender. and in chilly weather he
-crawis into the ashpan of the engine.
He never gets left, however cold it is"
''Are the cats as intelligent as the