The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1885-10-24
HORSE AND DRIVER.
The Animals Used in London For
Heavy Burdens.
Kindness sthe watchword In All Estab-
llshmenls -Creature' of Habit
Blinders and Checl-Roins
Looked Upon as Relic
of Barbarism,

Foreigners are always struck with the
huge ''drays" or brewers wagons, and
the enormous size of the horses which
draw them, and of the men who are in
charge of them; and even the London
ers themselves can not but admire the
wonderful intelligence and docility of
the horses, and the kindly bearing of
the men.
The drivers carry the usual wagon
er's whip, but bear it as monarch
bears his sccptre, as an emblem, and
not an instrument of command. No
one ever saw drayman beat his horse,
Oh even drag at its bride. Indeed, they
seldom touch the rein5, but walk by
the side of the animal, and convey
their instructions by the voice alone.
The conduct of the horses when low
ering casks of beer into the publ cans
cellars is equally admirable
must here explain that in England,
a very large amount of beer is con-
sumgd, spirit-drinkers being the excep-
ton, and not the rule. 1t is cheap, and
as an article of traffic requires the work
of strong horses.
In order to meet the enormous de-
mand for beer, which can notbe stored
in large quantities lest it should turn
sour, the supply must be constantly
renewed.
The trap-door of the cellar being
raised, sort of ladder is passed into
the cellar so as to form an inclined
plane up and down which the barrels
are rolled. The barrel having been re-
moved from the dray by the men, is
encircled with rope; one end of it is
attached to horse. When all is
ready, signal is given, and the horse
walks slowly forward so as to allow
the cask to glide down the ladder
As soon as he feels the cask touch
the ground, the horse advances few
steps so as to slacken the rope,
and waits until it is attached to an
empty barrel. He then walks away,
so as to pull the barrel out of the eel
lar, and soon learns the exact distance
which he has to traverse before the
barrel is landed. When he comes to 8
house which he does not know, the
horse continually looks around to SEE
if the barrel is in sight, but in a very
short time he makes himself acquaint
ed with the precise distance which h
needs to traverse.
During the whole OF these operations
the men never touch the horses, ant
very seldom are obliged to even speal
to them
A curious example of guidance b.
the voice occurred during the funera
of the late Duke of Wellington. TIL
enormous bronze car in which tn
coffin rested was so heavy that the al
tillery horses were unable to draw il
and brewers horses were substituted
When the start ought to have take
place, the horses declined to move
They did not understand military laI
guage, while the whip, to which the
were unused only frightened then
At last some one suggested that dra.
man should be Summoned. 1t W;
done, and at the first sound of I'll
familiar vo ce the horses started 0
with their load.
Beng des'rous of seeing how Il
drag-horse behaved at home. / ask
certan keepers of large number
d. ay-horses to allow me to inspe
their stables. They gave me leave
do so Whenever | liked. and accordin
ly / started off in company with n
lamented fl end. the late A. H. Astle
so well known for the services viii
he has rendered to the horse. We
spected the place thoroughly, a
were much impressed with what
saw.
One of the first sights which stru
MS was that several of the horses we
walking freely about the yard, althou