West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-02-06
HUNDREDS OF HORSES.
How They Are Pod and Housed nnd
Carcr Tor Indcr Ono NnnI

III. thcrc," shouted grutl voice.
A reporter moved to one side nud a
team of horses were driven into the
main depot of the Third Avenue sur
face Railroad Company. "A team
comes in and goes out every two min
utcs,' said John f. Waller. the com.
pany's foreman
"On each day in tho yoac?" qucricd
the reporter
mo. was the answer. "hut In Sc1-
sons like this. When we are at our busj-
est a team goes out and como, i'm every
thirty seconds
Tho company owns about ,wcntv-onc
hundred "hcUd of cattle To use tho
technical term but four hundred of
them are required for its other stables.
MIR Waller has made study of the
horse and is able TO tell bv glanc'ng ut
nm animal whether or not IL Is i'm condi-
ton. ii laughed. said he. "whcn nm
old horse doctor told me years ago that
he could tell the condition of horse
10y looking ut him | have since dis.
covered that the old Vet know wha,
he was talking about II YOU spend
your days and often your nights. for
years, among horses and keep vom.
eyes half open You cant help under
standing tlcm. They have much i'm
common with the human family. The
OLD horses, for instance, never take
kindly at first 20 a new horse and will
kick at him when they get = chance.
Az soon rs the stranger begins TO feel
at home the kicking stops, because he
has pluckcd up spirit enough to kick
back. They often light over thor feed
The horse lir,t served is looked unon
with feelings of envy by those thnt
have TO wait II little longer They
seldom kick any of the mon, except if a
man happens to pass close TO their heels
with box of feed. Then they some.
times attempt TO kick There is one
man i'm tho stable who had his heal al
most kicked oil last year Two horse,
were lighting. One made a terrible kick
with his hind feet just rs the man wa,
passing One of the feet struck h m in
the face and dashed him up against "A
stall No, the quccrrst part Of the busi-
ness was that he didn't die. Halo.
Mike he cried, raising his voice.
Mike came forward His fl -
showed scar reaching from above his
T. a
bone. 1t formed mn indeiblc beaut y
mark but Mike" cared nothing foe
this as every body had conso'cd HIM M
the time the accident occurred with tho
Information that his recovery was out
Of the question
The stable occupies three stories OF
the hugo building, which covers n
square. The descent to tic floor below
the grade of the street is as steep as the
ascent to the floor above the ground,
but the horses manage TO make the tripI
without accident Each horse, OF
rather each pair OF hor cs. for every
horse has maze, is expected 10 work
three hours per day. A team which
starts from Harlem makes one round
trip, daily. II au accident happens to
"a horse while on duty the driver in
forms The foreman Of it, with the attend.
ant circumstances. Ii driver fail. to
do this and the negligence is discovered,
the co onpany has no farther use for him.
The best possible care is taken OF tho
stock for Obvious reasons.
Car horses are injured in n variety OF
ways They run the greatest risk.
during the hottest part Of Tia, summer
aud the cOldest OF winter These two
periods aggregate about four and half
months. The month OF September wa.
the hardest month Of the year for car
horses. An intensely warm term came
ON the heels OF u cool period and the re-
suit was the pro-tratiOn OF a largc num-
bcr OF car horses iu this c.;y as well as
ia many other parts Of the country.
Leaving intensely hot and cold weather
out OF the question. the most pcrilOus
season for The car horse is dry, windy
weather The cObblr stone, over which
he travels are thcn rs smooth as pol
ishcd glass. Not % particle OF any
foreign substance can get % foOthold on
them and the ahaply--hod hoof viii
slip from them with the sam case as
the human foot VIII slide on thc smooth
side Of banana skin Some OF the
TOtdJcds offer even more than the usuu
faciiItic, for accidents Of this nature.
They are constructed on the shape Of n
watershed. ,lOping from the center 10
the tracks On these the car horse has
% hard time indeed i'm wntry and windy
weather. Comparatively few acc Il n's
happen in wet weather Unless they
happen To- break a limb, only a small
percentage Of horses which slip and fall
su'ler permanent injury With rest and
care they generally recover from sprain3
and strains. Out Of seventeen hundred
horses the Third Avenue Company
loses but one % week, according to its
foreman The latter has nncty-three
ho,tlcr- under bi, eye, besides % large
number OF mon employed iu other
capacities Each hOsllcr g. expected to
groom twenty horses per day. and 10
feed and bed them
The stables are as clean asit f. po.si-
bIo 10 keep them The horses are i'm
keeping with their surroundings
Horses are purchased at all seasons. tut
tIc best ro bought in tine fall The
seller - willing tO take much less at
The beg uning than COO the end Of winter.
The company has 70 standing price VI
sljj. Some splendid spec men. of
horse flesh have been bought for this
figure. Gray Is the color preferred
Horses Of this color are said 10 suffer
less from the heat than blacks and BAYS.
From eight ~ ten horses are used in IS
snow wccper and one team possessed
by The company attract much attention
a- they rattle through the avenue. Tho
ten grars whlrl the huge sweeper along
at IF it wcrc "a lightroad wagon Sever
al Oi these horses stand seventeen hands
high Every new purchase is subject to
au attack of pinkcyc This i5 Ml.b-
uIcd t0 change of climate and SURE
round.ngs Most OF thc horse como
from tue West and they are found to-
require from % week to two weeks to-