Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-09-11
A "Hoss HOSPITALS
. Reporters visit to a Curious fs.oh.
+" Mshment.

SbSSS tSSEIUkA- F-T+
reporter's visit to a Curiou. pe.e,n
{" llshment.
..Hoss hospital? Certainly Wv
mt? Hoses Git sick, don't thew. same
IS men?' ~ ~
Having intrenched himself in thi,
;nprcgnable position the speaker, who
was a Blue Island Avenue car driver.
naused to fleck an adventurous blue
bottle fly from the flank of his off
horse. In a moment of volubility he
had been betrayed INTO the statement
to one Of his passengers that there was
m institution in the city for the care
and cure of sick aud disabled horses
a horse hospital-and the passenger
had asked for further particulars.
..Nhy, that there hoss," the driver
resumed, indicating with his brake
hand the off bay, that there boss was
in the hospital last week-wasn't YOU.
old RoN!? Matter with him? O., he
hurted himself agin a wagon, and then
he fell sick long o some dinged fool
'~jshness crnuther, and he-Whoa, there.
--y We! -- Dutch tarrier!
Want the hull road, don't ycr:"
The drivers monologue took this
abrupt and irrelevant turn at the too
near approach of a reckless and in
opportune beer wagon. driven by q
reed-faced giant in a leather apron and
top boots. A heated debate ensued, of
which the foregoing served merely as
an Introduction, and. for a season of
several consecutive minutes, crimina-
ton and recrim; nation were rife.
Either of the bsil'gerents may or may
not have been in the right, but the
effect on. the horse hospital question
was to Danish hat interesting subject
entirely from the drivers mind. In
deed, the nearest approach he made to
his former discourse was to mutter
vindictively after his %retreating enemy:
"Wot that man wants is a GARDEN.
He amt got sense enough to1urive a
billy-goat."
A reporter who had overheard the
drivers ''hoss TALK and had hoped for
more interesting revelations abandoned
the thankless prospect, and, leaving
the car. betook himself to Western
avenue in search of the hospital itself.
1t was not hard to find. even O
the multifarious group of uniform, two
story buildings that constitute the com
pany's extensive plant. At the door
was a gray-whiskered attendant, who
willingly agreed to show his visitor
over the place. though deprecating the
fact that there We're very few patients
at present or hand.
''Of all the horses in the company's
use," he sa &, .'these few are the only
ones that require hospital treatment"
He pointed to q row of ordinary
stalls, about twenty-five in ali,
each of which contained IN average
looking animal comfortably chewing
the end of a painless convalescencc.
Nothing serious the matter with
These" the attendant continued.
Most of them have p cked up q nail
and gone lame. That is a very COM
mon u of lameness with our horses
the most common of all, perhaps, and
it generally results in nothing more
serious than a few days. rest and care
full treatment. Sometimes. however. if
it is allowed to go uncared for, it pro-
duces blood-poisoning, lockiaw, and
death. But that doesn't happen often
here; we watch too closely. 1t don't
DO to fool with a horses hoof."
What sort of patients do horses
make:?'
THE very best-docile, patient, and
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES always that
they are kindly treated. Most horses
are nervous, some OF them exceeding
ly so, but they can be humored ano
coaxed into doing anything reason
able.
"Those stalls are for lame horses"
the speaker continued; 'now here is
where we put them when there is
something more serious wrong with
them" He pushed ajar a roller-door
with whitewashed walls and sawdust-
covered floor.
The single occupant of the ward
was a g&wky, s~pike-taled gelding
which turned to regard the intrud-
ers with lazy curiosity not unmixed
with displeasure at being disturbed.
THAT fellow had the %coiic," the
keeper said. ''but he's all right now,
and will be out again in a day or so.
He hasn't got used to our diet yet"
IA new horse, them"
Yes, fresh from the country. All
of our horses come from the
try-chietly from Wisconsin and Iowa.
A dealer in the city here makes peri
odical trips and brings back a lot
from time to time. They are then
submitted to the company's buyer,
who selects those that suit him."
"How much is paid for a street-c&
horse?"
IAN the way up to 1925, though
there..aren't many at that price"
And how long do they last?"
"From four to six years. We break
them in gradually. For the first few
days we give them n trip aaday and
leave them in their stalls the rest of
the time. We feed mash food alto
g;ether, and they have to GET used to
mat. too-being country horses. After
their period of usefulness is over the
company sells them, generally for about
one-th'rd what they cost. Who buys
them? 0. eXpressmen, and teamsters,
and peddlers. They get a little more
service out of them. but it isn't long
before the Humane Society steps in and
claims them for its own. After that
comes death and the glue factory and