The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-01-11
SEVENTIES HUNDRED aoRsEs.
They are Fed and housed and Care,
for Under one Roof.

SEVENTIES HUNDRED
How They are Fed and Housed and Cared
for Under one Roof.
New York Tribunel
Hi, there" shouted a grntf voice. A Tri-
bpne reporter moved to one side aud a team
of horses were driven into the main depot of
the Third Avenue Surface Railroad CON-
pany. "A team comes in aud goes out
every two minutes" said John F.. Waller,
the compaDy's foreman.
'0n each day In the Year, oueried the
reporter.
No" was the answer, 'but in seasons
like this. When We sre at our busiest q
team goes out and one comes in every thirty
seconds"
The company owns about twenty one
hundred head OF csttle"-to use the tech
required for its other stables. Mr. Waller
has made a study of the horse and is able 10
tell by glsncing at an animal whether or
not it is in condition. Il laughed" saio be.
when an old horse doctor told me years ago
that be could tell the condition of q horse
by looking at him. l have since discovered
that the old Vet knew what he was talk
ing about. fyou sDend your days and often
your nights, for years, among horses and
Keep your eyes half open you cant help I'M.
Outstanding them. They have much in com-
mon with the human family The old
horses, for instance. never take kindly TO q
new horse, and will kick at him when they
get a chance. AS soon as the stranger be
gins to feel at home the kicking st0ps, be-
cause be has plucked up spirit enough to
kick back. They often light over their feed.
The horse first served is looked upon with
feelings of envy by those that have TO wait q
little longer. They seldom kick any of the
men, except IL a man happens to pass close
TO their heels with a box of feed. Then they
| .0m eff IN pc ate IN pf IN t1CE Thora II nno
msn in the stable who had his head almost
kicked oil last year. Two horses were fight
ing. One made a terrible kick with his hind
feet j0st as the man was passing. One of the
feet struck him in the face and dashed him
up against a stall. No, the queerest part Of
the business was that be didn't die. Halo,
Nike" be cried. rai-ing his voice.
Nike came for ward. His face showed o
scar reaching from aoove his right eye brow
to below his right cheek bone. II formed an
indeliable beauty mark" but Mike cared
nothing for this. as everybody had consoled
him AT the time the sccident occurred with
the In that his recovery was out Of
the question.
The stable occupies three stories Of the
huge building, which covers q SQUARE The
descent TO the floor below the grade of the
street is as steep as the ascent to the floor
above the ground, but the horses manage 40
make the trips without accident. Each
$1,000 @E< va
every horse has a mate, 10 expected TO work
three hours per day. A team which starts
from Harlem makes one round trip, daily.
Ii an accident happens to a horse while on
duty, the driver informs the foreman of il,
with the attendant circumstances. If q dri-
yer fails TO do this and the negligence is dis
covered. the company has no further use for
MIN. The best possible care Is taken Of the
stock for obvious reasons
Car horses are injured in q variety of
ways. They run the greatest risks during
the hottest part OF the summer and the colr-
est part # the winter. These two periods
aggregate about four and a half months.
The month of September is the hardest month
of the year on car horses An nj
warm term came on the heels OF o
cool period and the result was the prostra-
ton of a large number of car horses in this
CITY as we'll as in many ether parts OF the
country. Leaving intensely hot and cold
weather out of the question. the most peril
Gus season for the car horse is dry, windy.
weather. The cobble stones over which he
travels are then as smooth as polished glaes.
Not a particle of any foreign substance can
gel a foothold on them. and the sharply shod
hoof will slip from them with the same ease
as the human foot will slide OF the smooth
side of a banana skin. Some of the rosdoeds
offer even more shan the usual facilities for
accidents of this nature. They are con-
structed on the shat pc of q watershed, slop-
ing from the centre to the tracks On these
the car horse has a hard time indeed in
wintry and windy weather. Comparatively
few accidents happen in We weather. Un-
less they happen to break a limb, only q
percentage of horses which slip and
fall suffer permanent injury. With rest and
care they generally recover from sprains aud
Oh of ], 700 horses the Third Av-
enue Company Loses but one a week. accord
ing to its foreman. The latter has ninety
three hostlers under his eye, besides q large
OF men employed in other capaci-
Each hostler Is expected to groom
twenty horses Der day, and TO iced and bed
them.
The tables are as clean as il is possible TO
Keep them. The horses are In keeping with
heir surroundings. Horses are purchased
SO all seasons. but the best are bought in the
fall. The seller is willing To take much less
It the beginning than g. the end of winter.
The company has a standing price of $i55.
Some splendid specimens of horse flesh have
been bought for his figure. Gray is the
color preferred. Horses of his color are
aid 20 suffer less from beat than black and
From eight to ten hc-ses are used in
snow sweeper. aud cne team possessed by
he com attract much attention as they
attic through the avenue. The ten grsys
sbirl the huge sweeper along as il IL were q
ight road wagon. Several of these horses
tand seventeen hands high. Every new
purchase is subject TO an attack of pinkese.
This Is attributed TO q change of climate and
urroun6ipgs Most OF the horses com from
he West, and they are found to require
. week to two weeks to obtain theIr
sea legs" Ii is a common opinion that
he lot OF a car horse is not O happy one. In
comparison with the fact of q large number
4 horses which receive but little sympathy,
be car horse is to be greatly envied- He 10
lot over worked; he is we'll fed. we'll housed
is seldom III treated with i~mpunity.
cried IN Love n oaUavfo