Omaha daily bee., 1885-04-15
Grants Love for Horses.

When General Grant first entered the
White House as president of the United
States he owned over a hundred head of
horses. The foreman of the stables in
which these horses were kept was Albert
Hawkins, who is now coachman for pres.
ident Cleveland. No one knows better
than Albert how devoted General Grant
was to horses, and some of his reminis,
cences on the subject of General Grant
and his stock may not prove uninterest.
Ing reading at this time. Albert says
General Grant was al excellent Judge of
h%orse9esh. 1t was q difficult matter to
deceive him in q horse trade, because he
is familiar with all the points that are
considered In examining them. He could
look into o horses mouth and tell his
exact age within a few months. He
always insisted that his horses
of the stable. Any man who was
known to i~ll-treat or misuse one of hia
horses was Immediately dismissed.
The general took a fancy to Albert be-
cause he was always kind and gentle in
dealing with the stock under his charge.
After The general became president, he
sold many of his horses IN st. Louis and
directed Albert to come on to Washing
ton and assume control of the presidents
stables.
His FAvoR1rEs.
The generals favorite horses were Gin
clnnatus, Egypt and jeff Davis. The
former was as gentle as q lamb, and he
knew and obeyed the general at all times
and under all circumstances Cincinnati
us was a good saddle horse, In addition to
being a first class horse in harness. The
general could ride him to any point In the
city, jump eff his back and leave him
standing for any length of time I'M
httched. No matter how long the gener-
al remained away, when he returned
C~incinnatus was waiting for him. He did
not pay any attention to circus pa
rades and was not to be frightened by
noise and confusion in the street. When
the general directed him to stand and
walt for him Cincinnasus would not
bulge until the general had mounted
him.
During the generals second term in
the White House arrangements were
made for an equestrian statue represent
ing Grant mounted on his ~favorite war
horse, Clncinnatus. Albert says he
cannot remember the name of the sculp-
tor, but he recollects the circumstances
distinctly. Every day tor nearly a month
the general would 60 down to the stable,
have a bride and saddle put on Cincir-
natus and off he would go to meet the
s~culptor. On several occasions Albert
accompanied him to a beautiful spot In
/ the Vicinity of the Soldiers Home, where
the cast was made.
| JEFF DAVIS.
Gen. Grant frequently visited the
presidential stables, went into the stalls
and talked to his horses, just as
though they were human beings,
and were capable of understanding
every word he said to them. The JEFF
Davis horse was a terrible kicker and q
bitter, and the stable hands were afraid to
go near his stall. His feed had to be
passed into him from an adjoining stall.
The general, however, had complete con-
troll over him. He could enter his stall.
handled him rs he desired, and, in fact,
do anything he wanted with him. sold
jeff" knew his voice, fer as soon as the
general entered the stable he would
throw hack his ears, and move around
restlesely in his stall until the general
showed bin some attention. On several
occasions the stable hands tried to de-
ceive JEFF by initiating the generals voice,
but as soon as he discovered the decep-
ton he made his heels play o lively tune
on the sides of his stall. Albert has re-
NAMED at the white house during the
administration Of Grant, Hayes, Garfield
and Arthur, and will probably be re.
tanned by President Cleveland. Last
week he took a trip up in Pennsylvania
to look at a team of horses which Pres.
ident Cleveland thinks of purchasing to
drive to his private landau, which Is now