Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1886-09-11
HORSES FOR THE CAVALRY.
An Army Officer Tells some Secrets Da
andDays without a Sign OF verdure.

yersation with recruiting sergeant Of
the United States Cavalry service, and
in the course of the chat the officer
drifted into the discussion of the merits
Of horses supplied to the service, and
the zn;rncer IN which they are furnished
to the Government.
Not long since fve hundred horses
were purchased IA New York, 81. Louis,
Chicago, and other large mercantile
centres fer troops in the four bis
Western departments OF the Platte,
Dakota, Missouri and Texas, in which
divisions it is estimated that three
sourths Of the army of cur country is
comprised.
{. Most Of our cavalry horses" said
the recruiting sergeant, "are lost on
the plains in the West. No one here
East can conceive the rgor OF our
Western military duties or the hard
ships they entail for the soldiers and
lhe:- beasts We suppose that the
great West is teenliag VITA verdure and
forage, whereas the fact Is that In very
many tracts OF country scouting par
ties are compelled to ride for week Or
mora, at the rate Of perhaps Fifty miles
q day, with no grain for their horses
and very little grass by the way.
"A general scrutiny o. the condemned
army horses would show that their re-
tirement from the service is due more
to starvation than anything else. Very
often the troopers horse drops in the
ranks from sheer exhaustion, and
others are SO badly used up that they
never recover from the privation and
fatigue ana ere finally condemned for
use in the field and shipped to recruit
ing stations, where they answer much
better even than green horses for drill
ing recruits
What are tie physical qualifca-
tons demanded il the selection Of
horses 1cr TIE cavalry sarvice?"
:. Well, in tee FIST place, none but
Ceilings ere taken. The Government
does not care for stations CT mares.
The animal subr;:.ed for purchase
should stand at least Iif,een hands high
and weigh about nine hundred pounds.
He should be short II the back and
also short in the pas.arl joints. 4
lonr-lcgCed beast With kadly shaped
head wouldn't pass muster st all. Low
vithe,s IS one q tae incst essential
points. bcl&Uea {. i.orsa WIZ high
wianess IS liable :, wc-k IL, sat.@,l
forward and sc. sores; Az once IL
that condition he loses flesh ind be-
comes worthless.
"In addition 70 these specifications
he must be absolutely free from con-
tracted hoofs or he won't pass the
inspection OF the beard.
g In what manner are horses secured
for cavalry service?"
Generally by advertising. The
particular class OF animals desired are
becoming scarcer every day. This, l
suppose, is due 20 the fact that breeders
are giving their attention to raising
draught horses of the Percheron, Nor
man and similar stock, which are, OF
course, too slow for cavalry purposes.
1t is singular fact that horse
dealers, as rule, consider the Govern
ment legitimate prey tor all sorts OF
imposition For instance, at the last
inspection Only eight ont of sixty
horses offered were accepted. Holsters
trotted them out for inspection full
of confidence that they could unload
their employers stock of useless
equines.
"Some of the ANIMAL names and
foretops were plated and decorated
with strips of red flannel. Their tails
were done up in common bagging OF
SO bulky shape as to suggest the
probability OF their being about ten
feet long.
''Of course. these decorations had to
come off to make sure that the tails
were al there. and that the names were
of hair instead Of oakum.
1.-The eyes of horse under inspec-
ton are closely examined.
al he, in general outline,is regarded
as worthy OF consideration at all, he is
submitted 10 a rigorous examination
which takes up about q quarter OF an
hour--all over him from his teeth TO
his fetlocks and hoofs. Then the
hostler is directed to walk the animal
up and down the length Of the yard
and afterwards to run him as fast as
the beast can 60. If his action is easy
he is ordered tied in for the final
inspection.
"The last test is run up hill for a
distance Of two hundred yards or so,
to see if his wind Is good. No saddle
is used The kos.lcr simply mounts
and trots to the starting point, riding
back es fast as liberal application Of
cowhiac to his beas: can carry him.
:. If the horse passes this muster be
l. A., - !,
shop to he branded His first decoration
is big T. S on the left shoulder.
when he is detailed 10 a regiment
be is burned again Wit, the regimental
brand, and with the brand Of his com
pary on the LETT hip. For more per
feet Identification he receives an ad-
ditional marking On the hoof, and Is
then readT Tor business.
8 I know of nothing more painful
taan the branding of beast, and l
think he knows of nothing mere pain
ful himself.
The brands become obscure IN q few
years, and are necessarily renewed. II
Is q peculiar fact that when the time
comes for renewing the operation nine
OFT Of tea animals remember the prey
ious desc. and 4 IS 70 easy matter ;c
repeat it,
Old Sail Cloths. Made into Bibles
Old sail-clo.hs are used extensively
for making the paper for Oxford Bibles
"There ere huge piles Of this Ole
material" SAYS the Leisure Hour
"gathered in here after battling viii
breezes in all the seas under heaven
"They come in here to be torn ints
threads, and beaten into pulp, ane
bleached, drawn out into beautifu
white sheets. to be presently PRINTED
on, waited of again to the ends Of tn.