Wichita eagle., 1889-01-05

Marvellous Things Accomplished in q Feu
seconds-Apples and Jumps Of Sugar
for the Good Scfolaxs-Started in Eleven
Seconds.
"That's the best educated horse in Nsss
| York He is the most intelligent horse thai
| ever came out of school"
The speaker was a broad shouldered fire
man, who stood at the door OF a down town
| engine house. The handsome roam which
stood few feet away ready to jump into his
| harness, seemed to know what was being said,
for be twisted his head and arched his neck
| in the proudest manner. A moment later,
| under the direction of the fireman, he went
| through a wonderful exhibition of fast har-
| Messing, showing almost human intelligence.
| He practically harnessed himself, and did il
| so quickly that the eye could scarcely follow
| him.
| What the fireman said of the horse was
| true. He had been to school, from whence
! he graduated with disting uished Donors.
| There are many interesting things in New
York, but there are few things more inter.
! esting than the school from which this par
ticular horse graduated 1t is situated IN the
upper part of New York and is under the
! management OF several veterans of the fire
| department, commanded by well known
| veterinary surgeon, who is practically prin-
| cipal Of school.
| Z And there is as much hard studying dons
! in this school as in any in New York, even if
the pupils are horses
The school in New York educates horses
| for the fire service only. 1t is a more i'm.
| portant institution than most people may at
| first thought imagine it to be. Intelligent
horses are almost as Indispensable as are in
telligent men. A stupid, a slow or a balky
horse may at times cost the loss of thousands
OF dollars, and perhaps many lives. The de
lay OF two or three seconds in getting fire
engine out of the engine house sometimes
gives a fire an impetus that is unnecessarily
damaging to life and property. The horses
turned out from this school are warranted to
be strong, Intelligent and to have a thorough
knowledge OF their business. They never
balk, they are never lazy, and are in every
respect reliable, being sound Of wind and
limb and more than intelligent.
SELECTION AND TEACHING.
The horses are all picked, but they seldom
are OF any use for fire work after five years
of service. They are selected by experts from
among the best horses that are to be found at
the Bulls Head horse market, the chief horse
market in the United States. The horses
selected como mainly from the west. It re.
quifes some skill to pick out horses for use III
the fire department. Big and clumsy horses
are OF no use. But the horse must be speedy
and strong. The horses selected are usually
about sixteen hands high, weighing from
1,20O to ,45O pounds, and their ages range
from to years. Younger horses are not
strong enough to drag heavy fire engines, and
older ones are too old to train.
As soon as the horse is bought he is sent tc
the school, and Dr. Shea, who is in charge of
this institution, says that in his opinion
horses and boys are very much alike, and
must be managed i'll very much the same
manner But Dr. Shea believes in kindness
as a means to get control of his pupils and
teach them.
1t is marvellous how quickly these young
horses learn what it is necessary for them to
know before they can be put to work. The
men who handle them know their business
thoroughly, and are in love with it. Under
their careful handling the green horse under
stands his duties il little more than a month.
No whip is used in this school. The first test
is that which establishes tho soundness OF the
animals wind Then lie is put in his stall
He is led backward and forward to where the
harness hangs until lie becomes used TO the
engine, and until he also becomes accustomed
to ducl1ing or lowering his head to get it into
the collar
When he accomplishes his task well he is
given apples or candy or humps of sugar,
and is petted and made much Of He is next
taught to rush TO his place in front of the en-
CINE at the clang of the gong. When he be-
comes expert at this his education is COM
plete and he is ready for serious work, and q
week later can run to fire as well as the
most thorougbgoing veteran.
There are always q dozen horses being put
through their PAGES at this school, which is
constantly becoming more and more of q
necessity. These horses cost about $500 each,
and after their five years they are disposed
of TO street peddIers or cartrnen for any sum
from $50 to Slo0 These horses are SO well
taught that they never forget their training.
1t is not an uncommon thing when fire en-
CINE dasheS through the streets of New Yorl,
to see some dilapidated looking nag attached
to some huckster's wagon prick up his ears
and join in the race to the scene of the fire.
1t is an old and broken down fire horse who
can't forget the stirring days when he helped
draw an engine. 1t is the same spirit that
led broken down hunters to join in the hunt
at the sound of the cry of the hounds.
THE CHAMPION TEAM.
There are some wonderful horses in the
New York fire department, but the cham-
pions arc Joe" and Charley the splendid
team that are attached to engine company
II, in Chambers street. These were the prize
winners at the worlds fair at the American
Institute IN 1856, and they are still the cham
plons. They are the two most famous scholars
ever turned out from New York's school.
Joe is the champion Of champions, and he
entertains many visitors who come daily to
admire his intelligence. Joe is roam, and
handsome one. too. His mate Charley is a
bay, and this team can drag a heavy engine
over the ground faster than any team in the
United States and probaEss in the world At
the worlds fair, when ttsy Won the medal
which they still hold, they were tried on
dash OF 26 feet inchea They made three
tests, one at 10 in the morning, another at |
in the afternoon, and yet another ats o'clock |
III the evening.
The time for the first dash was one and |
fve-eighths seconds; for the second two and |
one-half seconds, aud for the last two seconds |
Tho intelligence of these horses is simply re-
narkable. Chief Shaw. Of London. could 4
scarcely believe that they could do what was
said OF them until it was done before his own
eyes. Even then it was hard to believe On 4
three ordinary trials the other night Joe and I
Charley got into their harness and had their 1