The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1889-01-24
A SHORT LIFE AND A HARD ONE.
How Car Horses Arc Bought, Broken,
Patched On and Retired

How Car Horses Arc Bought, Broken,
Patched Up and Retired.
Il should not have thought it would
have paid to work cripples," l re-
marked to the driver Of Third ave-
nue. car on which I rode down town a
few evenings since. / referred to the
near horses hind legs, one of which
was ornamented with huge flannel
bandage, while the other foot seemed
in the dim light swollen to an abnor-
NAL size apd to be parting from the Leg
at the hook.
He's not lame" returned the driver
atfably. That's a boot he's got on
his near foot He's had a quarter
crack, and the thrush. too, but he
came out Of the hospital week ago,
and 1t don't seem to trouble him much.
This road don't work no lame horses.
just as soon as they show any signs of
weakness they are sent to the hospital,
and the best veterinary surgeons in
the country patches EN- up"
II suppose the hospital Is nearly al
ways .!1sr we'll filled" suggested.
driver. This works terrible hard on
horse, mainly because of these
cursed stones. Our teams don't have
very long trips and they're not pushed
hard either, but the stones wear 'em
out in few years"
How long does horse last at this
work. | inquired
Three years, about" was the reply.
Some of EN- go on for five wears
with patching up, but that's the ex-
IRENE length of time that they pull
cars. When they have been about
two years at the work their feet get so
sore that they have to be turned out.
The company has stock farm in the
country where they are taken, their
hoofs are pared, and after running
around awhile on the soft ground they
get hard and fit to come back to the
stones again for time"
Where do railroad horses come
from9" l asked.
Mostly from the west" said the
driver as he put the brake on hard and
came to q standstill while the original
fat lady from Bowery museum was
hoisted on the car and paid her five
cents like mortal of ordinary avoir-
dupols. but they buy horses all
over" he resumed, as the car started
again after a huge straining of the un-
lucky .quadrupeds who felt the in
creased weight.
mo, there are not many really
sound horses come into car stables.
The buyer in the west takes carload
OF horses, and after picking out the
few good, sound, business horses, Sc
lects a lot of good horses with Just
some trife wrong with 'em, which he
calls 'streeters, and sends them on to
the city for the car companies. Then
lot OF horses are picked up cheap be-
cause they have some small ailment
or blemiSh which the veterinaries sue
coed in curing. They build 'em up,
as you might say, as good as sound
'uns."
How are the green young western
horses broken into car work." was NV
next query, and the driver half sighed
as he replied, why, right here in
the cars. Haven't you ever noticed
team working with pole in addition to
the traces2 We always work green
horse with an old one, and the pole
keeps him straight and prevents him
kicking over very bad. But it's a
tough job sometimes. Green horses
are awful scared of the elevated road.
They'll keep looking up and staring
all around to find out where the noise
comes from, and sometimes they'll
just stand still and shiver with fright"
How long does it take to get them
used to it2'
''Oh, about two weeks. A car horse
ought to be pretty handy at the end of
that time. It'll take 'em six weeks or
two months to know the bell, but after
that they'll obey the bell quicker than
a green driver. You'll see new man
fail to put the brake on quick enough
sometimes when the bell sounds, but
his horses viii stop and the car will
run right on to em. Horses are quick
enough to learn, but guess their days
are nearly over. Electricity is bound
to do away with them. New York
Herald.