The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1889-10-25
A SHORT LIFE AND A HARD ONE.
How Car Horses Aro Bought, Broken,
Pafchcd Up and Retired.

Patched Up and Retired.
IT should rot have thought II would
have paid TO work cripples,". ! re-
marked to tho driver Of o Third ave
nue. car on which I rode down town O
few evenings since. referred TO tho
near horses hind legs, ono OF which
was ornamented with q hugo flannel
bandagc, while the other foot seemed
i'm the dim light swollen to an abnor-
NAL size and to be parting from the leg
| at tho hook.
Hes not lame" returned the driver
afrnbly. That's O. boot he's got on
crack, and tho thrush. too, but no
camc out Of tho hospital q week Ggo,
and it don't seem to trouble him much.
| This road don't work no lamo horses.
Just rs soon rs they show any signs OF
weakness they aro sent TO the hospital,
and tho best veterinary surgeons In
the country patches 'em up"
81 suppose the hospital is nearly al-
ways well filed" suggested.
why, of course it is" said tho
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 III low years.
"How long does horse last at this
worll2" inquired.
"Threo years, about" was the reply.
with patching up, but that's the ex-
tremc length of time that they pull
cars. When they have been about
two years ut tho work their feet get so
sore that they have to be turned out
Tho company has stock farm In tho
country where they arc taken, their
hoofs nrc pared, and after running
around awhile on the soft ground they
get hard and fit to como back to tho
stones again for time"
"Whcrc do railroad horses como
from?" / asked.
Mostly from the west" said tho
driver as he put the brake on hard and
canc to q standstill while tho original
fat lady from n Bowcry museum was
hostcd on the car and paid her five
cents like 4 mortal of ordinary avoiI.
dupois. But they buy horses all
over" he resumed, as the car started
again after n huge straining of tho un'
lucky quadrupeds who felt tho In
creased weight.
mo, there nro not many really
sound horses como into car stables
Tho buyer in tho west takes carload
Of horses, and after picking out the
few good. sound, business horses, sc
lccts lot Of good horses with JUS
somc triilc wrong with 'em, which ht
calls 'strcctcls,' and sends them on tt
tho city for tho cor companies. Their
n lot of horses arc picked up cheap be
cause they have somo small ailmcn
or blcmish which tho vctcrinarics sue
cccd in curing. They build 'em up
as You might say, as good as sount
'uns."
"How aro tho green young western
horses broken into car work?" was m.
next query, and tho driver half sighed
as hc replied, "Why, right here il
tho cars. Haven't you ever noticed :
teas> .",enI: sa,e ss.;ttiaffi dreen horses
arc awful scared of the elevated road
They'll keep looking up and staring
all around to find out where tho noise
comes from, and sometimes they'll
just stand still and shivcr with fright. ,
How long does it take to get them
used to it,"
ooh, about two weeks. a car horse
ought TO hc pretty handy at the end OF
that time. It'll talc 'cm six weeks or
two months to know tho bell, but after
that they'll obey the bell quicker than
green driver. You'll sec now man
fail to put the brake on quick enough
sometimes when the bell sounds, but
his horses will stop and tho car will
run right on to 'cm. Horses aro quick
enough to learn, but l guess their DAYS
aro nearly over Electricity is bound
to do away with them. Nov York
Herald.