Los Angeles herald., 1890-07-11
A HORSE! A HORsEl
The Heroic Efforts of General Grierson
to Secure One.


Having been a cavalry officer for
about thirty years of his life, General
Benjamin H. Grierson is naturally
good Judge of horse flesh. He has more
over way of getting very much at
tached to any animal with which he has
become we'll acquainted, or which has
done him good service in a crisis. The
boys in the army Offices in this city are
responsible for the following story,
which goes to illustrate the above facts:
Some time ago when the general was
in active duty among the Indian tribes
in the southwestern territories he found
it necessary ON one occasion to ride the
same horse for six days in sue
cession over long stretch of
territory. At the end the horse
was pretty badly used up, but he had
shown himself faithful and a capable
animal. After the general came to this
city to take charge of the department OF
Arizona, he remembered the horse that
had done him such excellent service and
decided to purchase him and have him
sent to this city for his personal use.
Accordingly he telegraphed to the
military headquarters at Santa Fe, where
the horse was then located, and asked
to have his value stated that he might
purchase him. After a long wait, get
ting no response, he tried it again. Sew
eral months passed and still no
answer. The third time that he
tried it he learned that the customary
red tape had been gone through with
some time before, but that it was part
of the red tape aforesaid that the answer
to his request had gone to some other
military authority than himself. The
document was hunted up, and found to
contain the statement that owing to the
high price and scarcity of horsehesh in
the vicinity of Santa Fe, and the small
appropriation made by the government
for the purchase of horses, it was
thought best not to sell that particular
animal to anyone.
The answer to the third request, which
was made couple of months ago, was
of similar tenor, and indorsed by the
authorities at Washington, to whom it
had been referred.
In the meantime from much thinking
about the horse which he was unable to
possess, the general had become much
attached to the animal. He was now
resolved to have him, if it were neces-
sary to obtain the passage of a special
act of congress in his favor to secure the
result. Having failed with the military
authorities in New Mexico, he began on
those at Washington.
About two weeks ago General Grierson
sent telegram to the acknowledgement
of the United States army at Washing
ton. The general is fine musician and
has a lively sense of rhythm. When he
came TO write the telegram he instinct
lively dropped into poetry, something
after the fashion of Silas Wegg. 1t was
as follows:
Telegram received. Application to
purchase horse hereby renewed. He is
twelve years old and should be sold
abandoned, turned out and set free.
His sale authorize; he is just my size
let the old nag retire with me. Please
telegraph answer"
1t may be expected that this peculiar
message caused good deal of amuse-
ment in the department of war at Wash
ington. The result was that on July
8th, the day on which General Grierson
received notice of his retirement, the
following message was sent him over the
wires:
''The secretary of war authorizes the
sale of the horse to General Grierson,
the price to be determined by army reg
ulations l ,164."
So it happens that, after long perse-
verance and much red tape, the general
gets the horse.