San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-02-26
SORRY OLD HORSES.
A VISIT TO A PLACE WHERE WORN
OUT EouINES ARE SOLD.

y,
was driving "skinpoor" black gelding
about the great dusty field, stopping in
front of the little knots of men which were
here and there in the outskirts.
Now, it may seem incredible that real
live horse and harness fit to hitch him to
wagon should be sold for so little as
twenty-five dollars, but the evidence that
it is done is plentiful twice week at the
horse fair out at the end of Halsey street,
Brooklyn. And that is not the worst of it.
Many horse is sold at that fair, vivid de
harniss trowed in," for considerably less
than twenty-five dollars. A man who
looked as though he might be intermit-
tently truthful told reporter the other
day that a week before he had bought a
pair of horses for fourteen dollars.
He further said, ~ seen boss sold here
one day for twelve shillin."
Just think of that A horse that could
stand, walk, eat spoon vittles" and draw
a light load going for the ridiculously
small sum of twelve shillings. A grocer
could almost afford to give such horse as
that away with every pound of his fifty
cent tea.
This Halsey street horse fair is great
institution. 1t has been holding Mondays
anu buc luSI SlSuO yCdfS vi
a vacant block of ground just opposite the
Putnam avenue stables. 1t started in an
informal way and it has existed without
rules or regulations ever since. Somebody
owns the land who will one day order the
jockeys to move off, but who the owner is
from whom the eviction order will come
sooner or later not even those traders who
have attended the fair regularly from the
first day to now have the faintest idea.
PITIABLE SPECIMENS.
A rapid walk about the ground inspires
in the humane man the strongest sort of
desire to buy every one of the poor beasts
which he sees and emancipate him, so that
he may spend the rest Of his days in clover.
Poor. lame, halt, blind, wheezy, tired
things, it makes decent mans blood boil
to see them led and driven about, under
going constant lashings from the brutal
fellows who own them, their shaky nerves
wrought upon by continuous terrorizing.
"H11k fall down, surer'n guns, If he
wasn't licked" said a young man to the
reporter, who had asked him what he
thought of the conduct of great hulk of
a jockey who about every other minute set
thin, SCARED old chestnut horse to dane
ing by cracking him over the ears. The
horse had been stified and foundered and
looked as weak as a man convalescing from
pneumonia.
1.-THE whips the biggest part Of the bust
ness on these grounds" unused the young
man. Its the man that can scare bosses
the most that gets along best here.
There's boss over there to the fence,
though, that nobody Twin could scare" re-
sumed the young man. Come and take
peep at him." .
The horse in question was strawberry
roam, which looked more like horses skin
thrown over a clotheshorse than like a
flesh and blood thing. He was such pitt
able creature!
Say" said the young man, "if man
should go up to that old fellow and put a
pistol to his head, I'll bet yer the boss
would open his mouth afore he died and
sing out, Much obleeged.' It's enough to
make body cry to look at him."
Just about as miserable creature was
the horse hitched alongside the roam. He
had milk leg on him half as big around as
-four barrel, but that was the only plump
thing that he could boast of. The few
whole pieces of hide left on him indicated
that he had once been black. He was just
about to lie down when his owner came
up, and 'twixt yells and whip cuts scared
him into such frame of mind that he
actually recalled the time ten, fifteen, it
might have been twenty, years ago, when
he ran away with the milk cart or the
family carryall; whichever it was he didn't
say.
TRIsDED FOR S375 TO BOOT.
II guess kin sell Old Milky" said the
owner to one of the jockeys standing near
He unhitched the poor brute and led
him, dancing like a colt, across to the other
side of the field, where he was ranged
alongside a swaybacked gray mare, which
was also dancing like colt in spite of the
fact that she may have helped haul can
non at Lundy's Lane.
wall, what dyer say?" demanded the
owner of the milklegged horse of the
owner of the swaybacked mare
Gimme four dollars boot and take her"
was the answer.
81 guess not. I'll give ye three an a
haf."
Eventually they split the difference and
traded with 1915 for boot.
One of the most active horses on the
ground was under saddle. He was
knockkneed, foundered fellow. with
"baddish" cough There was a small boy,
armed with a big whip, on his back.
LET him out, Jimmy" the owner would
say. and then he and the boy would go at
the old horse as though they meant to cut
his hide up into shoestrings, the man run
ming behind equipped with great lash
whip. The old horse would gradually work
up into tremendous stride and gorushing
off across the field in fashion quite sug-
gestive of Sheridan's historic ride. 1t was
L. l., oh he,
did Just as soon as it came into his mind
that nobody was walloping him. Moving
on a rapid trot one second, the next he was
an, 80 ba had baord tho crack of doom and