Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1893-01-10
MORSE SHOES.

"A horse was ridden long before ne was
shOd, and until it WAS learned how to
put shoes upon him, his greatest useful
n-ss wss noe achieved. lt Il cause for
comment that the sncients did not really
l~aru TO shoe him long before they did.
They did put coverings on the feet of
aplinxls used for draft or burden. These
coverings were made Of leather, and even
plated shoe. made Of hemp were put
upon mules, which, by the way, were
oftener ridden In Oldrn times than horses
were. BY and by these were made Of
metal. not as the anlmsl's foot 10 faced
Nth Iron to-day, but u metal shoe was
made Into which the horses fOot was
placed. The mules that drew Nero's
chariot were shod With silver shoes,
while those for his wife's "turnOut,' '
were Of gold. The shape thereof "de-
ponent saith not" An old historian tell.
US that people living In Asia used to
draw socks over the feet OF the horses
when the sno~ lay deep upon the ground,
aud way of In Kain.tcilstks they cover
the feet Of the dogs In the same way. IL
.e~ms as II all ancient shOes were put
up,n the hor.e and held there by some
sort OF lacing or strapplng. Warehouses
~ere not .hOd In any way, for Aiexan.
der once ls said to have marrhed until
the feet Of Ills horses were broken, while
In another ex xpedlilon OF ancient days the
'.cavslry WAS left behind because the
hOOfs of the horses were In bad condi-
tion."
The nearest thing We find to the horse
shoe Of To- lay was found 10 the grave OF
AN old king Of France who died In 4Sl.
There were four nall holes In the shoe,
aud this Is the fret mention OF mailing
on u shoe. Ii might be we'll to notice
Just here the fact that the horse shoe
s.kept evil spirits away" even rs long
ago as Ia the d,ys Of this old king, loOO
years ago, aud, WAS doubtless placed on
his grave for this purpose. a writer 10
the Philadelphia Times says: "Ih
superstition that associates the horse
shOe With luck Il very old aud prevails
all through Europe aud In Southern
Asia. NObOdy can seem to settle wheth.
or Il is the iron Of which II Is made or its
shape that brings good luck. The an,
clients believed that lron had wonderiui
power, and when Arabs were overtaIrn
by great stOrIps, they cry Iron! Iron.
which they do TO propitlate the evil
spirits In charge Of the. storm.
As t. Its shape, n crescen twas form
much favored by all nations. The CHI
nese build tombs In this shape aud 30 do
the MOOrs." Ii Was lucky to have
horse around In olden times, and 80 the
writer sums up the luck Of horse shoe
AS found In three quaff1les which u poe
sesses: at Is made Of Iron, II Is the
shape Of u crescent, and u has been
worn by horse" SO We find them
sil.led aud beribboned In "my lady's par
ior," and rusty aud red above the stable
door, all for the sake OF the phantom
''luck," or to drive away the ''spiiits
Of our own Invention. A shoe for luck
should never be hung up With the open
end down, because then the "lurk Will
run out"
In the ninth century they began to
shOe horses, but, strange TO say, only in
time OF frost. King william !. iutroduc-
ell hor.e-shOring Into England, aud six
are ON the coat OF arms oi
the descendants Of the man TO whom he
gave vast estates for caring for his h0rs-
9. In this way. No Improvement has
been m ,de In horseshOes for years.
Better iron has BEEN used aud better
nails, but no change has come In shape
or manner Of putting them on.