The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-10-21
TO STOP RUNAWAY HORSES.
A FIELD THAT rs WE'LL ExPLoITED
BY INGENIOUS INVENTORS.
Ianu-crabis Devices Tat sees 60 FIn ths
Bin, but Have So-e Fatal Drawback
when Pat 90 = Practical Test.

| their beds than in all other places put together,
| perhaps one assumes more risk OF personal In
| Jury by going out driving behind horses than in
any other way. Riding in railroad cars has
| been proved 10 be safer than in any other way.
Riding in railroad cars has been proved to be
| safer than walking the streets, and II APP one
| doubts the safety and longevity of men In the
army they need only consult the weary Lieuten-
ants in the service who growing gray wait
ing for Captains shoulder straps and pay.
| Not day passes that the newspapers do not
| record the injury or death of some one as the
| result of horse runaway accident. With this
| in mind Sun reporter recently visited lot Of
| the older men in the horse and harness business
to see II there not some device invented or
| in use which would stop q runaway horse.
Certainly" said one of these men; there II
one certain way to stop q runaway horse, and to
protect yourself from any future danger-knl
the horse. II had horse that was addicted
to running away, and had to drive behind him, 1
would carry a good heavy hammer with me, and
soon as he started would climb out on the
shafts, get along to his head, and make hole
In his skull.
THE fact is," he continued, mo man Is will
ing to own that he possesses runaway horse.
As long as he has TO keep him he will certainly
not put any safety appliances upon the animal
which would advertise the fact that he was dam
gerous for he hopes soon to sell or trade the an
lfnal away. n runaway morse IL DOunu 10 DO =
runaway as long as he lives, for the habit
is n fault of his breaking. Perhaps some Of the
professional handlers Of vicious horses can re-
break these, and cure them, rs they claim to be
able to do. II they can, they may he able to
such horse from deserved death.
Probably in no line Of business has there
been so many inventions as in the matter Of
horse filings. Every man that ever drove .
horse, 1t seems TO me- has invented some new
n. H. al - n L.. v.-k
we will hardly look at these things, but in the
West you could find a lot Of them In use. How
valuable they may be you judge best by
going out and looking at the harnesses In use
here. Not one harness in a thousand will have
q single one OF these new-fangled notions upon
IL. not even a safety bit.
ut is not, however. the confirmed runaway
horse that is the greatest danger. Nearly all
the accidents one reads OF are caused by sons
gentle and ordinarily tractable animal takinga
sudden fright and smashing up things because
there was not clear road for him to run in.
Lots OF just such runaways take place In tho
country. without resulting In danger, because
there Is room enough for the horse to have his
frightened run out before he gets in collision
with some wagon or has to make a sharp turn
in road"
or all the devices which have been made and
shown. for stopping or controlling runaway
horses. few are even remembered Many .
horseman has never heard of any OF them, ex-
Cepting bits. or these there are lots in the
market and every one Of them hns some points
OF merit. These. however, depend for their
efficiency upon producing pain sufficient to
bring a horse to his senses and force him tpa
stop voluntarily. IL the horse were wild with
fright suffering from the mad staggers. none
of these would be of the least use. Just one de-
vice was found upon sale that is intended to
bring horse to n stop. whether he is willing or
not. This does not look unlike the ordinary
bride with a nose strap. IL one examines 1t
little closer he will see, however, that the nose
strap Is n trifc broader than is common and
that II stands out clear of the nose. Under
this strap Is the arrangement for stopping
the horse. Here arranged on either side. are
the horse p Re Ss bsnd Is
To the driving rings OF the bit and is held
sToy from R the horsei nose by spiral S sGGnS
upon the reins. these springs would be collapsed
and the pads would close the horses nostrils.
can breathe only through his nostrils and not
" / don't know whether to call this safety
device or not" said the dealer. There IL one
thing, however which is certain. II will bring
The last man that heard OF who used one OF
them got of luckily with only one arm and two
Major Lorrlgan OF the Ninth Regiment tried
bride similar TO this one some years ago down
agent sold him the bride with guar
antee that II would stop the horse.
he were shot the moment shut off his wind,
and went right over his head, 1t was perfect
success but concluded TO sell 1t and get rid OF
The Russians have a similar continuance for
and the ena TO the Srrs
When they pull upon this rope IL chokes the
horse S probably with Just such lively results as
Il The early '5os Jim Fisk's ,, father sams,o
leans and other towns with an invention de-
signed to save life In runaways, He thought he
dence 70 be got here that he ever sold one OF
them. His scheme was 10 release the horse as
it's fastenings to the shafts or pole were so ar
ranged that at the will OF the driver the horses
wagon wheels. This was accomplished by
simply pulling or pressing a, Lever eyer In the
the harness business remember seeing Mr. Fisk
exhibit this device In Chambers street. 1t made
schemes Invented for letting the horses go. but
the manifest danger which this would entail to
haps prevented their adoption.
j, some years ag1 German Appeared IN this
line OF what is wanted. In addition 70 the usual
harness GR he pTTSHGo TITO 70 hang cradle AROUND
strons steel or from ssrs 81 sscS
about one and half feet long, connected to-
bar would ordinarily hang J4st In front OF the
horses chest, and the other back OF his hams,
where the breeching strap hangs. straps run:
harness and ran back into the wagon. lfa
horse with this on attempted 10 run away tho
herman proposed simply TO loosen the con-
trolling straps and let the bars down to just
above the horses knees. His gait would then
be restricted a wOman's Is when she dons Q
narrow skirt. No one recalls having heard OF .
trial OF this.
Another simple device is TO fasten strap or
rope around the lower part OF horses front
ley and run IL up through a ring on the grth
and back to the wagon. The driver can pull the
eg from under the horse and hObble him. but
ibis scheme Is not free from the danger caused
by the horse falling. Another clever man
made a canopy top for horses head. IL
Is pretty well established that in most cases,
4 you can blind horse by enyeloping
MS head in cloth. he will cease 10 run.
The canopy untOlded upon the pull of "A strap and
the horses eyes completely. Another
man arranged "a carry an electric apparatus In
The wagon, and by means of conducting wires
carried down the Teins. 10 give the horse an
astonishing electric shock when he wanted to
iyerI him from running away. IL is quite
probable that this might have been ms effrctual In
rs way the manner in which a Jersey farmer
'uTed baking horse. This horse would go