Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-08-02
WILL NOT BE DRIVEN OUT.

From the Iufi, ! lclt anu i"l" j
And now the esteemed Philadelphia
Press Joins in the cry that the horse Is
doomed. The trolley it says is only the
beoinnino: 1.-THE horse will be driven
out as completely as the sailing vessel.
He will remain the vehicle OF luxury
lust as the yacht does. He Will, for Il
while. continue to be in use on the farm
and i'm carting, just us the sail boat is
used for fishing and the farm traffic OF
our rivers and bays, but this is all If
this were true, it would be sad, but it is
not true. We have heard something like
il before. but the horse is still here. Lon
don Field. thoughtful journal, in com
menting upon the prediction that the
horselcss carriages, now beng expert
mented with in France, will soon super
sede horse power on the road, says:
So long ago as 1928 the London Week
lv Review gave notice of Burdstall and
Hills steam carriage, which, 1t was con
fidentlv predicted. would soon run the
stage coaches OIL the road. Three year, 5
later Iancuck's steam carriage made
some experimental journeys to Brighton,
but no success was achieved; nor did the
later "Infants," or "Autopsvs' which
were tried on several roads, including
that to Brighton. diminish in the least
degree the takings of the stage coach
DrOprietOrs. Some portion OF the con-
Germs was always breaking, fuel was not
to be obtained just when it was wanted,
the mud III the water which was taken in
on the road clogged the boilers, while
when the machines would run they fright
ened all the horses on the road: and BY
ers, the professional iniormer, announced
his intention of proceeding, under the
Hackney Carriage Act, against the plo-
prIetOrs for not having the stamp once
plate attached to the vehicles However,
the Infants and Autopsys died out, and
from that day until the recent expert
ments were made in France mechanical
road travelling, save in the form of the
bicycle, has made practically but little
advance.
The Field also directs attention to what
was said about the abolition of the horse
when railways drove coaches off the road.
and remarks:
Yet as soon as the forced sales of coach
horses took place on the opening of rail
WAYS. they brought better prices than
ever, 60 animals which had been working
on the Dover road bringing from E4O to
EGO each. Personally, we do not think
that if electric or other carriages come
into fashion, they will have an appreca-
able effect on the number or price of
horses. In some respects horse labor
NAV be costly, but it is, as a rule, to be
depended upon, and possesses advan-
tages which cannot belong TO any kind of
machinery. The day is probably very
far distant when the coachman and car
riage groom will give place to driver and
stoker. or some other governor of ma
chinery, In the possession of good
horse there always has been and always
will be a special delight, while those who
have not horses of their own are ever
ready to admire those of others.
1t would have been strange, when val
ues of all kinds took a tumble in this
country. if the price of horses had not
fallen. The financial panic which
stopped factories and wiped out com
pletey railroad and other dividends
was keenly felt by horse-growers; but
we are now recovering from this panic,
and well-bred horses are in greater de-
mand. The only kind of horse that is
doomed is the ll-shapen and unscienti-
fically-bred brute. Animals Of This de-
scription play no part in true domestic
economy, and their passing will awaken
no regrets in the minds of thoughtful
people. We are surprised that Journal
of the intelligence of the Philadelphia
Press should have taken narrow and
pessmistic view of a subject of such ma
tiOnal Importance.