The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-04-03
CRAzED BY FTRE.
The Rescue of Horses and Cattle From 8
 Burning Building.

The Rescue of Horses and Cattle From 8 Burning Building.
 tFrom the St. Louis Globe-Democratl
 The panic that is inspired in the
 minds of horses by phenomenon so
 strange as fire can be understood only
 by those who have witnessed a fire in a
 large stable where numbers of horses
 are kept. The scene that ensues is one
 of the most frightful that can be con-
 ceived. The horses are rescued from
 the burning building with the utmost
 difficulty, and only with most serious peril to the lives and limbs of the res
 cuers. The animals go mad with fright, rear, kick and dash from side to
 side so wildly as to make an attempt at
 rescue as perilous as an advance on hostile battery. When rescued they will often break away from those who
 hold them and charge back at full speed
 into the burning building, there to per
 ish in the flames. They resist every att
 tempt to take them out. They have
 been known to tear their rescuers with
 their teeth to throw them to the
 ground and trample on them, to kick
 out their brains. As the fury of the flames increases so does the panic of the unfortunate animals They scream out in agony as the fire reaches their bod ies, yet they will not for all that seek safety in the open air. They are crazed with fear, and yet remain to be burned to death when a ten-seconds' run would carry them to liberty. But they never make the run, and. as a rule, are burned alive in the stalls, where alone they seem to fancy they can find security.
 There Is but one way to get them out, and that is to blind them with some convenient cover, such as a coat or a blanket, and thus unable to see the dangers about them, trembling in every limb, apparently ready to fall to- the earth with fear, they may be led out. But the cover must not be too quickly removed from their eyes, in fact it should not be taken off until the ami mals are out of sight of the burning building, otherwise they will break away from the persons leading them and, in spite of the stoutest efforts, will dash back to perish in the flames.
 For cows a burning building does not seem to have the same fascination it possesses for horses. It is said that when a COW stable Is burning the ami mals may be led out without serious difficulty, save that which may result from their fright and the use they make of their horns in their own frantic ef- forts to escape It is a singular fact, however. that has often been noticed along the line of railroads, that the headlight of a locomotive exercises on calves and sometimes on their mothers also, a species of fascination nearly akin to hypnotism. Engineers tell very many stories of this peculiar fact. Not long ago, on a railroad running out of this city toward the south, the engineer of night train noticed something ahead of him on the track. Always ap- prehensive of danger, he blew his whis- tie, put on his brakes, and guardedly approached the spot where the obsta- cle was observed. It was soon seen to be calf that stood in the center of the track, staring with wide-open eyes at the headlight. The whistle screamed a l shrill alarm, the calf did not move, the | bell was violently rung, but the animal | needed it not. With some difficulty the 1 train was brought to a halt within a fewfeet of the fascinated calf that stood | with head erect gazing at the light as though petrifed, The fireman jumped | down from the cab, seized the calf by | the ears to drag it from the track, when instantly, the moment it's eyes were taken from the light, the full po5l | session of every faculty seemed to re- turn, and, with a below of fright the | calf broke from his hands and ran | away at full speed. The animal had | been the victim of spe- | cies of hypnotism, and the moment dts gaze was diverted from the object that | fascinated 1t the spell was broken and the calf ran away.