The evening times., 1896-05-16
HORsESlhD NOT WEATHER
Duties Come Again for the
Humane Agent.
BEASTS MUST BE WATERED
They Need to Drink About as Often
as Men, and the Society Means to
See That They Are Provided for.
Trips To the Country IA Difficult
Problem-Cure of Harness.

The coming of hot weather has brought
again an important feature OF the work of
the agents, Rabbit and Reiplinger, of the
Washington Humane Society. This is look
ing after the proper watering of horses and
mules employed in steady heavy hauling,
especially if long trips are made.
1t would seem that selfinterest would
be sufficient to insure proper attention
to teams, but the wonderful change " hich
has come over this country through the
division of labor is enough to explain the
need OF humane agents in such cases.
Nearly all the hauling is done with men
for drivers who DO not own their teams,
and whose only selfish motive is to avoid
the appearance of having ill-used the
animals. OF course, they are very often
kind hearted and very careful to treat
ibeir horses well; but many are not.
The result is that many fine draft horses
go about the city all day very thirsty
They are unable TO protest, even in sign
language. for they frequently do not get
near enough TO water to make a great pull
toward II, showing their desperate need.
Oxen, as every country boy knows, are
better off in this regard; for when heated
and thirsty they become ungovernable
when water is in sight or hearing, and &c
" IL oNtI tHS dUy OtUtT
that does not absolutely knock them down
or by its physical dimensions bar their
progress. Horses only reach for water
when within few feet of il, and then are
easily restrained
Most DRIVERS. even if inclined to treat
their horses well. do not think how often
a horse wants wafer. They go in and
get water themselves IA score OF times on a
hot day.
HORSES NEED AS OFTEN AS MEN.
There is no reason to suppose a horse
would not like a drink nearly as often. He
does not drink ice water and SO does not
create thirst by drinking, but undoubtedly
with his heavy service and sweating he
would like a drink almost as often as his
master. He does not get once in three
times that his master does. Very
often he has only three or four drinks in
long day of ftwelyc hours work, and some
thoughtless and cruel drivers even fail to
give as much as that. Occasionally a poor
oyer-driycn beast, already sick, but with
no means TO tell of ii, is taken out in the
hot sun for two or three hours work with
out water. except what he had before start
Ing. He finally becomes SO weak that he
falls on the pavement. Men and boys IA TIL
cr round TO wonder what is the matter,
while the driver. unless he is a kind-hearted
fellow. will kick and prod him to try to
get him up and go on.
Against this sort of mstreatment the Hu-
name Society tries to guard. II attempts
to see that there is a sufficient number Of
drinking fountains about the city, so that
there shall he no excuse for neglect. Then
II sends its agents around to notice whether
the horses are watered. They can only
tell. however, in cases OF extreme distress
These. a rule, are discovered and re-
lieved
But it is i'll hauling into the country that
the animals suffer most. There are no
drinking fountains and no officers to oh
serve how teams are treated. The driver
frequently could not wa Ter themi ( he would f.,
without a great deal of trouble, and no one
is near to remind him of his duty.
One thing the humane agents attempt to
do is to tell drivers akng long trips
into the country or into arylaDd or Vir-
ginia before they start that they ought 10
provide for their teams for water OH the
way. They usually insist that bucket
shall be taken along. Also numerous other
small appliances for the comfort OF the
horses are insisted on.
OWNERS, pRIv ERS AND ARRESTS.
frequently the driver resents these sug-
gestions as reflection on his kindness
and an interference with his business. hut
usually the president or manager of the
company or the head OF the firm who en-
ploys the driver is on the side of the agent
He knows that his animal will last longer
If well treated and FULLY repay by extra
service the outlay of time and attention.
The 'eamstcr. of course, yields promptly "a
the suggestion from the man who pays him.
The hardest case the agent has to deal
with Is the occa sional igGorant and stub
born fellow who drives his own team and
resents anything said to him about its
treatment. Occasionally such 4 man has
to be locked up. The hired driver when
he gets into trouble usually lets a So or
$40 bill be put up as collateral and
makes no FUSS about 1t. Next day he Will
probably get off with a sharp reprimand
and a warning that he must not be found
careless again Very rarely is a fine neces-
sary. q.
Another thing that must be carefully
watched by the humane agents in this
weather is the CALLING OF horses shoulders
and backs by the rubbing of harness and
collar. II is very difficult altogether TO
prevent this. The collar should be Kept
carefully clean of sweat and dirt that col
lects in the sweat, and as soon as a gall
appears 1t should receive treatment, and,
If possible, the animal replaced by another
till nature has done its healing work.
All straps should he watched to see that
they do not rub, the whole harness over
looked frequently to see that nothing ha S
slipped and that it is fitting well and
working without undue strain at any one
point. The humane society looks after
these things on the street, II , hen he
notices a horse wincing at the shoulder
under his load he at once investigates and
secures relief