Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1897-11-18
BUYER OF OLD GAR HORSES
When They Are Not Really Usea up
They Turn Out Well.

They Turn Out Well.
There is often query in the minds
of the officials of such street railways
as are still operated by horse power
as TO what becomes of the horses which
are worn out annually by The hard
usage they endure and sold for NOM
inal figure. The number of such horses,
though constantly decreasing as cleo
tricity becomes more universally sub
stituted for motive power, is stu in
the thousands. Many are sold for
their hides and others to tallow. and
soap men, or to meet even less noble
ends. But it remained for Manhat-
tan Islander to discover along this line
that the ability to convert one dollar
into two is not confined to ths in =
habitants of his own borough.
An official of one of the local street
railways was cycling with q party OF
friends through the interior of the
state, purposely avoiding the lines OF
the railroads with a view OF seeing
what there was new to be seen. They
had halted during the heat of the day
at farmhouse six miles from thenear-
est railroad, in a locality where such
papers as are read come butt once a
week. While enjoying that delight OF
from a country well-they fell into con-
versation with the head of the house
and the owner of the farm. The av-
erage New York farmer no longer looks
upon a cyclist as a stranger from a
far country, for the column in his
weekly paper devoted to the wheel Aas
made him more or less familiar with
those vital issues of the day--the ques-
tions of makes" and "gears"-and he
will often end conversation by pro-
posing to show his ability'to ride, a
proposition which it is not always eX-
pedient for the owner of a wheel to
entertain.
While they were conversipg the at
tention of the official was attracted
to team of horses standing harnessed
in the dooryard. There was something
about their rugged and homely ply
siques which seemed strangely famil-
lar. They were elephantine as COM
pared with the other horses he had
observed in the neighborhood. Step
ping up 10 them for closer inspec-
ton he stopped down and there, brand
ed on their foreheads, were the familiar
initials of his own company
The farmer had observed his look
| OF surprise and was prepared when
he exclaimed: ''How- in the name of
| goodness did these horses ever come
| out here?"
Recognize them, do you?" replied
| the owner.
Il should say did," exclaimed the
official, land we have 500 more with
that brand on them down in the city,"
"WeI,' replied the farmer, those
| old horses of yours are about the only
thing I have been able to make a cent
out of in the last few years. / have
| nephew down in the city who knows
the difference between a horse that
is played out for good and one that
only needs rest He buys me about two
| dozen of your horses every spring, and
sou know he don't have to pay much
for them, about ten to twenty dollars
He buys them that are all sound. eS-
cept their feet-perhaps it's corns or
cracked hoofs caused by too many
months travelling on the stone streets
without a let up Your folks can't
afford to feed them until they get well.
so you sell them for what you can get
He sends them to me and turn
them out to pasture, where they have
| a chance to lie down in the shade and
get some fat on their bones. Tread
ing on the soft ground, their feet get
| well again, and they are as sound as
dollar You wouldn't know them for
the same animals. Then 1 sell them
at good margin.
There is always good demand for
| them. They make the best kind of
| horses for hauling from the cheese fac
| tories to the railroads or from the sta
! ton to the villages. No horses around
here can touch them on the straight
| draw. The stage men like them, for
they can travel all day without get
ting tired. They aren't so good about
farm work, as they are apt TO be a
little slow. But in plowing.s if you
run on a snag either the snag or the
harness or the pillow has TO give in; the
| horse never does"
And five New Workers. as they rode
out of the yard after bidding him COED
by, decided that not all the brains of
the state are lodged in the metropolis.
N V Tribune