The record-union., 1897-08-22
OLD CAR HORSES.
When Not Really Used Up They
Turn Out Well.

There is often a query in the minds
of the officials of such of the 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 a
nominal figure. The number of such
horses, though constantly decreasing as
electricity becomes more universally
substituted for a motive power, is still
in the thousands. Many are sold for
their hides and others to tallow and
soap men, or meet even less noble ends.
But it remained for a Manhattan ISL
ander to discover along this line that
the ability to convert one dollar into
two without recourse to the Populistic
method is not confined to the mhaDl-
tants of his own borough.
An official of one Of the local street
railways was cycling with a 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
ait farmhouse six miles from the near
est railroad, in localities where such pa
pers as are read come but once a week
While enjoying that delight of every
urban cyclist-a cool draught from
country well-they fell into converse
tion with the head of the house ana
the owner of the farm. The average
New York farmer no longer looks upon
a cyclist as a stranger from far coun-
try, for the column in his weekly pa
per devoted to the wheel has made him
more or less familiar with those vital
issues of the day-the questions OF
makes and ''gears''-and he will Oft
en- end a conversation by proposing to
show his ability to ride, a proposition
which it is not always expedient for
the owner of a wheel to entertain.
While they We're conversing attention
of the official was attracted to a team
of horses standing haImeSsed in the
dooryard. There was something about
their rugged and homely physiques
which seemed strangely familiar. They
We're elephantine as compared with the
other horses he had observed in the
neighborhood. Stepping up to them for
a closer inspection he stopped down
and there, branded on their forehoofs,
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 good
ness did those horses ever come out
here?"
Recognize them, do your replied the
owner.
Il should say l did," exclaimed the
official land we have 500 more with
that brand ON them down in the city"
o1l5 iaI +l,n fa Those old
horses of yours are about the only
thing l have been able to make d cent
out of in the last few years. | have
a nephew down in tpe city who knows
the difference between a horse that is
.zplayed out for good and ONE that only
needs rest He buys me about two
dozen of your horses every spring, and
you know he don't have to pay much
for them, about SO or $40. He buys
them that are all sound except their
feet-perhaps it's corns or cracked
hoofs caused by too many months
travelling on the stone streets without
let up Your folks can't afford to
feed them until they get we'll, 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 ana
get some fat ON their bones. Tread
ing on the soft ground, their feet get
we'll again, and they are sound as a
dollar. You wouldn't know them for
the same animals Then l sell them
at a. good margin.
There is always a good demand for
them They make the best kind OF
horses foo- 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 lit
tie slow But in plowing, if you run
on a snag, either the snag or the har-
ness or the pillow has to give in; the
horse never does"
And five New Workers, as they rode
out of the yard bidding him goodbye,
decided that not all the brains of the
State are lodged in the metropolis
New York Tribune.