The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-04-02

to do but kick up his heels and enjoy
himself. This horse is known to the
members of the department, and, in
deed, to many of the citizens of Bos-
ton, as "Old Jim" and is now at the
Dartmouth street engine house, where
he is an emergency" horse. This
means that he is used when one of
the regular animals is sick or away be-
ing shod or when the condition Of the
streets demands an extra horse.
The men tell several amusing stories
| about him and the way he acts when
an alarm is sounded in the engine
| house. AS soon as the "tapper" sounds
and the stall doors fly open "Old jim"
makes a rush for the floor. AS soon
as he leaves his stall and gets out in
| the main floor he hesitates moment,
and then Hushes to the vacant place,
as though he understood that he was
as likely to have to fill one position as
another. Another little trick he has
| is that of helping himself at the grain
chest when he thinks no one is around
to see him. He will turn nearly around
| in his stall, and with his lips shake the
| hook Of the rope back Of him from the
ring in which 1t is fastened. Then he
will back out of the stall, and, going
over to the grain closet, will push back
the wooden button with his lips, pull
the door open, and then, raising the
| lid of the grain chest, will help him.
self. If he hears the step Of one of the
men he will rush back to his stall and
| crouch up in one corner as if he knew
we'll enough he had been doing some
| thing wrong.
When the blacksmith calls at the
! house to take him away to be shod all
that is necessary Is to open the door of
his stall, give him push and tell him
| to go, and out he trotS to the man
| waiting for him in the street, and as
| he trots along he strikes pace calcu-
lated to make some of the younger
horses jealous. He is said to be one
| of the best workers that the depart
ment ever had, and. as the men say,
has killed several of his mates by MAX
| ing them work harder than they We're
| capable of, in keeping up with him.
One of the most surprising stories
told about him relates to his actions
at a fire in the leather district several
! years ago. The story is vouched for
by Captain Mulligan of Engine No. %
and several of his men, and, while it
may seem hard to believe, those who
know the horse say that it Is thorough
| ly characteristic of him. Previous to
this fire "Old Jim" had been quartered
at the Fort Hill Square engine house,
| but had been transferred to the Dart
mouth street house to take the place of
| another horse The fire was one that
required the services of the Dartmouth
street company, and "Old Jim went
| ~ La A,, I,at 1pn fpory
| Of the engine. When the scene of the
fire was reached and the men settled
to work the horses were detached from
the engine and "Old Jim" was tied to
lamppost, his two mates being con-
nected with him by the harness When
the fire had been subdued and the men
were ready to go back to their house
the driver went over to get his horses
but no horses were visible No one had
seen them go, and Immediately every
body began a search for the missing
team. And where does the reader sup
pose these horses were found? Old
JIM remembering his former home
in Fort Hill Square, and perhaps wish
ing to introduce his companions to his
old mates, had In some way unfasten-
ed his therein, and had towed his two
mates to the house in Fort Hill Square
where he was found looking round con-
tentedly and apparently enjoying him
self immensely.
One of his former drivers said re-
! Gently that when "Old Jim" was at
Fort Hill Square he had many a time
gone to fire with the bits hanging
from his mouth, but he seemed to
know just where he was going, and
only needed the slightest pressure to
make him turn in any direction re-
quired. So we'll did he seem to know
just where he was wanted to go that
the men almost believed he could count
the alarms. In fact, a boy did call at
the Fort Hill Square house one day
and asked to see the horse that could
count the box when an alarm was
sounded.
For all the horse Is probably eighteen
years old, and has worked hard ever
since he entered the department. there
is still plenty Of life in him; but he is
not so sure-footed as formerly, and it
will not be long, probably, before he is
retired" and it is to be hoped that he
may be sent to some pasture where
he will have nothing to do but take life
in an easy way.-From the Boston
Transcript.