New-York tribune., 1899-12-10
HORSES AT SEA.
D1FFIC1rLTIEs AND DANGERS OF TRANS
PORTING THEM
TIE TERRIBLE EFFECTS OF a STORM ON TIL

pcODlc the story OF now ohlS tHi'' w ''''
horses escaped out Of more than three hundred
many of them finely bred and trained chargers
that were being shipped TO Cape Town on the
Ismorc will have been even more OF shock
than the news Of the drowning Of an equal
number OF human beings would have been
There are many who apologize for this KIND OK
sentiment in themselves by saying that 'the
moor dumb brutcs are so helpless" But If the
same class Of tender souls would have thelr
feelings stil more deeply narrowed with tho
horrors Of war. as not generally included in Inc
conventional portrayal. they may read WHAT
certain English papers have TO say about 'he
fate Of some two hundred or so OF troop horseS
belonging to a regiment of hncers III Il bhlc
which overlook the transport Wardha oe'"ec"
Cane Town and Durham.
All these matters concerning the Transports
tion Of horses by sea are brought nome 10 t"'
humancly sensitive Ncw-Yorkcr by the iact 10
which The Tribune called attention some weeks
ago. that New York is the shipping port oi 'he
fifty thousand or more American bred horSvS
which are exported annually
The story told by Lord Frederic Blackwood III
a letter to one of the London papers might very
oppropriatcIy be printed under the caption 'Ihe
Horror Of the Wardha." Lord Frederic an ON
Ger in the regiment to which the poor horses
saw as clearly and forcibly as a son Of Lord
Dunerin might be expected to write but his
plain recital cannot but prompt the reflection
What would the author of Her Majcsty's Ser
vants' have done with that theme? The
Wardha was not going TO the bottom, neither
did she run aground, like the Ismorc at -.
Helena; she only rolled very heavily. The
horses were kept, in accordance with the British
army TRANSPORT regulations between decks. their
heads to the ships keel line. their tails to the
ship's sides each horse in a stall three feet esht
inches wide The deck within the stalls was
cross Slated or in ship language, "battcned'
TO give the animals a sccurcr foothold Inc
middle of the deck outside the stalls was an
opcn space where, weather permitting the
troopcrs led out each his own horse for daily
exercise.
The comfort Of the horses and the attachment
of the mounts for their riders were promoted by
obedience TO the regulation which orders mat
every trooper shall care for and groom MS
mount on shipboard as much as on land.
When the Wardha rolled so heavily the men
stood each by his horses head, trying 10
eoothe and steady the poor beast that could not
even with the battens under his plates steady
himself at such abnormal angles. one moment
the horses were literally sitting on the snip
sides: the next moment they were pitched Tor
ward their breasts bearing on the wooden parS
that ran along the front of their stalls. Th"s"
bars were not designed to bear the impact ol
twelve hundred pounds Of bone and nus'Ic
apiece; they might snap under the STRAIN or
they might burst from the boltings that rlN''ed
them to the partitions At any moment 'h'
middle Of the deck might become struGsHhS'
writhng mass of frantic. bruised and wouhd'd
troop horses In that case the horses not klIIed
by the first breakdown would Kick oach "'hef
10 death. And if the men were sun STANDING
at their heads when the catastrophe came, just
80 many troopers would also be lost TO the hiIl-
ish army in South Africa.
Eorcsecing this. the officer Of the day ordered
the troopers to leave their horses heads Lord
Frederic BlacI,yood does not dwell on the part
ing between "Dick" and his mount as kipling
might have done. "Dck" knew why the order
was given. and no one can say that the horses
did not Perhaps some Of them ncish'd
"Goodiy Dick ". perhaps pick wished him
self dead when ne patted the hairy muzzle for
the last time Soon the end came When th"
gale went down that deck piled with
broken bloody horscn.sh.
one does not read Of such horrible alauehters
a. this on the steamships which carry hundreds
Of horses every week Six hundred or seven
hundred week ia quiet times said one man in
the business. "and as high as loo in good
times" Perhaps thc stall bars are stronger in
the Ncw-Yorll steamers than they were on the
Wardha. Certainly the catastrophe could not
happen "a thc Same way. for there is not enough
room between the rows OF stalls. The passage
ways n some Of the horse carrying ships are
not often more than four feet wide This Is one
complaint Of them that go down to the sea In
ships with horses. They say that not only can
n horse poke out his head from his stall and