The Portland daily press., 1899-12-21
HORSES ON THE TRANS
PORTS.
The sunerings They Endured ON the
Way 20 Cuba Two Summers Ago.

(From the Boston Transcript
The stories Of the sufferings OF the
horses on the transports bourd to Manila
take hold on my feelings, for saw horses
and mules staggering In improvlssd stalls
between decks, on the way to Cuba; and
have ssen few sights more pathetic.
Down there, all the way from Lopos to
Santiago, the trade winds. meeting the
OCEAN current, stirred the intensely blue
water Into high seas; aud though the
sun shons resplerd nifty all day and the
flying fishes scaled and skinned and gilt
tered, and the world above and about US
seemed in the midst OF the most beauti-
full g ssival 1t had ever enjoyed, the steam
ers pitched aud rolled heavily on the
great blue waves, and those whJ went
from transport to transport In open boats
found themselves tattling big fluid
mountains
And In the holds and the spaces be-
tween decks, where sick men and soldiers
and horses were penned up, the days were
horrible. On some Of the smaller animal
beats the mules were packed in loose, in
masses, and these masses swayed and
surged, the poor creatures leaning and
stra lining this way ara that, holding des-
peratsly with their hocfs TO the deck In
the attempt 10 avoid sliding. but slipping
nevertheless from moment to moment,
and rAttling together In orusl heaps to
Toward, like masses of pebbles following
a grta. receding wave down tie slope Of
q arAvelly bsAoh. IL Is No wonder that
we left trail of dead mules behind us
on those glittering tropical seas,
But the hors,s were for the most part
kept in little rlugh- board stalls, purpose
iy made so narrow that the animal could
slip but little distsnos. This tides of
the horses were almost together, with this
thin boarding between them. II WAS i'm
possible for them to lie down. The thips S
which Interested me most as watched
them In their rows, was TO ses how differ
epsly the individual horses took It,, 1hs
stoli1, calm-souled kind OF horses squared
themselves. spreading their feet apart
little, and seeming, as the mules had
seemed. to cling to the deck with their
hoofs; they would even let the fierce lung
ing Of the ship sway their heavy sides
against the b ,arjiug OF the stall without
moving In their tracks; they would even
lhll hkicop it0ut WHtlc bu6 bt6hlDtt
was going almost on her beam ends
These horses we're standing IL well, and
promised 30 come through ths ordeal In
fair condition.
But AWAY in the next stall to one OF
thsss philosophers there WIS nervous.
uneasy, hlgh-splrited horse, who could
not or would not, a apt himself to the
rolling of the ship With q terrible
weary look Of fear be glanced about to
res II hs could per oeive another lunge of
the vessel coming, or II there was any
one who would help him out of the terri
BILE place Each successive wave found
this horse as unprepared to meet Ii az II
1t had been tina tirst-he hardly braesd
himself at al, but trembling with
trmeblinR little half steps tottsred back
ward or forward, to jerk at his halter or
be hurled against the rough manger In
front; then TO recover himself, with an
other totterIng, aud to look all about
glance, showing the whites Of his EYES
and looking always toward whatever man
might be In sight and sseming to say:
ION. why, why do they do 1t to mef"
No wonder many such tosses refused tn
eat. and by and nv fell dead in the lit
tls stalls-an inert weight, q pitiful
stiffened thing pounding psriionsly at
III boards.
And II the horse survived tina dreadful
journey what awaited him at the end of
itf He was led AT last ont Of the little
stall, and pushed, with weakened, aching
legs, to u strange place here a great, wide
plank projected out over something that
was vast and terrible ar d all alive; that
seemed reaching mp with great arms to
seize him. Do YOU know that horses that
have been reared inland are often seizsd
with wild fright at the mere sight Of the
sea. even when thair feet are on solid
landf And here was the great blank sea
all around and beneath this horse on the
trans ort. reaching up to dsvour him.
or course the horse refused to walk ont
pom the plank; but there were other
horses providing up behind him, and men
shouting and cracking their whips. On
The horse. screaming With fear, was
pushed along; he was over the edge, his
feet were gone from under him, and with
. frtghtfol splash he had fallen into the
sea. Perhaps the next wave sucked him
under the ship, and drowned him there;
psrh sps 1t hurled his head against the
side OF the vessel, stunning him 30 that
he went down; but II neither Of these
things happened, the next thing that he
was aware Of WAS of shouting man In
boats. striking at him with oars and urg-
ing him to swim In o certain direction.
II he was started in that direction, and
was strong enough TO swim . long way
through the great waves. no found him
self by and By staggering up on beach,
and very likely % h. cruelty struck and
hurl,d, head and heels together, by an
inconi Ing breaker. This WAS his intro
duction TO the beautiful Land Of Cuba.
Very likely the shouting men In tbs
boats could not. with all thsir blows.
then he SWAN out and out, and was
abandoned and grew weaker and weaker,
and - las sAak Into the svsr-hlus aepths
pf - CAR1hbeAn. -. 4 = 6 !.