Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1900-08-18
HORSES STILL POPULAR.
VALUE OF GOOD STEEDS IS HIGHER
THAN EVER BEFORE.


Than Diminishs Fields Opening
for Him-It Does Not Pay to Raise the
scrub-Draught Animals Are Profitable.
With the dawn Of this century the
only means of transportation for either
freight or passengers was the horse,
and, although horses ut that time were
very essential to the state of civiliza-
tion, yet they We're not as necessary
then as they nre now, after 100 years
OF the greatest development the world
has ever known. During this century
the application of steam as means
OF converting our coal mines into me
chanical energy has been developed to
IN extent not dreamed of u 100 years
Ago. Railroads have been built all
over the world and have penetrated
into remote territories, that but for
the application of steam power would
never have been developed OF even Oc-
cupied by civilized men.
When the first locomotive engine
was inTentcd and constructed it was
found that this self-propelling machine
could only travel successfully on some
sort of metal or metal covered rails.
Development of rallroadng during the
past hundred years has been so great
that 1t Is so well known by every
body that it is not necessary to emu
merntc how the first machine ran Oh
wooden rails, then Oh wooden rails
covered with iron straps, and then on
iron rails, and finally the modern rail-
road constructed with the heaviest
rails of steel Confined rs the prncti-
cal, successful automobiles have been
to their tracks of steel, they have
caused the development Of the cOun-
try, which in turn has caused an I'M
mense increase in the use for horses.
Freight not hauled to and always
from railroad depots by horse power
is the exception, and the same Is true
In respect to passengers. Along the
lines of new railroads have grown In
our western states an indefinite num-
Dor of cities, both large and small, and
on the streets Of every city are IN in
definite number Of horses constantly
used for business and pleasure, for
carrying freight as well rs passengers.
In addition to the growth of towns and
cities, land has been taken up, the
western prairies have been converted
into productive farms.
A few men in these last years Of this
century are able to work large tracts
of land, because the ingenuity of man
has devised means by which the ma
jor part of the work Of tilling the soil,
of sowing, caring for, harvesting and
threshing the crops can be and Is done
by means Of horse power.
"The man with the hoe" is no longer
In evidence. In his place Is the farm
er driving two horses to a double cult
vutor which performs as much work
rs would 10 men, each Of them with a
hoe. No longer Is the sickle or the
scythe or the cradle used In our har-
vest fields, but in their stead is used
the self-binder, drawn by single
team of horses and doing the work
that would require 90 men 100 years
ago.
The development f our western
country is due primas;'y to the appli-
cation of steam power ana the growth
of our network of railroads, but il Is
due also to the development of our
modern farming machinery, and this
machinery is operated principally by
horse power.
When the first steam engine was
was operated successfully there were
few people who said that steam
power would displnce horse power;
and when the first locomotive engine
was successfully operated there were
Il great number Of people who were
positively sure that steam power and
the locomotive engine would in n very
few years supplant the horse. On the
contrary, these very agencies have de-
veloped unknown and previously un-
Inhabited regions of the world, and in
stead Of decreasing they have in
creased the demand for and the USE
fulness of the horse.
In more recent years-in fact, dur
ing the past decade-the application
of electricity to self-prOpelling ma
chine-notably the ordinary trolley
car--has made 1t possible for people
to travel very rapidly and very cheap
ly over the streets of all of our cities.
This means of rapid transit has made
it possible for business men to live in
the outskirts or suburbs Of our large
cities, because they can make the jour-
ney from their suburban homes to
~ ,>I., >e FL, l., b.
of the city in very short time. This
condition of things has caused many
such men to build their residences in
the suburbs, or perhaps In the cOun
try districts along which an electric
railroad line is in operation. Such
men. when. they lived in the crowded.
contested part Of the cities, did not
have the convenience for and could
not keep horses. But now, since they
live in the suburbs or in the country,
they have plenty Of room for stables
and horses which their families can
now afford to use and enjoy.
Electric street cars carry paSsen-
gers, but do not as II rule carry freight
or deliver merchandise. Coal, grocer
les and dry goods and in fact every
thing must be delivered longer dig.
tnnce than formerly, and this has
caused an increased demand for horses.
\ few years ago 1t was very
common cry that electricity would
take the place Of horses; but our eX-
perience during the past two or three
years has knocked the theory of these
pessimists to smithereens. Logically
the street cars. the same as steam
railroads, should be expected to de-
velop and increase the demand for
horses. and experience has proven
this theory to be true. The experience
of men engaged in the production Of
self-propelling machines is that their
machines work most successfully on
smooth steel rails; and this, too, stands
to reason, for even the least mechuni-
,ol Of nd hnx,