The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-10-11
Tnr DEMAND ron HORSES.
Automobiles Have Not Materially
Affected ".

automobiles Have Not Materially
Affected ".
From the New York Tribune.
In tho lost three years the automobile
trade assumed such Dimensions that
lovers OF the horse fancicd his reign was
drawing 20 a close. with every month
more Of the machines app ar In the streets
ana greater euthusiasum Is manifested Ia
the sport. Now that their entlfc SAFETY
has been demonstrated. % D. natural 90
assume that their comparative cheapness
viii bring about an even more marked
Increase IN their number While this is
going on. what Is becoming u the horse
the .mprc sion among the uniniuated Is
that hc should be far.ng rather badly
ard mat the prices OF good trotters or
urauFht horses should be considerably
lower than formerly such Is not the case
however There has been steady IN
crease in the price OF horses Tor the last
year or two and the climax has now been
reached a dealer who has been IN thc
trade for forty years said Of the present
state 81 affairs that he had never seen
prices 20 high. or horse In such demand,
In Europe as well as in this country. The
influx o. buyers from across the water is
uuparalle "a. and the search for good
I
Tor many year,
This state Of affairs IS more easily ac-
counted for than would be supposed
Three years ago. when the automobile in
dustry began 10 come into prominence
horse hreesiers became alarmed They saw
themselves with farms fun Of horses fof
which there would be no sale. while the
worid whizzcd hy in tho new carriages
So they promptly stopped breeding A.
Il has happened, they wero grievonsly
mistaken ia their estimate Of the future
Automobnce have. indeed. increased in
number. bu. tho horse has not found his
occupation gone. Wealthy persons keep
one or two machines. but do not sell their
trotters Brewers and others who need
heavy draught horses have not yet adapt
ed tire automobile to their purpose. ana
still caH for Percheron and Normandy
horses So that. had there been nothing
else 20 create a demand, the trade would
still have prospored.
But there has been an unusual reason
FOR the present call for horses. The Brit
ism have shipped. since the war IN the
Tranevaai BEGAN over one hundred and
aftv thousand horses 10 South Africa. Few
Of these will be Of much use when the
war Is over. The army needs, IN time or
peace. sixty thousand horses. The home
tltprlv a exhausted-in fact Il was long
eEo exhausted-and that sends buyers 70
this country IN such numbers that dealers
who have spent years IN the business open
heir ewes in amazement. one dealer has
been feeding from Eve hundred to hiieen
hundred horses every week In his export
stah.es. All through the West, from Chic
ago 10 the Pacific. ana nearer home a.
well. the buyer are looking for horses.
ana WI ray almost any price for what
they want
A draught horse Is not really mature
until he is i've years old-thai is, ne y
not NJ for a brewers wagon or the IKE
until that age Since the breeding OF such
horses received a check three years ago
aud is only now becoming normal. II fol
lows thar the present state of affairs VIII
continue for two or three years. anyway
THE usual increase IN the demand for
horses every year Is per cent. and that
Increase Is now considerably exceeded
Prices are from n 20 Is per cent higher
than three years ago. and even az thar the
supply does not equal the demand. II J.
quite possible that the lack OF good horses
for heavy work will force the attention
OF manufacturers 20 the using OF auto
mobiles. and thus give an additional boom
10 that already growing trade. But IL has
heen shown pretty conclusively that the
horse will not be displaced by the new In
,eutfon. great as that industry will event.
ually become.
Perhaps one reason Tor the present de-
mand may be found In the growth OF the
/ trottlng horse lad among men OF Wealth
/ An over the country speedways are being
demanded by enthusiastic owners 81 tast
horses. The Road Drivers Association
numbers fifteen hundred members ana Is
constantly growing. a. state fairs more
and more attention IL paid TO wagon races.
/ and this T. encouraged by the farmers,
who foresees increasing prices as the pop
ularity OF sport grows. Already, u u
claimed. the practice OF amateur wagon
| racing has been responsible for the re-
vlval 81 horse breeding In many parts OF
the country At any rate this growing
snort counot fan 20 do much toward keep
| ing up the prices for GOOD carriage horses.
Taxing everything into consideration.
horse lovers may feel assured that their
favorites will not be dethroned as long as
the sporting instinct lives.