Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1902-09-29
SHoRT-tNEo FIRE HORSES.
Impossible to Keep Them in Seasoned
IL La xI.-- L..


street is something that will cause
even the most blase citizen to stop
and look. There is something inspir-
ing in the sight of the great horses
tearing along. The horses appear to
be athletes of their kind, and many
stories have been written about them
and the keen perception they have OF
their duties. 1t will surprise most
persons to know that these horses are
not athletes in the meaning that they
are always in condition and hard train
ing, and also cause surprise that their
lives are comparatively short. Jacob
Durrenberger, the superintendent of
horses, who looks after the fire horses
of the city of Buffalo, says that most
of these fine-looking animals are soft
as girls. The very confinement they
have to undergo in being ready for
call at any moment takes them out Of
training, and while they are good for
short squirt they are never as hard
ened as the average old hack that is
pegging around the streets all day in
front Of some sort of delivery wagon.
The very best horses obtainable are
bought for the service and many are
rejected after being a few days in
training. Speaking of these animals,
Supt. Durrenberger said:
"It does not take long to teach the
horses ito discern just what is wanted
Of them, and many even get to know
what calls directly concern them. But
big and strong as they appear, and as
they are, they are not the equine ath-
letes many folks imagine. Down town
they have many runs every month and
in the outlying districts the calls will
not average dozen in the same time.
The animals in a suburban engine
house have more chance for exercise
than those in the heart of the city.
The runs are always heart-breaking,
and it is queer that most of the ami
mails first break down over the back.
The big engines are very heavy, run
ming into the thousands of pounds,
and even with three horses pulling
them it tells across the back in a very
few years. That is how most Of them
go, and when they are unfit for the
fire service they may yet be most
serviceable animals for lighter work
"They know their business, and, as
far as a man can judge, take great
delight in making the runs when the
gong taps. One horse will teach an
other, and two old timers with a raw
recruit will help him along and push
him into place if he appears to be let
ting the excitement of the occasion
get away with him. While the down.
town runs are never very far, they
are made at great speed, and the
wrench, for instance, when a big en-
gine slips from a car track is greater
strain on the horses than most people
imagine. In the outlying districts the
horses have longer runs, but fewer of
them, and generally the apparatus is
lighter. But whether in the outlying
districts or downtown all of these ami
mails are in confinement.
when they make run they run
hard, but they do not get enough ex-
ercise to keep their muscles hard, and
they are flabby. For instance, they
dIS ldhCn ouC anu up anu
down the block for half an hour at a
time, but that is scarcely as much ex-
ercise as a man in prison gets daily to
keep him in only average condition.
These horses have the hardest kind of
pulling to do when they are called on
between. The result is that the strain
of their pulls and runs breaks them
across the back after they have been
but few years in the service.
"Once in while one hears of some
old fire horse that has been years in
the service, but the chances are that he
has been a giant among his kind, or
that, although working in the depart
ment, he has been doing some other la
Dor than pulling a big engine. l know
that the general idea is that the fire
department horses are the best ath-
letes of their kind, but little think
Ing over these facts about hard runs
that they are using uD their vitality
every time the gong is rung. Then,
again, they often have to make long,
cold waits when a big fire is actually
in progress, and that is not good for
them. If a horse is fairly intelligent he
will learn his lesson in very few days,
and anything a horse learns he is
proud to do and show off. Hence the
seeming avidity of the engine horses to
jump at the tap Of the bell. There are
horses who can tell, almost before the
harness has been snapped on them,
whether the call is for their district or
not, and the excitement will die away
ON them as soon as they know they
will be returned to their stalls" -