The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1902-04-23
NEW YORK'S HORSE MART
HOW THE DEALERS SUPPLY THE
GREAT DEMAND.

With the advent of electricity and
the automobile came an avalanche OF
learned articles upon the approaching
| horseless age, and extremists actually
saw IL in the near future when the
horse. except for recreation and racing.
would cease to exist There would be
no use for the horse of commerce or
the heavy carriage. The ponderous
| 2,000-pound Percheron, Clydesdale.
Shier. or Suffolk Punch would no long
er pull twice its own weight. The
| mammoth brewing, ice, and coal
wagons, with their triple teams. would
be replaced by steam or electric motors.
The expires companies and the great
commercial houses who require hun
dreds of light draught-horses for the
quick delivery of their orders in all
parts of the graet city would follow
suit, while as for cab proprletors and
the livery stables, the automobile
would put them out of existence in
short order.
1t is strange. yet true, that this
large crop of scientific prophecies has
turned out to be principally chaff,
| and that the horse is still king. 1t is
true that electricity with regard to the
| street-car system, has replaced the
| horse on all the trunk lines of the
| city, yet 1t is surprising fact that
the Metropolitan Traction Company
still employs 1000 horses. Wealthy
men buy and use automobiles. but they
still retain their fine carriage and their
fast road horses. There are automo-
| bile cabs, but the cab service of New
York is generally supplied by horses,
| and that vast section of the public who
| like an occasional drive and go to
| livery stable prefer a horse and buggy
to the machine that they do not under
| stand, and with which, If they are
sensible, they also have to hire a
chauffeur. AS for the great CONNER
cial firms. they have nibbled at the
auto-express wagons, and a few are
seen on the strets, but they do not
| represent one percent of the vast army
| of vehicles which so swiftly deliver
| at every door in the metropolitan city
the daily purchases.
It is estimated that there are In New
York 100000 general-purpose horses.
and 1t is a significant fact that prices.
have in the past two years advanced
| fully 25 per cent, and that with the
strong foreign demand there will be
| a still further forward movement.
| A dozen big firms could be mentioned
who require from 200 to 300 horses
each, and one bakery firm alone has 200
In use. The various express companies
own from 400 to 500 horses each, and
the brewery companies pride them
selves upon their handsome heavy
horses which cost from $500 to $500.
The interesting question arises how
is the graet demand supplied. and Mr..
| Joseph Carol, who is an acknowledge
ed authority on the subject, in an in
terview has supplied many interesting
details. The great market of New
York is not supplied by chance, but
| by an organized system which extends
| to every state in the union where
horses are bred and to all the great
markets where horses are sold. To in
sure constant supply of the heavy
| 2,000-pound horses for brewery pur-
poses. shrewd capable buyers in the
| West, where these horses are bred, buy
them when two or three years old,
send them to Ohio and western Penn
sylvania, where they are sold to the
| farmers with the understanding that
they will be repurchased at mutually
| satisfactory price when the animal
is mature and perfectly fl for heavy
draught purposes. Ohio has been
selected because experience has proved
that the climate, soil, and water are
admirably adapted for the develop
ment of horses of this class The
farmer gets two or three years work
out Of the animal, and 1t is to his
interest to feed and care for him well,
as upon the perfection of condition
depends the price he will get.
While the buyers attend to that
special branch, they are constantly on
the lookout for good general-purpose
horses, and as fast as the carload,
or, when they are buying in Buffalo
or Chicago. a train-load, is secured,
1t Is Immediately sent on to New
York, for this is business in which
delay means expense and loss. Large
sales, both public auction and private,
are constantly goin on, contracts from
foreign buyers have to be shipped,
as fast as the big stables are emptied
they have to be refilled. A normal
stock for private sale always ready for
inspection is thousand head, and it
will be easily understood that such
stable requires small army of attend
ants and statesmen, while the feed and
horseshoeing departments are Of con-
siderable importance.
While the big firms who require
large number Of horses generally buy
them by private contract, the butcher,
baker, and groceryman, and the other
numerous buyers who only need one
or two horses patronize the public
sales. These take place twice a week,
AMI 1t is common occurrence for 500
harness horses to be sold in a day.
AT these sales, in addition to the horses
| owned by the firm selling thera ara