The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-12-17
THE MODERN STABLE,
AFTER MUCH EX-
 RENSE, AND THE REASONS.

1 RENSE, AND THE REASONS.
 Ventilation, or Lack of It, One Trouble Drainage Another Important Fea- ture-IdeaI Place Should Have Littis C
 OdOr-wrong Methods of Feeding-
 HiDIs to Owners.
 This is looked upon as the age of ma terlaI and beneficial advance to man and beast. Endless pages have been written to prove the fact, and the few observers who point out the defieien- cies are either seoffed at or drowned down. Possibly to no other item con- nected with the horse and horsemen are these remarks so pertinent as to stables and stabling. Within the last few years there have been erected stables for mil- lionaire owners on which no expense, trouble or time were spared to make them structurallY and practically per- fect. yet in two cases out of four they have been lanentable failures, and the other two are yet to be heard from. Why was this? Mainly because the av- craze architect is not practical horse man: to self-centered to hunt around for practical hints or practical criticism, and still more because in his effort to produce the hitherto unapproached, he has entirely lost sight of the first prin- ciples of utility. The owner of the stables, being simply a wealthy man fond oe horses. desirous of obtaining the best, and willing to pay for it, is beyond criticism on this point.
 In the one case stable had been pro- duced the like of which had never been seen. It was an immense and imposing building, S70 feet in length, enclosed in an exterior wall of brick and glass, containing an earth track sixteen feet wide. four laps to the mile, and right down the center were eighty odd box stalls, and in each were water and feed ing appliances, perfect drainage and ap- parently all that could be desired. To the layman it was simply perfection. In practice, it was anything else. When the winter came catarrhal and lung fever swept through the place, not an animal escaping, and to-day the stable is practically of no use. A tremendous and an undeserved disappointment to the owner.
 Why was this? To answer one must theorize to some little extent. In the first place its extreme length made draughts which increased to gale when the wind set erom either end: these carried chilled air. or, when sick ness appeared, carried contagion to an extent impossible in a smaller or differ ently arranged edifice. In the center of the stable, in the upper floor, were won-, derfully comgortable and complete ex- ercise jockeys dornitories, school, din- ing and reading rooms, kitchen, etc., and these being heated, made the center of the stable below hot with every va- rying radiations of heat towards each end, according to the set of the draughts. Also, although each box stall was perfectly ventilated, the outer cas- ing wall precluded the ventilation which should have been serni-direct. There are also a number os other pertinent reasons which need no tbe entered into here. Corresponding defects existed in another expensive stable. and to show the utter lack of practical knowledge, when this stable was completed and the horses placed therein. there was no place for storing hay, and an additional building had to be erected, which, while completing the effective department, en- tirely ruined the plan" of the tout en- semble. Here were instances of too much elaboration. Tn countless thou sands of other cases the errors are utter want of that very important item.
 HEWEAKEsT PART OF A STABLE
 The strength of a chain is equal to it's