Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-07

honors. This team has. unfortunately been
broken by the sickness of one of its men,
bers
I'VE do not match our horses, however,
according to color, but according to con-
formation. disposition etc, but the two per-
feCtly matched teams in question would be
hard to beat could different cities compete
for prizes on this score. We average about
$50 horses the year around in the depart
ment. and the life of the average fire horse
is from three and half to four years
Some horses last only six months, and
otaers will do excellent duty for years.
Blue Ribbon Veterans.
Il can give the blue ribbon to the three
oldest horse servitors in our department,
however. and they are justly entitled to
this slight mark of recognition for their
long and valiant service in aiding in pro-
tecting the lives and the property of the
citizens of Washington. One IS a roam
horse named Joe. attached to No. 5 en-
CINE in Georgetown; the second is a dap
pie gray answering to the name of Sam,
attached to the chemical engine on Con-
gress Heights, and the third is also a
dapple gray named Bull attached to the
chemical engine at Brightwood. All Of
these three veterans have served the
city faithfully for about ten years, and
their record is n remarkable one for con-
tinuoUS service.
AS fire horses respond to alarms on IL
hard gallOp the asphalt pavements are
feet and it is here that our horses first
show signs of giving out for fire pur-
poses. We have to use very heavy horses,
as our apparatus is heavy, and there are
several steep hills in the city, otherwise
we would be more than glad to use
lighter teams, as it is often the horses
own weight which largely contributes to
his ultimate condemnation. owing to the
force with which his forelegs strike the
paVements.
You see, our trucks average 1000
pounds in weight, the older type of en-
gines 5000 pounds, while the new big
steamers in the business dig .rict weigh
/ 500 pounds. The water tower would
ofThand seem to be the heaviest piece of
apparatus in the department. but its
weight is $500 pounds. This dead weight
is a tremendous strain on horses. We
condemn about thirty-five a year Most
of the horses are retained in the service
of the District, are passed over to the
property clerk and by him assigned to
the street cleaning. engineer. sewer and
water departments principally, where
they do good service for more years. OBJ
serving citizens may have noticed that
the wagons of these departments have a
fine lot Of horses. and this is where most
of them come from.
Are Quickly Trained.
The main reason why the horse will
continue to pull fire apparatus in cities
for some time to come is because the
horse Is the only sure thing we have yet
found who will go on until he drops on
the way to a fire. as 1t is intended he
should do, In all kinds of weathers and
through all sorts of street distractions,
from snow drifts to frozen, Icy surfaces
and up our hills. AS 1t Is not an infre-
quent sight to see steam business wagons
either stalled in winter or unable to ne
gotiate slippery inclines we will have to
pin our faith to the horse until some
thing better Is found. for there must be
no doubt about a piece of fire apparatus
she breaks down. and this accident we
endeavor to forestall by keeping them
all in good repair.
Fire horses not turned over to the
property clerk are sold at public auction,
averaging about $75 each, usually going
to farmers and often turning out to be
good purchases after their sore feet are
cured By being turned out to pasture for
a while AS all Of our horses weigh from
1900 to 1900 pounds. and are not less
than five years old at the time of pur-
chase, 1t will be seen that we have a lot
of good solid horsefesh in our depart
ment. We accept any solid color, but pre-
! fer the gray, barring spotted or circus
horses. Al they are picked animals in the
first instance they, take kindly to the
preliminary training they receive as a
rule and very quickly catch on to what
| is demanded Of them, some showing sur
| prising Intelligence and aptitude in learn
| ing the duties which they later perform
| with such precision and regularity"