Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1907-07-19
FRIDAY, JULY 10. 1907.
Automobiles Versus Horses.
ACCIDENTS BY.

The hobbyhorsical editor of our much
esteemed contemporary and next door
neighbor, the Middlebury Register, seems
to be the recipient of good many hum
orous and pointed remarks from the
state press recently, on account of his
hatred of the automobile ami love of the
Morgan horse. The Montpelier Journal
facetiously remarks:
1.-The Middlebury Register continues
to publish the weekly record of automo.
bile accidents, large, small, local and
national. Now it might be good thing
for the automobile owner of the Regis
ter's neighbor, the Vergennes Enterprise,
to counter on Col. Battells paper with
record of the horrible horse accidents,
which, by the way. outnumber the
motor-car fatalities two to one:
The automobile owner" referred
to begs to say that his paper is not large
enough to chronicle all the horse acct
dents, and then, too, it is a question if
newspaper readers are interested in such
news when it is used to the exclusion of
other more interesting matter. If
man sees fit to ride a hobby horse he
probably has a right to do so but it is a
little tough on the subscribers who pay
their good money for a sheet supposed
to be acknowledgements Enter
prise.
We do not usually pay any attention
toNhat the automobile papers in Yer
mont, whether such because proprietors
are feed by the automobile trusts, or be-
cause they are wealthy enough, or poor
enough, and Indifferent enough to the
property interests, safety, and comfort, of
ninety-fve per cent of their neighbors, to
own an automobile; but the above refer
ence to the relative number of accidents
by automobiles or horses being grossly
incorrect, we make an exception.
In the first place though, we would
say that the question Of accident, serious
as it is, is not by any means the only
question at issue. The main question is
whether certain persons living outside of
the State, who do not pay dollar for
the building or maintenance of our roads,
and a very few of those living within
the State, should be permitted to steal the
roads of the people, using them in such
way as to prevent many from using
them. at all, and all from using them
with comfort or safety? And to this
question we believe Vermonters will soon
give a decisive answer.
AS to the relative number Of accidents
from the use of horses or automobiles In
the first place, any comparison must in
clude the proportion of each in use, and
the length of time used. In Yer
mont there are some $4,000 horses of all
ages, probably 10000 in general use.
And these are used the year around. Of
automobiles there had been registered
up to the end of last year 500, in the
State, and perhaps 200 have been used
in Vermont, for few days or weeks,
from out of the State. Reckoning from
above basis, there might possibly be a
use of 1900 automobiles three months in
the year. This is certainly a high
estimate, as against that of 10000 horses
twelve months in the year, or a proper
ton of 5000 to 100000 or 1920. That
is, about 100 horses are used the yeal
round to one automobile; and if the
estimate of the above writer was correct
that the average of accidents from the