Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1907-01-04
The Horse I'm History

corded in history the horse appears by
lhe SIDE OF man as his favorite COM
panion and most valued assistant. His
hrst use was in war, as fighting was
the principal industry of the races liv-
ing in lands indigenous to the horse.
When those people advanced sufficient
~ to establish a literature, the horse
figures extensively in their writings.
H"mer's "Iliad," which deals with
the fabulous and traditional age of
Greece, is filled with illusions to the
animals which were of sucn great ser
vice to them in the siege of Troy Many
are the fine compliments paid to the
steeds of Agamemon, Archilles ana
the other WORTHLESS who figured in the
overthrow of the house of Priam. The
Grecian and Roman mythologies
abound in descriptions equine won
ders and marvellous monsters. There
for instance, were the ferocious horses
OF Diomed, the tyrant Of Thrace, which
FED on the strangers that visited the
kingdom and eventually deyoured their
mas er.
Cavalrymen insist that horses in war
acquire the spirit of their masters and
become fond of fighting. They also
develop ferocious spirit and the ten
dency to cruelty which grow natural
~ out OF military movements. Thus
we are told that Bucephalos, the fav-
orite war horse of Alexander the Great
was man eater and so fierce that all
save his master fear to mount him The
same evil disposition is attributed to
Copenhagen, the steed ridden by the
Duke of Wellington, who had a kick
and bite for all who approached except
his lordly owner. Marengo, the white
stallion that bore Napoleon through
the bloody battle of Waterloo, unless
much belied by the chronicles, had
absorbed the warlike spirit of his inn
perial rider.
1t would not be too much to say that
the horse was potent factor in chang
ing the whole course of history. The
nations which possessed these animals
in abundance had a great superiority
over those not so fortunate. 1t was
their horses that enabled the northern
barbarians to ride rough shod over the
Roman empire and finally work a
complete change in the government
Of modern Europe At later period
IT was undoubtedly their superior cav
airy that enabled the Arabians to over
run all the surrounding nations and
subdue large part Of the civilized
world. Nothing could resist the inn
petuous onset of force Khaled and his
vast hordes of horses, while Amru rode
easily over the unwarlike Egytians
aud other horseless nations. Without
horses these ferocious tribes would
never have been able to advance far
from their desert homes, and history
would not record that marvellous career
OF conquests that marvellous career of
conquests that made the seventh CEN
tury so notable in the annals of war.
Those who have read of the Spanish
lnvaslons OF Peru and Mexico will re-
member how potential a part was
wrought by the cavalry. The natives
thought man and horse were one ami
mai, and so great was their terror at
the approach of these Centaur like
monsters that they were incapable Of
resistance and fled in abject fear. When
De Soto galloped up to Atahualpa on
his roaming war steed the Inca
king tremblingly surrendered without
a murmur, and the march of cruel
conquerors was practically unrestrict-
edifrom one end of the country to the
other.
But for the horse, the advance of civ
ilization would have been greatly re-
tarded. AS all ancient nations were
built up by immigration and conquest.
and as intercommunication was so es-
sentlal factor of commerce, the palt
performed by the beasts of burden will
be recognized at glance. So, i'm
portant as he was for the purposes Of
war, the horse was more Indispensable
as an agency of peace. After carving
his master to distant couatry and
helplng IN its conquest, he aided in the
work OF blowing the ground, carrying
the burdens and hauling the loads. Ag-
riculture's debt to the horse therefore
is great, and it is difficult to see how it
could have made much Roadway in
the old times without him. Even in
this sgeof science, with its electric
traction, Its motor cars and various
forms of mechanical motion, it is
found that the horse is still indispen-
sable to man, and no signs as yet APP
pear that we are nearing the time