The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1908-11-06
THE HORSE A MENACE TO CITY
LIFE.

since history began the horse has
shared all mans victories; has bled
with him on the battlefields; fallen
with him In defeat; thirsted and hun
gered with him on the UNEMPLOYED
deserts; carried him out of dire per-
lis and into great successes; has
hauled his pleasure vehicles and
groaned beneath the never ending
burdens of the great cities. But to-
day the horseless-wagons" are slow
! ly driving the horse from the larger
cities and the time is not far distant
when the horse will be entirely ban
ished to the rural districts. The de-
struction of human life caused by
germ laden dust, to which the horse
is the chief contributor, more than
warrants that the animal should be
forbidden the streets of the crowded
cities the same as oxen, goats. sheep
and cattle.
But there are great many eco
l
nomical reasons, aside from health
arguments, why the horse Is rapidly
disappearing in the cities. A large
per cent Of the added cost of living
in the cities is due to the unneces-
sary cost of trucking. There are
10000 horses in New York City
alone and over half of them are en-
ployed In trucking. 1t has been prov
en- by actual test that one auto-vehi-
Gle will do the work of from four to
six horses; this means that $18,000,-
900 would be saved annually by sub
shutting auto-delivery wagons. 1t is
well within the bounds of reason to
say that at least twenty-five per cent
of the cost of vegetables, fruit, meats
and other supplies in the cities is due
to the fact that they must be hauled
to the consuming masses by horses.
In the country districts the horse
has an enduring value. But sanitary
science is confronted by the fact that
in the cities of this country there are
nearly 100000 horses and It's, 200
mules. With all the precautions to
keep the cities sanitary little progress
can be made so long as such an army
of quadrupeds parade in endless pro
cession up and down the city streets.
The clouds of dust which sift above
the payements are not the clean earth
of the plowed field but are filled with
disease germs and lingering death
The expulsion Of the horse would
mean the disappearance of the house
fly by removing its chief breeding
source.
1t is apparent to all who have
given study to the congestion OF traf-
fic in New York City that some
change in the methods of delivery
must be introduced The board bill
of the horses In New York amounts
to $1,440,000 year which would
buy an enormous quantity of gaso-
lene. The 100000 horses hitched to
vehicles in New York add long and
unnecessary line to the traffic parade.
Counting eight feet from the dash
board to each horses head the ami
mails take up 200 miles of the streets.
II for example all the trucks and de-
livery wagons and carriages were
hitched together with all the horses
driven tandem before them, 100 miles
of horseflesh would pass before the
first wagon appeared in sight
In Washington, ID. G., the automo
bile has been an important means of
quick communication between the
scattered departments of the Federal
government. These machines do
much to facilitate the huge volume
of the Nations affairs, doing away
! with the old horse system. The au-
tomobile is also being extensively
used by other governments in Eur
ope.
| 1t Is not an extravagant statement
that every one of the 30,000,000 peo-
pie living in American cities is put to
unnecessary expense through the adj
| ded cost of food, the combat against
disease and the waste of time caused
by the presence of more than 3,000,-
900 horses and mules in these Gen.
tiers of civilization. In an official re-
port made by the Health Inspector
of New York City In 1864, attention
was called to the unsanitary pres
ence of swine In the streets. An or
dinance was passed forbidding the
keeping Of pigs in the city and sheep
and cattle were also denied the me-
tropolis. No longer ago than last
fall a westerner had to get permit
from the mayor to drive team of
| oxen through the city.
When the railroad was introduced
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