The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-03-27
REVIVAL or THE HORSE.
For Years the Trolley and Automobile
Lessened the Demand.


Lessened the Demand.
Fifteen years ago the bottom very
suddenly dropped out Of the business
The street car system in the cities
changed with slight warning from
horse power to cable and electricity.
and not only threw upon the market
thousands of horses that had been in
use upon street car lines, but deprived
Of value many thousands of other
three, four and five-year-olds that were
upon the breeding farms in readiness
for the succeeding years demand.
Most of these animals were sacri'
feed. In Philadelphia, New York and
Chicago they we're sold at about $40 or
$12, their actual value for rendering
purposes. Following this came the
panic. and in addition to the disappear
ance of the market for horses for gen.
eral purposes there was no longer any
demand for carriage or saddle horses,
which are always the first to be cut off
in the days of adversely.
Hundreds of breeders went out of
business, but the pluckier ones sent
agents to Europe to see If a market
could not be secured. They found the
European tramways still using horses,
and In a short time American animals
were supplanting the scrawny stock in
use abroad. Later many horses were
disposed of to European armies, and
when still later came few wars the
business was again upon its feet.
Thousands of animals were sent to
Cuba soon after the American occupa-
tion. There is still good demand
there for the lighter animals, which are
used for gardening, truck raising and
small farming. The south also was In
duced by the low price of horses and
the high price OF mules some years ago
to buy many Of the lightweights for
use In the cotton field.
The Boar war created a demand for
nearly hundred thousand animals.
Eighty thousand were shipped in one
year by the English, and the western
bronco became familiar sight as an
English cavalry horse.
Business men no longer buy the
streeters for their own use. A streeter
is morse that once was popular for
light wagons, cars and general use.
These have been supplanted in most of
the cities by the sleek, heavy draft
horses, products Of the breeding of i'm
ported stations and native mares.
Not the least interesting feature of
the horse business is the annual visit of
buyers to France and Belgium, where
pure bred stations, raised by experts
under government supervision, are
yearly purchased by thousands. These
are later resold to western farmers and
breeders, who thing nothing of paying
from $1,000 to $4,000 for pure breed.
From seven to eight thousand coach
and draft horses are yearly imported
from Europe. These animals are
brought over in lunches of from 25 to
$50, and they are all being absorbed by
the breeders. AS many as 1,5O0 horses
day are disposed of at the larger
marketing points in this country.
Dealers declare II to be fact that
the price of horses has increased in the
past FIVE years at the rate Of $40 a
year. While the standard car horse
price in New York, before cables and
trolleys came in, was from $40 to $125,
horses of the same grade now sell at
from $3.50 to $500, and are scarce at the
new figure
The outlaw horse, the bucking bron-
co, is becoming scarcer each year. Ten
years ago such horses were as plentiful
as jack rabbits, but they will soon join
the buffaloes in retirement.
The outlaw comes from the poorest
blood on the range. He Is said by cow
boys to be horse degenerate, Grim
inal by nature, just as men go wrong
who have poor blood in their veins.
His parents are in nearly every case
mustangs, and the stock Is the same as
the wild horse of early plain days.
Cowboys say that nearly every horse
will buck II turned loose In pasture
for several months, but he will soon
quiet down. The outlaw will buck no
matter how long or how often he has
been successfully ridden. Famous
buckers are rare now. The bettering
of the blood sounded the death knell of
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