The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-08-17
HORSE SWAPPING
In the Good Old Days 1t Was
Sport. Not C0mmerciaIism.
A MAN TOOK A CHANCE THEN.

.
antee That the Animal Was Sound.
and hs Got Stuck Hs Bidsd His
Time to Pass Along the Prize.
II have been reading that David
Harum story" said the ancient livery
man when his crOnies were comforta.
bly, seated In his little office. "A friend
told me that story was the last word
on horse trading. but the man who
wrote it didn't understand the spirit
OF the game at all. David Harum
would have been skinned out of his
teeth II he had blown into any west.
ern town In the palmy days of horse
trading twenty-five or thirty years ago.
IL tell you. my friends. all the dead
game sports are asleep with their IA
theirs. Nobody is willing to take a
chance nowadays. If man buys a
cigar he wants bill of sale with 1t.
The other day a cheap skate pestered
me a whole afternoon talking about
buying horse. He tried out all the
nags In the barn and finally decided
that the glass eyed bay would suit
a
ten guarantee that the horse was
sound! A written guarantee! No. gem
tlemen, l am not joking. That bald
headed travesty on a man actually
asked for such a document. l regarded
1t as an insult. and after had rebuked
him they had to pour four buckets of
water over him before he recovered.
lin the good old days horse trading
was game. not a commercial transac-
ton. II man wasn't willing to take
the chances when he went trading he
was advised to try some other line of
business. Many and many a time |
had the harpoon administered to me-
One day Major Charlie Slaughter
drove to my barn.
81 have quite neat package Of
horsefiesh here said the major. and
l have sort of presentiment that he
can travel few lines when the wind
is blowing In the right direction
His horse was handsome roam, q
regular peacock for style, with his
head away mp in the air so you'd need
a stepladder to see If he had a star
on his forehead. And the way he hit
the road was sin. Talk about gated
horses! That roam handled his legs
as though he had taken sparring les
sons Now, my weak point in the
horse business is that when ! want
certain nag the worst way l can't
conceal the fact. just can't sleep or
eat my victuals until that horse is in
my barn with new halter on him.
The major was wise to my weakness.
"lt's no use. Jake says the major.
This boss isn't on my swapping list.
Every roam hair on him just suits me-
and I'd be chump to let him co.
"Well, Of course ! got the roam all
right. The major was just bluff1ng.
And / gave him the biggest trade you
ever heard of-gave him q matched
team and several bills for that gan
Cling roam. And when took the roam
to the water trough for q drink found
that he couldn't lower his head. He
had to carry it about ten feet in the air
oil the time. owing to some injury in
his neck. He had to eat his faxed rice
of a shelf and drink from a garden
nose, and man needed an aeroplane
to put bride on him.
did ! raise a fuss with the major?
What sort OF skate do you take me
Tor? Next time met him l told him
liked the roam better than any horse
! ever saw. He isn't always roofing
IN the ground like pig said l, and
IL you had told me about his patent
d1rigible neck I'd have given you $40
more We were sports in those days
Zone time the veterinary surgeon
told me about fine trotting horse in
town some distance away which had
been deprived of its tail by a surgical
operation. went and looked at the
horse. He was a perfect beauty and
could trOt like an avalanche. But he
mad just q stump OF tail, and the
owner was ashamed to drive him, so
bought the critter for song. | went
to a lot Of trouble having a tail made
Tor him. 1t was beautiful, flowing
tail. credit to the hairdressers art.
1t was fixed to slip over the horses
stub tall and was then fastened to the
crupper OF the harness, and a man
needed good eyes to see that it wasn't
the real thing.
1.-THE major had poor eyes. and when
took him for drive behind that
black trotter he simply had to be tied
down to the seat he was so excited.
He said he'd always wanted q horse
with tall like that. He had my own
weakness. He couldn't pretend indif-
ference when he wanted a thing tba
worst way. and he wanted that horse
30 bad that his hair vas falling out.
After great deal Of deliberation |
issued my uitimatum.
"TH give you the horse, harness
and buggy just as they stand.' said 1,
for your sorrel three-year-ods and
$5O' Either of the sorrels was worth