Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1910-08-03
HORSE SWAPPING
In the Good Old Days It Was
Sport. Not Commercialism.
A MAN TOOK A CHANCE THEM.

and " He Got Stuck He Bded His
Time to Pass Along the Prize.
Il have been reading that David
Harum story" said the ancient livery
man when his cronles were comforta-
bly, seated in his little office. "A friend
told me that story was the last word
on horse trading. hut the man who
wrote IL didn't understand the spirit
OF the game at all. David Harum
would have been skinned out of his
teeth II be had blown into any west
ern town In the pnlmy days of horse
trading twenty-five or thirty years ago.
II tell you, my friends. all the dead
game sports are asleep with their ia
Tiers Nobody is willing to take &
chance nowadays. II man buys a
cigar he wants bill OF sale with It.
The other day a cheap skate pestered
me a whole afternoon talking about
buying a horse. He tried out all the
nags IN the barn and finally decided
that the glass eyed bay would suit
him And he actually wanted n writ
ten guarantee that the horse was
soundI a written guarantee! No. gen.
tlemeD. l am not joking. That bald
headed travesty on a man actually
asked for such a document regarded
It as an insult. and after had rebuked
him they had TO pour four buckets OF
water over him before he recovered.
I'm the good old days horse trading
was q game. not a commercial transac-
ton. IL a man wasn't willing to take
the chances when be went trading he
was advised to try some other line Of
business. Many and many a time 1
bad the harpoon administered to me.
OnS day Major Charlie Slaughter
drove to my barn.
"'I have quite 9 neat package Of
horsenesh here. said the major. and
have q sort OF presentiment that he
can travel a few lines when the wind
is blowing in the right direction
His horse was a handsome roam, q
regular peacock FOR style, with his
head away up IN the air so you'd need
4 Stepladder to see II be had a star
on bis forehead. And the way he hit
the road was a sin. Talk about gated
horses! That roam handled his legs
as though he had taken sparring les
sons. Now. my weak point In the
]
a certain nag the worst way l can't
conceal the fact just can't sleep or
eat my victunls until that horse is In
my barn with new halter on him.
The major was wise 10 my weakness.
It's no use. Jake says the major.
This boss isn't on my swapping list
Every roam hair OH him just suits me-,
and Ia be a chump TO let him 60
well. OF course / got the roam all
right. The major was Just blufflng.
And I gave him the biggest trade you
ever heard of-gnve him a matched
team and several bills for that gan
Cling roam. And when | took the roam
to the water trough for drink l found
that he couldn't lower his head lie
bad to carry It about ten feet IN the air
all the time. owing TO some injury in
his neck. He had to ent his faxed rice
or a shelf and drink from a garden
hose, and a man needed an aeroplans
to put a bride on him.
did ! raise fuss with the major,
What sort Of skate do you take me
for? Next time | met him | told hin
l liked the roam better than any horse
| ever saw. He isn't always rootin,
in the ground like a pig said |. 'anC
II you had told me about his paten
dirig1ble neck I'd have given you $1t
more We were sports I'm those days
Zone time the veterinary surgeon
told me about q fine trotting horse In
; town some distance away which haC
been deprived Of its tall by a surgica
operation. | went and looked at til,
horse. He was a perfect beauty ant
could trot like an avalanche. But b.
had just a stump of tail. and tn
+ owner was ashamed to drive him, s.
l bought the critter for q song | wen
to lot OF trouble having a tail mad
for him. 1t was a beautiful. fowin
4 tall. a credit to the hairdresser's ar
;. 1t was fixed to slip over the horse
stub tail and was then fastened to tn
Il crupper OF the harness. and a ma
needed good eyes to see that 1t WASH
the real thing
THE major had poor eyes. and whe
took him for a drive behind tina
black trotter he simply had to be tie
down to the seat he was so excited
He said he'd always wanted a hors
with a tail like that He had my ow
weakness. He couldn't pretend indi
ference when he wanted thing Il
worst way, and he wanted that hor:
20 bad that his hair was falling on
After a great denl OF elaboration
issued my ultimatum
"11l give you the horse. harne
and buggy just as they stand said
for your sorrel three-year-ods al
$780, Either OF the sorrels was worth