Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1910-10-06
HORSE SWAPPING
In the Good Old Days II Was
Sport, Not CommerciaIlsFn.


He Didn't Ask Foe Q Wsittsn ouss.
ansss That the Animal Was eovnd.
and " he Got Stuck Ne BIdsd ssis
Time 20 Psss Along the Prlzs.
II have been resdfng ttak uavfd
Harum story" said the ancisrk lixexy-
man when his cronies were comfofka-
bly, seated In his little once. .A friend
told me that story was the last word
on horse trading. but the man who
wrote II 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 agu.
Il tell you. my friends. all the dead
game sports are asleep with their fa-
theirs. Nobody is willing TO take q
chance nowadays II a man buys q
cigar he. wants I'm Of sale with IL
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 q writ
ten guarantee that the horse was
soundi A written guaranteed No. gen
tlemen, am not Joking. That bald
headed travesty on a man actually
asked for such document I regarded
It az an insult. and after had rebuked
him they bad to pour four buckets Of
water over him before he recovered
"In the good old days horse trading
was game. not commercial transac-
tion. IL man wasn't willing to take
the chances when be went trading be
was advised to try some other line Of
business. Many and many q time
had the harpoon administered 10 me.
One day Major Charlie Slaughter
drove to my barn. .......,..
81 have quite a neat package Of
horsefiesh here said the major, and
! have q sort Of presentiment that he
can travel few lines when the wind
II blowing In the right direction
His horse was a handsome roam, q
regular peacock for style, with his
head away mp In the air 20 you'd need
q stepladder to see II he had q star
on his forehead. And the way he hit
the road was q sin. Talk about gated
horsesl That roam handled his legs
as though he had taken sparring les
sons. Now. my weak point 10 the
horse business An that when I want
q certain nag the worst way can't
conceal The fact I Just can't sleep or
eat my victuals until that horse is IN
my barn with q new halter ON him.
The major was wise to my weakness.
"1t's no use, Jake says the majoe.
This boss isn't on my swapping list
Every roam hair on him Just suits ma.
and I'd be cbump to let him co.
well, OF course I got the roam aIl
right The major was just blufilng.
And I 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 a drink I found
that he couldn't lower his head. He
had to carry Il about ten feet I'm the afr
all the time. owing to some injury In
bis neck. He had to eat his faxed rice
OF a shelf and drink from a garden
hose, and q man needed an aeroplane
to put q bride on him.
did raise a fuss with the majorl
What sort Of skate do you take me
for? Next time I met him I told him
! liked the roam better than any horse
I ever saw. He isn't always roofing
In the ground like a pig said I. and
II you had told me about his patent
dirigfble neck I'd have given you SO
more We were sports in those days.
Zone time the veterinary surgeon
told me about q fne trotting horse In a
town some distance away which had
been deprived Of its tan by a surgical
operation. I went and looked at the
horse. He was q perfect beauty and
could trot like an avalanche. But he
had Just q stump Of q tail. and the
owner was ashamed 70 drive him, %
! bought the critter for q song. I went
TO Q lot Of trouble having q TAN made
for him. ft was q beautiful. flowing
tail. credit to the hairdresser's art.
IL was fixed TO slip over the horses
stub tail and was then fastened to the
crupper Of the harness, and q man
needed good eyes to see that Il wasn't
the real thing.
'The major had poor eyes. and when
] took him for q drive behind that
black trotter he simply had TO be tied
down TO the seat be was % excited.
He said he'd always wanted q horse
with tan like that He had my own
weakness. He couldn't pretend indif.
ference when he wanted O thing the
worst way. and he wanted that horss
90 bad that bis hair was falling out
After a great deal Of deliberation !
issued my ultimatum.
"T1i give you the horse. harness
and buggy Just az they stand.' said L
for your sorrei three-year-oids and
$50 Either Of the sorreis was worth q
herd Of horses like the black.
"Tt's O trade cried the major.
~Next morning the major came
around 20 my barn all smiles. Ewes
since ] was q child and quit playing
with rattle says he. 4 have wanted
q horse with detachable taii-a tail
that q man could take oR and use ~
chin whiskers at q masked BAN. j0s,
called to pay you another 90 cents. %
that when I meet you after this yog
can't say ] took advantage Of you IN
cur trade yesterday
-0h. there were real sports IN thoss
daya."-wait Mason in Chicago News
whan the sea is smooth We hsvI
meny COED sailoea