The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-08-06
HORSE E..SWAppINC
In the. Good Old Days It Was
Sport, Not Commercialism.
A MAN TOOK A CHANCE THEN.

lime to Pass Along tie 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 1t didn't understand the spirit
of the game at all David Harum
would have been skinned out of his
teeth If 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 a man buys a
cigar he wants a 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 a writ
ten guarantee that the horse was
sound! A written guarantee! No. gen
tlemen, l am not Joking. That bald.
headed travesApTT a man actually
asked for such N Jcument. regarded
1t as an insult. aid after had rebuked
him they had to pour four buckets Of
water over him before he recovered.
'In the good old days horse trading
was a game. not commercial transac-
ton. If 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 n time l
had the harpoon administered 20 me.
One day Major Charlie Slaughter
drove to my barn.
"I have quite n neat package Of
horsefesh here said the major, and
i have sort of presentiment that he
can travel few lines when the wind
is blowing in the right direction
"His horse was handsome roam, n
regular peacock for style, with his
head away up in the air so you'd need
a stepladder to see If he had star
on his 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 sparrlng les
sons. Now, my weak point in the
horse business is that when l want
a 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 n new halter on him.
The mQjor was wise TO my weakness
"'Itsl no use, Jake, says the major.
This hoss isn't on my swapping list.
Every roam hair on him just suits me,
and I'd bela chump to let him go.'
"Well, Of course | got the roam all
right. The major was just buting.
And gave him the biggest trade you
ever beard of-gave him matched
team and several bills for that gan
Cling roam. And when ! took the roam
to the water trough for drink found
that he couldn't lower his head. He
had to carry it about ten feet in the air
all the time, owing to some injury in
his neck. He had to eat his tlaked rice
Off a shelf and drink from garden
hose, and man needed an aeroplane
to put n bride ON him.
What sort of skate do you take me
for? Next time | met him | told him
/ liked the roam better than any horse
] ever saw. He isn't always roofing
IN the ground likeNa pig said !, and
If you had told me about his patent
dirigible neck I'd have given you $40
more We We're sports in those days,
zone time the veterinary surgeon
told me about fine trotting horse In a
town some distance away which had
been deprived of its tail by surgical
operation. l went and looked at the
horse He was perfect beauty and
could trot like an avalanche. But he
had Just stump OF tail, and the
owner was ashamed TO drive him so
l bought the critter for song. | went
TO lot of trouble having tail made
for him. 1t was a beautiful, flowing
tail, a credit the hairdresser's art.
1t wns fixed (slip over the horses
stub tail and NJ then fastened TO the
crupper of the harness, and man
needed good eyes TO see that 1t wasn't
the real thing.
The major had poor eyes, and when
i took him for n 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 n horse
with n tail like that He had my own
weakness. He couldn't pretend indif
ference when he wanted a thing the
worst way, and he wanted that horse
so bad that his hair was falling out
After a great deal Of dellberatlon
issued my utimatum.
"Tll give you the horse, harness
and buggy just as they stand said |
for your sorrel three-year-olds ant
$50' Either OF the sorrels was worth {
herd of horses like the black.
"It's trade cried the major.
"Next morning the major came
around to my barn all smiles. Ever
since ] was child and quit playing
with a rattle says he. I have wanted
: a horse with detachable tail-a tai
that man could take off and use as
chin whiskers at a masked ball. just
called to pay you another 30 cents, SC
that when | meet you after this you
can't say | took advantage of you IN
4 our trade yesterday.
"Oh. there were real sports In those
days.,--Walt Mason in Chicago News.
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