The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-09-08
HORSE EDITORS CHAT

On the sporting page OF the Jour-
nal Tuesday morning appeared an
article about the danger of sign eros
sings. of course this was printed for
the automobilists. All kinds of pub
Iicity is good on this subject when
it calls attention to the many evils
that the country roads furnish for the
gasoline buggy. The Horse Editor
does not own a machine, and the
nearest he is to owning one is that he
smells them when they go by. Speak
ing about dangers for the automo-
bilist. and signs in particular, this
article referred to furnishes food for
thought. But there is another phase
of it that perhaps has not been MOTTO
ed And this is the elimination of the
grade crossings Many that have
been eliminated right here in our i'm
mediate vicinity are worse than the
original, for you csuld see the trains
approaching from either direction,
and in driving the machine around
such curves as between here and
Mortified and between here and
Waterbury under the culverts, one
has to be mighty careful, and even
then he does not know what he is to
meet under the bridge. A team with
out any light may be coming through,
and some of the culverts are very
dangerous being sharp turns coming to
them from either direction. Even
the blowing of a loud horn would not
help the man in the trap. You may
have noticed this.
And another thing that the present
Legislature should take hand in, and
one that the legislative committee OF
the State Automobile Club should be
active about, is the matter of light
ing. Automobiles are required by
law to carry lights, and they would
do this for their own protection, any
way. But vehicles with horses hitch
cd to them are not, but for protection
they should carry lights. This
should be remedied, for automobiles
are entitled to as much protection as
the driver Of vehicles. A lantern
hitched on the axle or dasher, shows
the team or automobile coming IN the
opposite direction that he has some
thing to look out for, and gives both
team and automobile fair show, and
this naturally helps to make travel
safe. Every automobile owner in this
State should appoint himself com
mittee of one to see that lanterns
should be put on all moving vehicles
after dark and it is hoped such
a measure can be put through the
Legislature. If the Horse Editor gets
through breaking three colts he has
in hand he will take a hand in this
and the fact he is taking hand in ii
will put the measure through with
out a dissenting vote. Anyway, boys
up and at it. The Horse Editor isl
with you.
Have We got watering troughs en-
ough in this State? The Horse Ed
itor hears that we have not. He has
not exact data on this matter, but the
matter is one that should receive the
attention of all lovers Of horses and
any other kind of animals. The
Washington County Humane Society
should look into this. We believe you
will find many places that could
stand another one, and help out all
around. Suppose when you are out
driving you take a note of this, and
see for yourself, and let the Horse
Editor know what you find. He will
do what he can to push this matter
along,
Montpelier people may not know it,
but that Munsey tourist trip holiday
we had here has made more talk alb
out Vermont, and Montpelier partic-
ularly, than anything that has
happened here in a long time This
is what we want, and give us more of
the same sort. Those who follow