The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1912-08-07
ROPE H0RSESHOES
MAKE ROADS SAFE
Larger German Cities Are Trying the
Experiment With Pronounced
Success.
HORSES BETTER CONTROLLED
They Stop Almost instantly Where
PEDESTRIANS Lives
Are imperilled.

ana the experiment mas proved So
spreading from one end of the country
to the other.
This has come about according to
Louis G. Dreyfus, Jr, United States
consular assistant at Berlin, on &C.
count of the rapid increase in the
mileage in German cities of streets
paved with asphalt and wood blocks.
The congestion of traffic in the large
cities, where it was found necessary
to afford greater safety for horses to
prevent their slipping and to enable
them to come to quick stop, has had
a good deal to do with it. While the
rope shoes have been known for new
nearly quarter of century, it is on
ly recently that they have come into
ordinary use.
Various Forms Used.
Various forms and shapes of shoes
are used" Mr.. Dreyfus writes. Some
are open at the back, like an ordinary
horseshoe. Others are closed, there
is a bridge or crosspiece joining the
two sides. When this is the case
the bridge is constructed like the rest
of the shoe, including tarred rope.
There are usually eight nail holes in
each shoe; and in order to strengthen
the bottom, and especially to make
the nail holes more secure, the walls
of the groove are sometimes rein
forced by braces. The space in the
center of the shoe is often covered
over with various kinds of inserts to
protect the frog from injury. The
latest novelty, which has been adobt-
ed by the royal stables, is the inser-
ton at the back OF the shoe of block
of wood into which stiff bristles have
been driven. This is an additional
preventive against slipping. When
the ground is covered with snow, a
special ice plate is inserted in its
stead.
ut is customary to use special nails
with long heads in attaching the
shoes to the hoof. When the long
headed nails are used, it is possible
to drive them in and to extract them
without taking out the rope. These
nails, which are driven between the
outer side of the groove and the tar
red rope, also help to hold in the
rome. The tarred rope wears down
simultaneously with the rest OF the
shoe, and it is only on rare occasions
that the rope must be Withdrawn ana
new inserted. This change can be
made without removing the shoe. The
average life of a rope horseshoe is six
OF eight weeks.
ADVANTAGES and Disadvantages.
"The advantages and disadvantages
If the rope shoes can be summarized
as follows: Advantages-They are
likht and comfortable for the horse;
they help to prevent slipping; they
break the conclusion and deaden the
sound of the hoof. Disadvantages
The driving of the nails requires more
care: the blacksmith must have I'M
stock a larger quantity of shoes OF
various shapes and sizes. Great care
has to be taken in the preparation OF
rope horseshoes not to overhead the
iron nor hammer it when too cold,
otherwise it will crack on the anvil.
"In addition to the plain tarred rope
horseshoes there are shoes in which
rope interviewer with wire, wood, rub
Der, copper, wirework, rush, etc. are
used. These are heavier, somewhat
more expensive and less practical
than the plain rope shoes, and there
fore have not become so we'll estab-
lished.
"The sale of rope horseshoes in
Germany is regulated by the Deutsches
Taunufeisen Syndikat, with head
quarters in Berlin. This syndicate
which is composed of the eight princi-
nal manufacturers in Germany, was
formed in July, 1911, to maintain a
uniform price for rope horseshoes
throughout the empier. The lndlvld'
nal firms in the syndicate are not in
any way prevented from quoting diff
ferent export prices, and tits for this
reason that the rope shoes are sold
in Germany for "a marks ($S.OO per
100 kilos (22O.46 pounds) f. o. b. Ham
burg in bundles of 20 shoes, unpacked,
while the syndicate price is $3.50
marks (S9.16) per 100 kilos.
"There are no firms manufacturing
rcpe horseshoes in this district, but,
as mentioned above, Berlin is the
sort of the syndicate controlling the
industry and some of the large manu-
facturers have local agencies"
"Rope horseshoes," writes United
Etates Consul George Nicholas lift
from Nuremberg, ARE coming into
general use all over Germany, but es-
4lo LARGO oifipc whore