Evening journal., 1912-07-08
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
How the Humble Horse Shoe
Helped Defeat the
COnfederaCy
BI Holland

Saturday, on the authority of his
lifelong friend, the late John M
Francis, Minister to Portugal and lat
or TO Austria, I told how Henry Bur
den, in his day one Of the great man
ufacturers of the country, invented
the railroad spike-the very same
spike in use today--and induced the
railroads Of the United States 10 use
it IN fastening down the then new
Trail
Il suppose" said Mr.. Francis.
that the Union army owed far more
TO Henry Burden for some Of its
successes than has ever been ac-
knowledged, excepting by the Con-
federate government itself
"A few years before the civil war,
Mr. Burden invented machine
which would make horse shoes very
rapidly Up 70 that time all horse
shoes had been handmade So.
when Mr. Burden demonstrated to
group Of merchants and business
men OF Troy, N. Y, where his manu-
factory was, that a single machine
could turn out three thousand horse
shoes an hour they were aghast-
Why exclaimed one of the visi-
blacksmiths in the country
No replied Mr.. Burden They
won't be ruined until sobebody in
vents a way by which horses can be
shod by machinery, and that won't be
done in my day
Shortly after the civil war broke
out, Mr. Burden found his factories
too small to meet the demands of tho
Federal government for shoes for the
vast number of horses used in mill
tary operations.
The Confederate government no
ticed after a while, that although the
horses used in the Confederate army
we're fully as good as or better than
the horses. employed in the Union
army. yet the available service OF a
horse in the Union army was about
twice as long as that OF the average
horse in the Confederate army A
little Investigation showed that this
was due TO the tact that there we're
always plenty of shoes for the cav
airy and draught horses Of the Union
army and pains we're taken to keep
these horses well shod On the other
hand, there was the greatest scarcity
Of horseshoes for the Confederate
army thousands Of horses were in
iured or made usless because II was
necessary to use them without any
shoes at all
Zone day there appeared at Troy q
mysterious looking stranger. He
professed to be a book agent He
seemed TO have a considerable mail
from Canada II was noticed that
he made special efforts TO sell his
books TO Mr. Burdens employees He
was anxious 10 get in to the works
He did get in one day, and was seen
looking very intently at one Of the
eshoe-malzing machines. He was
watched very closely and at last Mr.
Burden was told that he was tryine
10 get drawings or pattern Of the
horseshoe making machine.
II don't think the fellow was s
Confederate spy, but 7 have always
understood that he was employed b,
Confederates. who we're in Canada
70 get a pattern Of the horseshoe ma
chine, and that he had been promised
a large sum Of money If he secured
&C. You see. if he could have got {
pattern OF the machine for the Con
federates. they could. with It as
model have built horseshos-nakins
machines at Richmond or at Atlanta
believe they did actually begin t.
construct a factory at Atlanta in IN
hope that they could establish Their
limitations Of the horseshoe machine
They failed in his attempt, and thi
failure undoubtedly explains wha
many Confederate officers bemoaned
namely, the inability to make N
Confederate cavalry and draft hors
service as effective as II should hav
been, because the horses could no
be properly shod