Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-22
UNCLE Joe ON FARM
Now Teddy and Toby Are Con-
Cerned as to Fate.
VICTIMS OF INGRATITUDE
Faithful Service for the Government
Not Considered as They
Are Cast Aside.

The ingratitude Of republics for it's serv-
ants.
| Uncle Joe is working on a farm. Teddy
and Toby go to the block the first Satur-
day in the new year, January 4; their
future, while still in doubt, is dark And
Uncle Joe, Teddy and Toby. shoulder to
shoulder in harness for fourteen years.
dragged a heavy load OF the govern
ment's weightiest business
, There was talk of a pension for Uncle
Joe when his time came. Not Uncle Sam
was it. though. who proposed this recon-
pense for faithful service done. Fellow
| government workers they were-who, in
| due course of time, themselves will be in
| the discard-started a collection to pro-
vide fund to give Uncle Joe few years
of leisure for the latter days Of his life.
| Services Not Needed.
Civilization has run over Uncle Joe,
Teddy and Toby. Science and modern
machinery have robbed them Of their
occupation, although fit with the added
usefulness OF long experience. There is
no more need for any one of them. since
| the loads they We're appointed to drag are
now moved by mechanical motive power.
| Two. three, four and even five times a
day the three spiendidly big, dazzlingly
white Percherons could be seen, hauling
! behind them the great steel safe van of
| the bureau of engraving and printing,
somewhere on the road going to or COM
| ing from the Treasury. Proudly they
arched their graceful necks; with full dig
nifty of equine self-respect they paced the
way, as they went about their business,
applying to it a mighty, untiring. unflag-
ging strength that not even deigned to
consider the burden Of the many tons of
weight they dragged. 1t was the pride
and dignity of recognized and accepted
responsibility and the strength of ca
pacity for the task to be done.
Hauled Great Treasure.
For in that great van was carried the
treasure of the greatest government on
earth. Its printed paper money, its en-
graved securities and bonds, its postage
and revenue stamps, were transported
within it's steel walls from the bureau OF
engraving and printing to the Treasury.
Millions and millions and millions of col
lars worth of such valuable printed mat
ter have they conveyed to the depository
of the nations finances in the fourteen
years of their services.
Then came the day of the automobile
van. 1t had to come. Uncle Joe was
first to face the inevitable. He was con-
demned as unfit for government service.
His work was done.
Uncle Joe was not unfit-he was simply
not needed. His time it was to move on
out of the path of progress and mechani-
cal development. He was sound and
strong of limb and wind. with many
years of full usefulness before him. But
he was not wanted.
Now Serving Farmer.
Uncle Joe had friends in the bureau of
engraving and printing. They grieved
over his pending fate. Many dug down
into their jeans. but the contributions
were not sufficient to save their fellow
worker from the fate that may some day
arrive to any of them. So Uncle Joe was
sold to a farmer. and is now pulling
plow, or carrying the load of garden
produce to market. or showing up his
class when hitched to the family carry
all for a Sunday trip to the country
church.
Teddy and Toby. deprived Of their
teammate, worked along Tor while In
competition with the automobile, when
now took up the heavier work, leaving
for them lighter and more lnfrequent
loads to convey to the Treasury. Lone
some for their pal. depression over the
depreciation of the dignity of their labors,
resentment against the van that needed
| no horses to make it go. and which had
usurped their responsibilities, fear of the
| future-aE these considerations. perhaps
worked to destroy their efficiency. Yet
| their fate was decided when they were
| no longer needed, no matter how capable
| of the work that has been put upon their
! shoulders.
Fate Now in Doubt.
Teddy and Toby were condemned as
| unfit. Unfit. Two powerful. unblemish-
| ed wiling healthy Percherons in the
| prime of life. They go to the block of
| the auction room on the first Saturday
| I'm the new year. What then for them?
| The farm? The brief career of truck
ster's horse? A few years of labor I'M
| der a teamster. who may believe that it
! is cheaper to work horse to death and
| buy a new one rather than to maintain
| horse in health and strength? Or 4
| worse fate? And. after life, the bone
yard or the scrap heap?
The bureau of engraving and printing
| viii replace Teddy and Toby with young
| er, lighter horses. There is use still for
| live horsepower for purposes of locomo-
| ton But not. i'm this service. viii there
| be further use for heavy draft horses
| The horses to be purchased to replace
Teddy and Toby will be of lighter build
and younger, to draw the lighter vehicle:
| that the bureau will need in various ac-
| tiVitieS