The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-02-27
THE PASSING OF TIE LIVERY LORD
By Robert w. Williams.

The decline of people has from earliest ages been the subject of writ CTS Gibbons made fame for himself in England by telling most concisely the decay of the great empire of Italy in fsThe Decline and Fall of the Ro-' man Empire" Other noted historians and conservativists have come to the front in recording the passing of the American Indian and the buffalo herds of the West.
 None yet has taken into account that race of American kings and lords large county seat and city were ab- so1ute monarchs of the realm they contro11ed-The nvery-staole Keeper
 Sad as it may seem to the old timer, and many of the younger generation who have had opportunities in the past to recall the greatness of the horse baron, the livery stable is fast falling into the Background and the most par1ous times are upon those who persist in the belief that the horse must yet outlast the progress of motor-driven vehicles.
 All that remains in most cities to- day of the greatness of past equine glory is here and there a livery stable in which the ponderous Belgian or C1ydesda1e truck horse munches his daily meal or lays down to rest after his days exertion before heavily loaded trucks Here. and there is yet kept the slim and graceful driving horse, but the air of yesterday is gone. Up- on the streets may yet be seen the funeral coach with Nit's tarnfshed ltrappings and bibulous driver clad in faded green vestnents. But the shiny hat of yore is no more, for the pride that once stood uppermost in stable and paddock is gone As the beaver 1 in the hat of today shows lack of re- cent ironing, so the beauty of equine | r ezf Soz7 ae xair-if i1f fo7
 all from the hostler to the driver and
 trainer is gone. Nothing but the
 shadow of past greatness remains to
 console the stable manager and pro- prietor.
 Who, ever having had opportunities of living in the country or coming in
 contact with the real horsemen of the past but can recall the influence | wie1ded in every community by the i biggest owners and keepers of horse
 flesh. He was king in his world. | His stables consisted of the best that money could buy in flesh, leather and { carriages. In his stables were the property of the wealthy, the physician,
 and the sportingmen- The stock of | the grocery owner and teamster was | spurned their keep. Attached to the
 livery business might be the sheds
 where those living in the country put up their carriages while making their daily purchases or visits in the city. The inter-vilIage stages came and
 went from these yards.
 Tn the office of the stable were the
 whips, the robes, and often the rib bons won in competition by the horses kept there. From time immemorial
 the ribbons belonged to the stable keeper and host1ers who handled the
 steeds In their victories. The livery
 stable was the center, of city and country news.
 | Who again but can remember that 1 Belle H' 2, IA was owned by So and So, or that 'tUno'' came from the Blank stables. It was familiar sight to see upon the speedways Sunday
 afternoons the prominent owners and
 drivers with their favorite rigs. The stable from which they came was as