Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15
HORSE UPKEEP
1924 WEEK IN
NEW YORK CITY.
Two~Horse Team at This Rate
S919.68 Per Year, According
to Official Figures,


er employing horses extensively:
Based on accurate cost figures ex-
tending over a period of five years
it costs $l,S2 per day to keep a
draught horse in New York City. Con-
vert this into weekly cost and the
figures become 1924. Reckoned
monthly these figures increase to
1882, and If extended the unit of
time to a year the figures become
S459.S4. In round figures, then, it
costs $3.50 per year for horse work
ing on and kept on Manhattan Is
land. A two-horse team costs 1919 SO
per year. These figures are based
on the cost of maintenance OF "a
stable Of twenty horses and extended
over a period of five years. The fig
ures are not based on guesswork
but were taken from the records Of
the auditing department of a New
York firm They include feeding
straw for bedding, hostlers, shoeing
veterinary service, stable rent wa
ter tax, horse depreciation on basis
Of five years useful life and an origi-
nal cost Of $500 per horse, and in
terest on the cost of the horse and
the harness. No recognition of the
wagons or other vehicles is taken
into consideration, the horse and har-
ness alone being considered.
Estimates Cost Unfair.
Since the advent of the motor driv-
en- truck in the field of the horse
drawn vehicle, accurate figures on
the cost Of upkeep of the ordinary
draught horse have become of the
utmost Importance because, as rule,
1t is the comparison of these with the
similar upkeep cost of the motor
truck which impels merchants to the
adoption or rejection of the motor
truck. There has been a great deal
said and written about the cost of
upkeep Of motor trucks, and in most
cases these costs have been used to
convince owners of horses and pros
pectiVe users of trucks that what
with its greater output per dav the
truck is the cheaper form of trans
portation for ordinary commercial
purposes. The comparison has in
most cases been decidedly unfair, in
that users of horses have required
the last penny to be accounted for
in the determining of truck costs and
have compared these painstaklngly
compiled and audited figures with
loose estimates on horse cost in the
majority Of instances. Too often a
Horse user will estimate the cost of
horse transportation in the most hap
hazard sort of fashion, without any
actual accounts to justify him. Ac-
cordingly The Commercial Vehicle
has conducted an investigation into
the true costs of horse upkeep, so
that in comparing the cost OF truck
transportation with horse transporta-
ton some definite premise may be
started out with.
Hard to Obtain.
Such actual figures on the cost of
upkeep Of a horse have been very
hard to obtain, either because the
owner would not divulge his business
secrets or because he was not math-
ematically able to pick out from his
bills and charges the proper items
which go to make up the actual unit
cost per day or per month, as the
case may be. Ii is a known fact that
the average truckman, be he engaged
In special or ordinary hauling, either
does not care or finds no time to
delve into the unit cost of his busi-
ness, provided he knows at the end
Of the month or year that in. such
specified time he has made some cer-
tain amount of money 1t is this fact
of the lack of accurate unit cost fig
ures in relation to the horse which
has been responsible for the dissat-
isfaction of some of the owners of
horses engaged in some particular
line of the transportation business
who adopted motor trucks for their
business and decided that the partIcu-
lar motor truck, or trucks, which they
had bought We're entirely unsuited, In
so far is costs were concerned, to
their lines of business.
Vary Great Deal.
OF course, any two such sets Of
unit cost figures on the upkeep of the
= -
the values of the component parts
Of each set. For instance, the charge
for stable rent per horse per month
would vary, first, according TO the To-
cation of the stable and its relation
to land values, second according to
the number of horses kept; third ac-
cordlng TO the character of the stable
itself
Points that affect stabllng costs
concern whether the stable is built
entirely of wood, is constructed en-
tirely of concrete, or of concrete and
steel with the adoption Of sprinkler
system, for the fire insurance rates
are naturally high in the former in
stance and low in the latter. The
number of horses kept in such a
stable would also affect the prices
paid for the feed and straw. for prices
are lower for large quantities than
for small IL is the same with the
unit cost Of the hostlers, for one hun
dred horses can be looked after more
cheaply per horse than if only TWEEN
" horses We're kept other conditions
being the same.
The unit cost figures hereinafter
given can not be applied as the aver
age unit cost Of the upkeep Of a horse
IN New York City, unless the condi-
lions OF the case TO which these fig
hreS may be compared are the same.
These cost figures were obtained
from the actual bills and charges of a
man engaged in the general hauling
and furniture moving business, whose
stable is located i'm the upper part of
New York City, north OF one Hun
cred and Twenty fifth street and
west OF Eighth avenue The average
number Of horses kept. exclusive OF
fWO light harness horses was TWEEN
IT, The owner rs man who has
been engaged in this business for over
twenty 1--WE years, and who believes
IN The old saying, IF YOU would have
the mare 80. you must feed her Well
However. when any Of his horses are
NOT actually working he cuts down
iae feed to oue-half that allowed
when the horses are in service.
CHOOSE oAkLANDS FOR FIRE
AUTOS.
HHU 80. RAUL IRE department has lus