Evening star., 1914-09-27

the Belgian frontier. IL seemed I'M
possible to silence their fire until the
9th Lancers made their attempt, rid
ing straight at the guns, after debouch-
ing into the open, and charging under
a hail of melinite and lydite: 1 have
not been able to get reliable figures as
to the distance they rode. but they
reached their goal Nothing could stop
them; they reached the guns, killed the
gunners and put the guns out of ac-
ton. Then. like their prototypes of
Balaklava, they rode back. On their
return they fell in greater numbers
from the attack of other German bat
teries posted at vantage points around
the valley"
That the public at large, Influenced
by the abolition of the war horse in
the prophecies of the peace-time ex-
ished, at the prominent part he is still
playing in war, is plain from the many
articles of laudatory recognition ap-
pearing in the press of the country.
So much for what the horse has done
and is doing for war; what war has
done and is doing to the horse is
more pitiful tale. From the days of
earliest wars and warriors the horse
front of battle. Indeed. his advent upon
the battlefield is lost in the mists of
antiquity Job. considered the oldest
book in the world, pays tribute to
the war horse thus:
Hast Thou given the horse strength? Hast Thou
He paweth in the valley and rejoiceth in his
strength; he goeth on 10 meet the armed
He mocketh at fear and is not afrighted;
neither turneth he back from'the sword.
The culver rattleth against him. the slittering
spear and the shield.
He swalloseth the ground with ferceness and
rage: neither beieveth 1t is the sound Of the
trumpet.
He saith among the trumpets: 'Ha ha!' aud he
smelleth the battle afar of: the thunder of
the captains and the shouting.
This is pretty correct description
of the war horse; for cavalrymen all
derstands battle and feels a joy in it.
Every cavalryman will also testify
that when horse is wounded in bat
tie he utters an almost human scream
with rage, doubtless, no less than
pain.
In the fight, it is always the horse
who gets the worst of it. The NOR
tality among them is far greater than
among men. In Pickett's famous
charge at Gettysburg every officer was
either killed or wounded-but every
horse that crossed that valley was
killed.
Especially is the mortality great
among the horses Of the artillery. Sol
diers In attacking a battery on the
move are instructed to shoot at the
horses. rather than the men. for
single man might drive away gun
team and save his piece. but, with a
single horse disabled and tangled In
the harness, the gun is practically
loss. Hence. shoot the horses. Many
gruesome photographs from the pres
ent theater of war show the artillery
horses shot down in rows
But it is in the rapid movement OF
supplies urgently needed at the frche
able in wartime. Here the automobile
and motor truck. Urapie to get over
bitches or through, rough helds. ran at
the most crucial period, and recourse
must be had to the never-faiiine morse,
who is generally rewarded with
shrapnel shell. If the ground becomes
too rough even for light vehlcles the
horse is ready to be laden with am
munition and ridden thHousE uehse
thickets or swum through rapid rivers
to the point of necessity. In this phase
of his service 1t is hard to see now
any invention of science can ever sup
plant him, or even raise up rival
That the English early appreciated
the value of the horse in the present
war is shown by the rapidfty with
which their transportation and cavalry
services gobbled up every moor IN
England. The wealthy Americsns IN
London freely gave up'their staoies u
the public need. ~
There has been deal OF scare taik
about the war wiping out the AEleri-
can race horse. There is only one pos
sible use to which race horse can be
practically put; that is to race him on
a track. AS a service horse, especially
in the trying service of scouting and
battle, the race horse would be wholly
useless.
"a race horse would make the poor
est war horse" commented a Fauquier
county, Va, man upon this report. his
highly strung nervous system would.
under the stress of excitement caused
by the roar of guns and the shouting
of thousands of men. go to pieces inn
mediately, In less than five minutes he
would probably run away-and run
until he dropped dead. A cavalryman
wants q horse that can take care Of
itself-that Is, one that he does not
have to perpetually keep a tight rein