Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-15
HORSE UPKEEP
1924 WEEK IN
NEW YORK CITY
Two-Horse Team at This Rate
S9l9.68 Per Year, According
to Official Figures,

er employing horses extensively:
Based on accurate cost figures ex-
tending over period Of five years
II costs Sl.32 per day TO keep q
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
S459S4. In round figures, then, ii
costs $3.50 per year for horse work
Z ing on and kept on Manhattan Is
{ land. A two-hor team costs 1919. 6S
per year. These figures are based
on the cost of maintenance of a
stable OF twenty horses and extended
over 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 deprecia ton 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 a rule
II 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
I'm the determining Of truck costs and
have compared these painstakingly
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
hat 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 horse have been very
lard 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, 1t 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 bust
ness, provided he knows at the end
of the month or year that In such
specified time he has made some GER
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 as costs were concerned, to
their lines of business.
Vary a Great Deal.
OF course, any two such sets of
unit cost figures on the upkeep Of the
horse vary a great deal, according to
the values of the component parts
OF each set, For instance, the charge
Tor stable rent hprcA
would vary, first, according to the To-
cation of the stable and its relation
10 land values. second, according to
the number of horses kept; third, ac-
cording to the character of the stable
Itself
Points that affect stabling costs
concern whether the stable is built
entirely Of wood, is constructed en-
flrely 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 hosters, for one hun
dred horses can be looked after more
cheaply per horse than If only TWEEN
~ horses were 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-
tons Of the case to which these fig
ufes may be compared are the same.
These cost figures were obtained
from the actual bills and charges of "a
man engaged in the general b4uIirp