East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1915-07-26
WAR Makes HORSE
BUSINESS THRIVE;
SCARCITY TO CONE
ONE MAN IN DIES MONIES CLEARS
$4,000; EUROPEAN WILL
TAKE ANYTHING.

] cHILLlCOTHE, Mo. July 24.-All Of
the carefully formulated restrictions
that used 10 control the purchasing Of
horses for the armies Of Europe have
gone by the boards.
There was period during the first
month OF two Of the great conflict
that the cavalry affIcers OF the allies,
detailed to the United States to secure
animals for use on the fighting front,
made a brave effort to maintain their
cid standards A horse had to weight
at lease 1900 pounds. be so many
hands high be free Of blemish, both
internal and external. have a showy
foot action and show evidence Of high
spirit. But now all that sort Of thing
is Of the past Anything that can
weigh up to 1000 pounds and walk on
four ostensibly sound legs can get
past in flying oolors
And for this class Of animal the al
lied governments are paying an aver
age price Of SITS per head
Never in the history of American
horse raising has there been such a
demand for animals as exists today.
Breeders and buyers alike are reap
ing fortunes. One firm located in
Missouri is shipping an average OF
1900 horses per month TO the Canadi-
an border and is employing so buyers
to scour the central and mountain
western states to secure animals. High
as is the price today breeders are
holding back and in confidence buy
ers themselves will tell you that by
winter time they expect to see the
average price raised to 5000.
The demand is becoming more pres
sing every week. Italy, within the
last few days has contracted with an
Oklahoma firm for $4,000, while
Great Britain and France have lifted
the lid on any previous limitations of
their contracts, They will take all
that are offered.
The average life of a horse at the
front is said to be just ten days.
Some of the best bred horses of the
west have already been sold and be-
fore snow flies many more are going.
Il bought a PAGER today" said
young horse buyer who makes Mis-
souri, and Kansas his territory. for
$500, for the English army That
horse had a record of 2:O7 on the
Grand Circuit and his pedigree went
back as far as you could see. If this
war keeps up for another year it will
take American horsemen a decade to
build up the American horse to the
standard it kept before this war broke
out"
I'VE buyers get five dollars a head
for every horse we buy. There are a
men buying horses for my firm. In
all there are about ESQ buyers now
tripping about the west looking for
stuff to feed the machine guns in
Flanders. average about eight
horses a week although I bought 200
one week not long ago. That's max
ing a fairly good salary for me. Be-
fore this war broke out | thought
that $25 a week as manager for
Missouri livery stable was great bus
mess. All Of the old gang that used
to follow the strings about the tracks
in the summer and hang out around
the yards in Chicago and st. Louis
and Kansas City in the winter are in
the horse buying game today and liv-
ing on easy street. Why, say, l met
an old pal of mine in Des Moines who
took me up to the Commercial Saw
ings bank and showed me a balance of
S50,00O in his favor. He hadn't been
making a real good living for the last
ten years and now he's fixed for life
on what he's cleared on the market in
the last ten months"
July LIST my firm made one of the
biggest single shipments of horses ever
put on cars. We got hold of 1000 |
head on the Mexican border at $50 |
head and sold them to Great Britain I
for about $175 each The British
government has two horse resting sta
tons in the United States. One Of /
these is at Boone, Iowa, and the other |
is at Englewood, ILL.,, near Chicago.
We ship most of our animals to Van
couver. b, c.. where the English take |
them over I understand they are |
shipped via the Suez canal.
THE American army is getting into
the game now and l have an order
for both horses and mules for the L.
s. A. However, the American off
GERS maintain the old standards and I
we take care that our best stock
goes to Uncle SAM"