Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-12-01
RICHMOND TIMEs-D1sPATCH: SATURDAY, DECEMBER l. 1917

rail-. On the dock were hundreds of tho
sorricst looking specimens OF Horse
mesh l have ever laid eyes on. These
horscs were In groups OF ten or twelve.
being held by horscmcn from the New
Jersey stockyards. A lot OF the men
VINO had shipped as horsemen had never
leu a horse in their life, and IL was
Ditiful to see their fear.
Inc foreman let out Il vollcy or oaths
Tor them 10 move quickly. and they de-
cidcd to accept the lesser evil and take
chance with the horses.
Then the work of loading commenced.
have been in cavalry regiment
when hurry-up orders were received to
entrain for the Mexican border and
helped TO load LOO horses on trains.
The confusion on that docl; was indie
scrlDaplc. The horses were loaded by
three runways. Ny gang and | were
detailed on the after runway The
foreman was leaning over the rail
curing down upon us and now and
men giving instructions mixed with
horrible oaths. He had Il huge marlin
spike in his hand. On the dock was
IN" second foreman. in his large som
brcro. rcd ncckcrchicf around his
neck. wearing blue shirt with the
sleeves rolled up TO the elbows. and In
MS right hand n coicd !ariat. 1t did
horses which broke loose Upon
Watching his first performance 7 knew
was correct when I figured him as
having Mexican blood in his veins
y bicary-cycd drunk was trying to
lead Il horse by tho halter NJ our run
IL. was looking back at the horse. at
the same time tugging and jerking on
the halter. You could see the white in
the horses eyes. and I knew right
a"a%. from my experience with horses
that inns was bad one or. as we would
term him in the cavalry. an "outiaw"
Inc drunk was cursinE and swearing
and kicking uD IT the horses head
The foreman saw this and directed his
barraSc at the offender.
How in Ill do you expect TO lead
a horse while looking at him? Turn
your back 10 him, you lousy bum You
are blocking tho whole run. Turn your
back TO him ] gay. You can't lead him
that way. II come down there to you.
III soon show YOU how to get him
aboard"
The hlcary-cvcd ono became bewil-
dered. and IN his excitement lost his
footing on the slippery runway and fell
underneath the horse. at the same time
looseninS his hold on the halter chain
The horse jerked his head loose. reared
UP. turned around and made break
for the dock. The man on the gang
Il v.
The horse. in wheeling. Let ~ with
both heels and caught him below the
right car with his near hind foot: With
a piercing Shrek the drunk claspcd
both hands 10 lis head. fell over back
ward and rolled down TO the foot Of
the Gangplank. and lay there in
crumpied heap. the blood pouring from
his nose. mouth and the wound below
his ear.
Mad Stampede on Dock.
Upon hcarin. this shrek several OF
The men leading their horses in their
fright turned them loose. and there was
a mad stampede on the dock
The pasty-faced horseman, whom I
had helped out u little while before in
The argument about his bunk. was
standing near the runway, holding on
TO a horse. He turned his horse loose
and rushed to the bloody mass which
was twitching with convulsive shud-
ders. The foreman, on seeing this ac-
cident. snapped out long string of
curses. which almost froze piy heart
What did tell you? Didn't 1 tell
you no; to lock at him? / knew you
would get 1t. and damned good Job
too; blocking that run with your fool
tricks"
Then he noticed the pasty-faced
horseman stopping over the bleeding
man.
Get i'm " The heels. you cross be-
tween corpse and mummy, and drag
him out OF the way. We've bloody we'll
got TO get this ship loaded TO catch the
tide"
The palefaced man kept on with his
examination without paying any at
tcntion TO thc forcman's instructions.
The foreman got blue in the face and
bubDled over with rage.
do you hear what tell you? Get
i'm out OF the way. This ship has got
TO be loaded or I'll go down there and
pound some obedience into you"
The man still paid no attention. The
foreman was speechless IN few
seconds the stopping man straighten-
cd up and looking the foreman straight
In the eye, calmly replied: Hes dead.'
This did not seem To faZe the foreman
in the least and he beloved out: How
do you know he is dead" The man
answered simply: I'm a doctor Then
the foreman once again exploded: "a
doctor. Blawst my headlights. doc
tor: We'll. il you're Il doctor, what in
hi are you doing on horse ship?
You ought 10 be rolling pills for the
high-brows.''
The doctor never took his piercing
look from the eye OF the foreman The
foreman was now Ike an cn:3SGu Dull.
Splitting all over himself. he clustered
out: ''W"ll. If he's dead. there is no
doctor that can do him any good. y
couple o you black skunks over there
Undressing two negroes who we're al
most banchcd TO Il BLUSH white and
who were trembling near-by). get
ahold of him and drag i'm out of the
way" One OF the negroes. with n
leering grin. replied: II shipped on
this here ship - handle bosses, and l
don't allow i.Ohow that it's my work TO
tote COrpses around
Crabs Heels of Dead Man.
Just then the second foreman rushed
over, gave The negro n push out of
the way. ana. grab bling the heels OF
the dead man. pulled him away from
the run. ] turned away, sickcned with
disgust. The foreman then took an
empty oat sack and spread it over the
bloody head.
Just then the changing bell of an am
bulancc was heard and n white clothed
doctor. followed by two men with II
stretcher. pushed their way through
the crowd Of horses and horsemcn.
They We're accompanied by Il police
man. The hcdv was put into the am
buluncc and taken away, while the no.