The Benson signal., 1919-03-01
England Must Dis
pose of More Than
Halfa MlHonHorses,
Many of Which Bear
Wounds Received
IL, Battle. o.
BY LLOYD ALLEN
Special Staff Correspondent.

M horses, are being given the
only kind of honorable dis
charge q horse can receive: sold to
English and other civilians to fill the
Dressing need in this country's trans
port system.
We thought, in America where thou
@ands of these horses came from, that
khe British army horse led as pre-
kaEious an existence as the machine
$unners in the first line of trenches.
During those first months of war, when
British army agents were buying
horses in the United States, there were
many who honestly believed the Amer
Acan steeds would last about one week
I'm that inferno OF shell fire.
You should see the American horses
now being brought to England from
France If you ever believed the life Of
q horse at the front was hundred-to-
one shot that death would come in the
form of Hun shell. By the hundred
thousand these sleek well kept, we'll
fed quadrupeds are being auctioned
off to eager buyers.
y
many were wounded in action, but
were carefully cared for by the army
veterinaries and bear today the honest
scars of battle as the memento of the
days when they helped win civiliZa-
TONS war.
One of the first lots sold went un-
der the hammer at Wares EdgeWare
road repository, about the middle of
December.
Here's a horse that deserves the
Victoria Cross" the auctioneer shouted
when the first horse, black gelding,
was trotted out. "Hes got two wounds
to his credit and is still going strong"
The gelding was sold for about $3.50
American money.
Equine Losses Announced.
Major General Sir w. III. Birkbeck,
director of remounts in the British
army has just announced the 1Osses
among the British war horses during
the entire period Of the war.
During the last four months of
1914" General Birkbeck declared, "the
armies in France lost IA per cent of
their horses, or about 3 per cent
month. That period included the re-
treat from Mons, the first battle Of the
Marne, and the first battle of Ypres.
''In the following year the losses were
fourteen and a half per cent for the
whole twelve months. In 1917 the
losses rose to Is per cent, 10 per cent
of which took place during the last
three months of the year, the balance
of the losses being chiefly owing to
the heavy fighting at Vimy Ridge,
Passchendale, and the beginning OF
night bombing"
During the last year of war COM
paratively few horses were lost: two
and a half per cent being the official
estimate. Among the British CONNER
ctal firms something like 20 per cent
of the horses are always either sick or
resting. as m annual average, while
the official British army reports re-
veal the fact that in France, due to
the careful attention of the veterin-
aries, the usual average was a bit
more than twelve per cent.
Whether America can prOfitably fol-
low the accepted BGitish system OF
demobillzing army horses is a grave
question With the present shortage In
ships and the pressing needs Of Eu-
ropean peoples for foodstuffs, together
with the mighty job Of transporting
General Pershing's army home, 1t is
possible that some horses must needs
be either left behind or sacrificed. to
add somewhat to the already stagger-
ing debt &c war.
The British people have been told
that In all probability some thousands
) of horses and mules in far-away Egypt
will have to be disposed of in one Of
three ways: repatriation, destruction,
or sale.
Oppose Shooting of Animals.
There is q strong sentiment against
shooting the faithful animals. And
there are number of practical OBJ
stacles to such a plan. The carcasses
If s25,OOO,OOO worth or horseflesh can
not be disposed of simply by signing an
army order even though Egypt does
afford wide wastes of uninhab1ted