New-York tribune., 1920-05-27
The Necessary Horse
Figures to Prove That He !.
Far From Cheop
To the Editor of The Tribu,a

! Ifeat Exception
Amid Soaring Prices s.s.o.
made therein were calculated -
lead the uniformed. Mr Field ...
that foreign governments, and l...x
our own government, paid $500 to s,oa
for any old plug Of horse Tb;. :.
incorrect. Foreign government.
our own were exceedingly rigid !, .,
inspectio, and purchase Of horse, 49,
only sound, vigorous horses calor,..,
to render effective service wer. -,
chased Prices paid did not range f,ou
$500 to $4oO, as the actual prics. -
as follows: At the opening Of II. ~.
the British paid S175 for csv.,-.
horses and s21O Tor as-ilierv bo,,..
During the last two years of +ba@
they paid 1855 for cavalry bor.o. ''
$3.50 for artillery horses. Tbev s1.4 1
paid 1920 for transport horses -,
ing from 1,400 pounds to 5oo rs,
and $3.50 for horses weighing t.a
1000 pounds TO LOO pounds Ts
United States in its purchases wv ~
s165 for cavalry horses. s19n Fl, '
tillery horses and $3.50 for trar.,a.,
horses. These were the extreme wv
paid by any government, as the Fron..
and Italian purchases were na5a y.
slightly lower figures.
With respect to Mr. Fields obserr.
tion at the market at East To-.
fourth Street, desire to saw Tho,
the time the article was wri+.an -.
effects of the railroad strike were ,,.r
ing havoc with the market !, ~,
impossible at that time 10 re. fross
Western horses to the Eastern No.
kets- The auctions were kep. alir.
with the supply O. secondhand bor,..
from local source This means tb..
good, bad and Indifferent horses wos.
listed for all events The Fiss Door.
& Carroll market is public ono =
which comes ever conceivable kind -
horse tnat will set by the human.
society. These horses are. as rn,o
run through the sale at a certain borr
during the day, and il is quite evide1.
that The Tribune correspondent b,,
pened along about his time. A. tbs;
he went out Of his way to paint tn.
picture worse than if really was.
The following figures taken hapha,-
ard from the auction book of the Fjss
Doerr e. Carroll Company. reveal tb.,
Mr.. Field did not know what he was
talking about:
Regular auction. May 3. Bay bor..
$3.50; brown horse. $500. bay ho-x
s255, bay horse, SEQ
Special auction Hay +. second hand
horse. good stock. sorrel horse. sa4s
gray horse. $54o
Regular auction. April Is: Roam hor,.
s2s5; black horse sos
April 20: Bay horse. s2575O; gray
horse $2225o; black horse. $3.50. biacs
horse. s265.
The horses quoted above were ordi
nary chunks, weighing around l.4oo
pounds each, and purely auction stu~.
The regular dealers in New York
City, who make business of purchas.
ing high class draft aorses and as
sembling them in pairs, repor. thai
they have never mad such demand
for good draft horses and that prices
have never been as high as they have
been during the last three months.
The reason for this is that horses
and mules are still the chief source
Of motive power in agriculture and
draying. They have been read out Of
existence a good many times in the
worlds history Nevertheless, the
United States census for 1910 revealed
19,833,0o0 horses and 4.2l0O0O mules
on farms, and the estimates of the De
partment of Agriculture for January
1, 1920, show 21.109000 horses and
4.995,O00 mules on EARNS an increase
Of 1,276,00o horses and 7S5O0O mules
this. we exnor> in +5s nf1s.y..r
period ending Jpre 9o 1o1o r14e7ss
horses and 37e 99s ,rnl es
New York's COSTLY exnerience w.th
the blizzard this mast winter furnishes
convincing evidence Of the ,ecess,.y Of
having an annie a,,nlv o4 horses for
city work On Of 10 ,ror,i,ent bgsi-
ness men in the rast who was in New
York at the ti,oa IF tho blizzard and
who made caraf,, observa+ions tbsrs