The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-04-15
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC }. HAsKIN, Direc6or,
washington d. Q.
THE EXIT OF THE TRUCK HORSE

/
| exit from New York will be speedy. If
| the traffic improvements recently pro-
! posed by DR.. John A Harr1ss, speclal
/ deputy police commissioner OF traffic
here, are put into effect
81 believe" says Dr. Harriss, that
a law should be passed at once put
] ting an end to the use of horses in
Manhattan by 1928 That would give
the owners of horses warning and al
| low plenty of time in which to dispose
of their animals. The horse is too
slow. 1t slows down traffic every
where. The automobile is now
cheaper than the horse for every kind
of vehicular use"
Since DIR. Harriss is the man who
introduced, as an experiment at his
own expense, the traffic towers which
have brought order out of chaos on
Fifth avenue. his judgment is much
respected. II he asserts that the
horse-drawn vehicles is clogging the
city's traffic. arteries. the public is
willing to cohcede that he knows what
he is talking about. But the Horse
Association of America is not. 1t has
come forward with. a loud protest,
backed by private testimonials and
statistics.
Business men in New York know
that it is ridiculous to talk OF speed
ing up traffic by the elimination Of
the horse" declares Mr.. Wayne Dins-
more, secretary of the association.
only the other day. the transporta-
ton manager of one of New York 8
largest ice companies declared that
better time could be made in the
downtown districts with q team than
with a motor truck, and in actual de-
livery work there is no comparison
between the two. .
Statistics show that without ex-
ception horses are the cheapest to
operate, the longest to live and the
easiest to handle on all short hauls in
cities where frequent stop work and
deliveries within radius OF 10 miles
from the heart of the city are essen
tial.
Big Loads, Short HAuIs.
Consider the situation of the truck
ing companies, for example. The is
land of Manhattan is narrow, and the
docking facilities are located along
both sides of the island, while ware
trally located This means that truck
ing companies in New York have
maximum amount to handle with
minimum length of haul.
THE congestion in the business sec
tons of the city, where most of the
trucking is done. makes travel neces-
sarily slow. The exclusive use of
automobiles in place of horses in
these areas would increase the conges-
ton, without noticeably speeding up
of traffic Horses are more easily
stopped and started than motor
trucks Think of how difficult IL
would be to deliver milk by motor!
Furthermore" continues Mr.. Dins-
more, statistics do not bear out DIR.
Harriss statement that the automo-
bile is now cheaper than the horse for
every kind of vehicular use. Figures
are available which show that the &C
tual cost of operating a five-ton gas
truck for a nine-hour days equals
$685. as against $tS.05 for the same
cost of operating one five-ton two
horse wagon truck for the same
period
only last year" he points out. ''the
committee on local delivery of the
American Institute of Meat Packers
made an exhaustive investigation of
the comparative costs of ,perating gas
and. electric autos rs compared to
horses. The results convinced them
that for anything under 20 miles a
day. the horse is more economical"
While it is doubtless true that. here
and there, individual firms have found
it more convenient and economical to
use the horse instead of the mtor for
delivery purposes. the fact remains
that the truck horse is fast passing
out of existence. In a few more years.
whether legislation forces the issue or
not, probably he will be as obsolete as
the horse car. Gradually, the largest
business houses of the country have
sold their horses and introduced motor
Moreover. statistics, of which the
Horse Association appears to be so
fond, show that the number of horses
in industry is decreasing at rapid
pace.
In 1910, for example, when the
great motorization of America began,
there were 12S,224 horses on the
streets of New York. BY 1920, a sin
gle decade later. there were only u.s.
T40. and this year the number has
duction has occurred in every other
large city.
Horses Fail i'm Winter.
One of the most important argu-
ments against the use of the horse is
the tremendous difficulty it encoun-
tiers in negotiating the slippery streets
in stormy weather. Let a heavy snow
storm descend upon New York, and
New Workers at once experience the
same irritating delays in receiving
supplies as do the inhabitants of re-
mote rural communities. These de-
lays. usually explained by accidents
OF one kind or another, must also con-
stitute a severe loss to the owners of
the horse-drawn vehicles.
On one winter day this year when the
streets of New York provided splendid
skating facilities, a two-horse truck
bearing a load of coal slid gingerly
down a street on the West side, and |
to back up to the curb be- |
fore a certain brownstone front to
which the contents were evidently con-
signed. This proved an impossible |
task. The driver rose in his seat. |
dashed the horses backs, and shouted !
with all the amazing strength of his
raucous voice, but to no avail. The |
horses. tho obviously terrified. strug- !
gled valiantiy, and one Of them fell at |
least a half dozen times by God,
he's camel" said the driver admir- |
ingiy. Yet the truck did not move.
At length, the driver took the blank |
cts from the horses backs and placed |
them across the ice beneath their feet |
but this didn't help either. Then, sew |
eral other drivers from other horse
drawn vehicles. which were block |
AIDED by the truck, got down from their |
seats and offered to help. They pulled 1
h. -. ~