Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-04-14

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horse may bs slow, but At least his
exit from New York will BE- speedy, II
tho trsfic improvements recently pro-
posed by DR.. John A. Harrtss, special
deputy police commissioner OF franc
here. are put into Affect.
II believe" says DR.. Harris. that q
law should be passed nj once putting
an end 70 tho Use Of horses In MAN
haitian by 1926. That would give the
owners OF horses warning and allow
plenty Of time in which 20 Dispose OF
their animals. The horse In too SLOW.
II slows down trafic everywhere. The
automobile 10 now cheaper Than the
hors~ for every kind OF yshicpisr use
s.ncs DR.. Hsrriss is the man VINO
introduced, as an experiment ~ his
own expense, the trafIic towers which
have brought order out OF chaos on
lrifth avenue, his judgment Is much
n svoctei n no asserts that tho morse
drawn vehicle IL clogyins tho city's
traffic arteries, the public In willing 70
lcoucsde that he knows what he -
lttiblpe about. But the Horse Associa-
ltion OF America is not. II has come
forward with loud protest, backed
lby privafs testimonials and statistics
business men ia New York know
that IL IL ridiculous 20 talk d, speed
linz up traf-o BY tho elimination Of
tho horse" declares Wayne Dinsrnore,
secretary Of the association. only
1.-THE other day. the transportation man
J aver OF ono Of New YOrks largest Ice
cofapan MES declared that better time
could 100 made in tho downtown dis
ir!cts with a team than with a motor
} truck, and In actual delivery work
there Is no comparison between the
I two.
statistics show that without cxcep-
ton horses ar. tho cheapest 70 oper-
ate, the longest 10 live and ths eas'est
Ito handle on all short hauls in cities
where frequent stop work and deliv-
cries within a radius Of 10 miles from
9 the heart OF tho city are essential.
Big Loads, Short Hnuls.
!, Consider the situation OF the
: trucking companies, for example. The
island OF Manhattan is narrow. and
y the docking facilities are located along
u both sides Of the lsland. while ware
house. and railroad depots are central
y ~ located. This means that truckin 2
q companies IN New York have a maxi
mum amount 10 Aanuir WIN a mini
um length Of haul
The congestion in the business 800
r TONS Of the city. whore most OF th'
al trucking is done, makes travel neces
y sarily slow. The exclusive use OF auto
z mobiles in place OF horses in thex
In areas would increase the congestion
without noticeable speeding up o
traffic.
Horses are more easily stopped an
started than motor trucks. Think O
how difficult IL would be TO delive
milk by motor!
nv Furthermore" continues Mr.. Dins
'r- more, statistics do not bear out d.
=. Harriss' statement that the autonobil
n Is now cheaper than tho horse 10
!, every kind of vehicular use. Fig
ke ures are available which show tina
tie the actual cost OF operating a fve-to
gas truck for a ntna-hour day eQual
III $685. as against s13.o5 for the cost {
operating one nve-ton two-horz
wagon truck for the same period.
20 only last year" be points out, II
COMMITTEES on local delivery of Il
ia American Institute of Meat Packe,
-, made an exhaustive investigation
- gas and electric autos as compared ,
-, horses. The results convinced thel
that for anything under 20 miles
T., day, the horse is more economical
While It Is doubtless true that. he,
no and there, individual firms have foun
Ia. it more convenient and economic;
toi to use the horse instead Of tho mote
ra- for delivery purposes. the fact r,
his mains that the truck horse Is IA
.ss passing out OF existence. In a fe
ter more years, whether legislatic
re- forces the issue or not. probably
Ing will be as obsolete as the horse ca
rial Gradually. the largest business hous
ted Of the country have sold their hors
and introduced motor trucks in
ads their delivery systems. Moroovs
A. statistics. OF which the Horse ASS
is citation appears TO be so fond, she
the that the number OF horses IN indusu
is decreasing at a rapid pace.
len In 1910, for example. when q
Ids great motorization Of America bega
b. there were 12s.224 horses on d
'ife streets OF New York. By 1920,
age single decade later, there were on
ain 75.74o, and this year the number h
opt been reduced to s2,254. A similar +
IA duction has occurred in every 9th
large American city.
S Horses Fan In Winter.
led. One OF the most important arg
led ments against the use OF the horse
ing the tremendous difficulty Il e
be- counters in negotiating the slippe
streets in stormy weather. Let
TO heavy snowstorn descend upon NJ
Z. Hor. a dneYwN srcviAi3
and York. and New Workers at once {
perience the same irritating delays
E Is household supplies as do the inhab
c. receiving milk. groceries and 9th
The ants OF remote rural community
and These delays. usually explained by a
by cidents OF one kind and another. mn
'iey also constitute a. severe loss TO I
owners Of the horse drawn vehicles
'ue On one winter day this year VIII
mt the streets OF New York provit
. splendid skating facilities, a ~
h..e horse truck bearing load Of coal $
a4Ve gingeriy down q street on the w
side. and attempted TO back up 20
- curb before a certain brownstone IN
'po- -. :.
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