Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1931-11-20
PASSING
OF THE
HORSE
# "a
BY FANNIE HURST


30 =4h ~ y WV : " N7.-~t
TIME passing of the horse is
phenomenon to which this gen.
l. Grafton has become more or
less accustomed. Already In
wide areas of the urban sections OF
Europe, North and South America,
the tractor and the countless steam
and electrical driven devices for farm
ing the face of the earth, have less
ened his Importance in vast agrlcul-
tural belts the world over.
Upon the Grady family, the passing
Of the horse was to make its deep and
lasting impression. A family long
Injured to the paddock, the stables. the
coachman's box, the racing stable,
suddenly was finding itself on ground
az shifting as Quicksands.
For seventy-fve years, one Grady
or another had been stationed at a
hack stand, tending stations in pri-
vate racing stables, or engaged In
work that had to do, either directly
or indirectly, with horses.
For twenty years Michael Grady,
whose grandfather and father before
him had occupied his same kind Of
throne, had sat in the box Of we'll
groomed four-wheeler Of cab, ply
ing his rapidly dwindling trade from
station to hotel; from hotel to botani-
cal gardens, aquarium, art gallery and
points of general interest. There was
a residium Of local trade left, too. A
handful Of the older families who still
sent for Michael for theater, dinner
party or park drives as they had sent
for his father and grandfather before
him. GriE ~ l
But for the most part, for an ap-
pallingly major part, the calls now
came for the taxicabs and service
cars parked around the large hotel.
There were not half a dozen horse
cabs left in town. And Of them
Michael's was by far the most pre-
sentable. The remaining four or five
were of thirty and thirty-f1ve years
ago, and so were their drivers.
Not so with Michael. He was forty
and as alert and up and coming In his
interests and desires as any Of the
taxlcab and private car chauffeurs
about the town. 1t was Just that, as
he put 1t, he had stepped into his old
Pap's shoes and found them to his
liking.
''Give me a horse every time, with
spirit to him, and a warm soclable
muzzle to him and knowing eye and
friendly heart, to an iron devil with
petrol in his veins"
The taxi men were ocular about
this and agreed upon the kingship Of
the horse and admired Michael's we'll
shod. well-groomed, kindly, disciplined
chestnut mare. but when 1t came to
regarding her seriously as a means of
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES wake up,
Mike. the Civil war is over.
Michael knew all this. He knew
that his tenaclty branded him as old
fashioned and passe as the old mu-
scum pieces Of Cables who drowsed
all day on their boxes In the square,
and fercely, Michael, who had youth
and pride in him, resented the indict-
ment.
He was neither passe nor old fash
Toned; he would ride in a taxi with
the best of them, regarded 1t as the
important innovation 1t was; conceded
everything the fellows said about 1t,
but that didn't make him any the less
master of his own soul. And Michael's
soul was the soul of coachman. The
proper opening to his day was to walk
into the stable and feel his Hotspur
nuzzle over her bin to greet him. Part
Of the very rhythm of his being was
the clip-clop Of HIS ten-year-old over
the asphalt Of the city streets, her
tail glossy, because he had made II
so. name flowing, pace so even thar
nurses from the hospital had formed
the habit of summonlng Michael for
patients first drive after an oper-
alton.
Michael had no backward point Of
view regarding modern devices, espe.
cially the automobile. His Ideas had
to do solely with his own personal
preferences and In spite of the In.
creased remuneration that man
could expect from driving taxlcab
Michael stuck to his guns. Or rather
to his horse. ~ W ww
For twenty years, he. withstood the
tests Of time. increasing rigors of traf.
fic. pressure Of the taxi men who were
forever chatting him, and maintained
his coachman's seat. In that time
there had only been three horses, Hot
spur at six years, standing strong and
In her prime.
II is doubtful that even In the end
Michael would have capltulated to the
pressure OF the age In which he lived
except for an lmmemorlal reason. He
fell In love and with his eye on mar
rlage, felt the need Of a larger in.
come. N
The girl ROselle, so enchantlngly up
to-themoment In her slim young boy.
lshness. locked head. quick restless
eyes, eager voice, was simply not the
sort you could imagine sitting demure.
ly behlpd the shining TANKS of even
the reasonable Hotspur.
Roselle, wooed by practically every
taxlman ut the stand; the darling de
light OF the travelling statesmen who
crowded around her telephone opera
tors desk In the hotel, was the per
soninrHt'on Of the age OF the darling