The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1949-09-08
HORSE AND
BUGGY DAYS
by
Ida 10 Martin

These are the most commonly USED
term used for guiding the horse
that is to turn him left or right.
Now Webster gives only Gee" and
''Haw," but any farmer knows many
additions and varieties to these
terms, and some cannot speak to
the horse without using unprlntable
terms. But a well trained and
obedient horse can be driven just
where you want him by the spoken
word alone.
have seen horses being worked
in small places such as gardens,
without rein. This method of
driving is especially useful for such
jobs as blowing, where both hands
are needed to handle the pillow. And
of course pipe smokers have to take
care of the pipe occasionally too.
1t is in the field being plowed, by
the old horse power, that you real
ly hear that great variety of terms,
mostly addressed to the horse. How
ever, ] have wondered sometimes
whether it were possible for the
sounds to mean any more to the
horse than they did to me, for some
fellows keep up continuous song
of unintelligible sounds. l heard
one man say that he was so in the
habit of 'hollering" at the horses
that he really did not realize that
he was talking. And another one
said that his horses were so used to
the constant sound that if he quit.
they would stop.
1t is worth noting here that us
ually the plowman has line of
some kind on the horse besides de-
pending on speaking to them And
there are several methods of using
lines, or reins. The plowman of
ten has these lines around his
shoulders as he walks behind hte
plsw, thus freeing his hands to
hold the pillow. Thus he speaks, but
if it becomes necessary, he can re-
sort to the use of the lines. This
sort of arrangement has not yet
been invented for use on the trac-
tor
Just a little more about driving
the horse: quite often the plowman
used a single line, which was at
taehed to both sides of the lead
horses mouth. A steady pull meant
a turn in one direction, while a
series of jerks called for a turn the
other way. But if little more con-
trel over the horse were needed,
regular lines were used, one lead
ing to each side. And again some
tsoes these two lines were divided, /
with line running to each side of
both horses, in a two horse team.
Any way you take it, the sound of
the old time ploWman, as he called
TO his team, was a far more pleasing
sound than the roar of an unmuffied
tractor And let's remember that
the Amish in nearby Pennsylvania
demonstrated that on given piece
Of ground, they can raise more crops
with horses than any one else could
by tractor.
Here is something l ran across in
an old paper that aught to be of in
terest to the fisherman of our Coun
ty, especially anyone who has fish
ed in the Antietam. One hundred
and twenty-five years ago, the low
ers of the great sport began to la
ment the disappearance of game
fish from the Antietam. So some
meetings were held, and it was be-
heved that game laws were needed
to protect the stock of fish in that
stream and to give them better
chance to propagate. Interest was
also aroused in stocking the stream
anew from hatcheries. So another
meeting was held in Hagerstown's
Town Hall in January of 1924, at
which many of the prominent men
of the County were present. Those
at the meeting, who were active in
preparing a bill to the Legislature
for laws to protect the fish in the
Antietam, were: Col. Frisby Thigh
man. George w Boerstler, Col. Ohio
H. Williams, William Fitzhugh, Jr.,
William D. Bell, John Harry, Peter
Sailer, David Claggett, Edmund Nc
Coy, William Booth, Samuel NJ Hit,
j. Neff, Daniel Boerstler, Joseph
Graft, George Sheip and Seth Lane.
These gentlemen certainly must have
been among the most enthusiastic of
cur fishermen, for they not only
drew up recommendation to the
Legislature and submitted it, but
they also saw that it became law.
These same men formed company
and began to raise fish to stock the
stream. No doubt all of us who en-