The Cab Horses of London.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIII, Issue 31, 6 February 1892, Page 3 (Supplement)

The Cab Horses of London.

Mr W. J. Gordon, whose interesting article upon tho omnibus horses of London was noticed lasb monbh, continues his studies of bhe horse world of London by an aceounb, in tho 'Leisure Hour' for December, of the cab horses. He says :— Bulking the London cabs together,, we can estimate the turn-out complebe, cab, horse, and harness, at £100; and 9,000 of these mean £900,000. The 6,000 additional horses at £30 each yiold £180,000. The stable accommodation, freehold and leasehold, tho fittings and sundries, and plant and working cash, would certainly be cheaply bought for £170,000, and that gives us a million and a quarter to work the London cab trade, which is surely quite enough. At one timo tho manure was worth threepence per horse per week, now it is difficult to geb a farthing a week for it. The distance to and from Epsom is the avorage day's journey of a London cab horse. A hansom rakes £2 a day. There are sixty cab - stands. averaging eleveu vehicles each. There are 7,000 convictions a year for misbehaviour— rather a high proportion oub of 15,000 cabmen. Grey horses are bhe least popular in hansoms, but the mosb popular in fourwheeler?. Most cab horses are Irish, and bake eighb weeks to geb. inbo workiug order af ber bhey come over. As a rule they begin when they are four years old ; they ccjafi £30, last three years, then are sold for *•# when they aro used up.