THE HORSE NOT OBSOLETE

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22245, 9 November 1937, Page 10

THE HORSE NOT OBSOLETE

STILL EXTENSIVELY USED IN LONDON

SADDLER’S IMPRESSIONS OF BRITAIN (THE PRESS Special Service.l WELLINGTON, November 8. In this motor age it is commonly remarked that the horse as a beast of burden in civilised countries is obsolete: but this view is earnestly contradicted by Mr S. J. Manning, a Wellington saddler, who in an interview said that during a recent visit to Britain he had observed horse transport still in general use, and nowhere more than in the heart of London. “I was amazed how many horses were to be seen about the streets, anff indeed, horse-drawn waggons seemed if anything to be more numerous than m<; tor-lorries," Mr Manning said. In the city, where traffic congestion prevented speedy transport, the hors, was able to make almost as good speed as the lorry, and was more economica: than a heavy-duty engine running constantly in high gear, and stepping ann starting frequently. For this leason many of the big railway companies used horse waggons entirely for their delivery services, and coal waggons, milk waggons, drays and other horse-drawn vehicles were common in the streets. Produce for the markets of Smithfield. Billingsgate, and Covent Garden was habitually carried in horse waggons. As the streets of a modern city, lam for motor traffic, were slippery to horses’ hooves, particularly after ram, and as many parts of London were hilly and steep, the London horses had to be specially shod. Their shoes were 'made with sharp spikes, or sprigs, on the lower face, and these gripped the tarmac firmly.

Shortage of Tradesmen

Most of the big companies employing large numbers of horses maintained their own smithies, farriers, and saddlers, said Mr Manning. It was interesting that, though the saddlers m England were all working full time, there was a shortage of tradesmen. There had been little apprenticeship in the saddlery trade for a good many years, as young men did not wish to enter a calling which was popularly regarded £;s doomed to extinction. He visited the workshop of. a leading and large-scale saddler, and was surprised to see that the average age of the hands was apparently about 60. H was like visiting an old men’s home, he said. Yet an order tor 1200 sets of harness had recently been placed with that firm. “Here we consider three or four sets a good order,” Mr Manning said. Ireland, often regarded as a country of horses, was not ideal from the saddler’s point of view. There were a great many more donkeys than horses in use there, and any old harness was good enough—as often as not made of canvas or sacking. Throughout England and Scotland, however, he saw fine horses in use, and particularly heavy draughts of the types for which England and Scotland had long been famous.