RETURN OF THE HORSE

Evening Star, Issue 19330, 17 August 1926, Page 2

RETURN OF THE HORSE

WHY IT IS GAINING TEMPORARY .VICTORY. u The return of the horse to our streets is patent and visible. It began to happen steadily, even slowly, within the past two years; it is continuing steadily and slowly,, but that it should happen at all in tho face of what the motor vehicle can do is surely remarkable,” writes _ “ R.C.,” in the ‘Manchester Guardian,’ “Yet there it is. Without counting numbers w© are' definitely aware that there are more horses in service in the 'streets than three years ago; the ..makers of harness and saddlery, chains, hames, hits, and other furniture metal and leather of.,the kind that goes with the use of’the horse, have been aware af the movement for some time. _ • ** That they have welcomed it is not to be wondered at, for the trade, which was hard hit when tho home ceased to draw the*traincar, was much harder hit when the commercial motor vehicle and (be mote'’ car cam© into popular use. “ The return of tho horse is the more interesting because the motor vehicle had carved out the field of haulage into fin© sections. In 'pre-motor clays road haulage had really no division. Tho carrier’s cart for general use, the lorry owned by a manufacturing concern, shared the work. More work meant more more horses; Lite tiling was simple! . “The motor vehicle, once it was established, promptly sot up -a wide range of operating spheres; it classified road haulage, to borrow a term, m Bomi-toroes. Look at the range of vehicles v/e have to-dny for this work of road haulage. Beginning with the fight van, which is just a box body affair built on to the chassis of a light Mr. and, leaving out of account-three-wheeler, we have a scwt machine, thevlOcwt, the IScwt, .t*v' 20cwi, ..the

“ Then come the 2-tonner, the 2Jtonncr, the 3-tonner, the Si, the 4, the 5, and even the G-tonner. To add to the range we have the steam vehicle, ranging from about three tons to six and seven tons; wo employ the trailer to give us greater cargo accommodation; and the six-wheeler, the tractor, and tho trackless machines all add to the range of service given by the mech-anically-driven road machine. The horse can show nothing like it oven in its best days. That there should be a marked return, therefore, to horse haulage is a point worth investigating. “ That return is duo in no small measure to the growing congestion of traffic in- our streets. It has origins, too, in tho fact that in the smallest sphere of haulage, the lowest semi-tone, tho horse is still an economic factor. It cannot be beaten, in the matter of cost of haulage, for short hauls where many stops have to be made. “ To operate economically the motor vehicle must bo kept running to its utmost possible limit, and street conditions make that impossible. Its efficiency is further cut down by the fact that loading and .unloading arrangements'at warehouses and factories are out of date. The motor vehicle, as a broad proposition, cuts down time between two given points as docs no other transport system, and its door-to-door service is a strong feature in its favor. “* .

• “But what time is thus gained is often more than lost because of the waiting it has to dp at one end or other, or perhaps both, of its trip. There is need for drastic internal reform of transport facilities in order that tho machine may bo, kept more on the road.

“The horse is at the moment more economical in certain spheres of transport because of tho indirect result of certain operations, and only because of that.”