SUGGESTIVE.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 21, Issue 89, 2 December 1910, Page 8

SUGGESTIVE.

. Vj'hev a cert ah; bachelor was married, » members of the Bachelors' Club sm> r sed him by sending him as a wedding - sent a copy of " Paradise Lost.” A GOOD DISINFECTANT. The best disinfectant, as well as cheapest to; poultry yards, closets, drains and cellars is sulphate of iron, or copperas. Dissolve two ounces in a gallon of water, then use it from the sprinkler freely. PRESENCE OF MIND. Fweddy —Baw Jove, Cholly, when that nasty, ugly dawg twied to bite me I just stopped still and looked at him—like this—and, baw Jove, he tuhned wound and wan Ml, Wasn’t that gweat pwesence of mind ? Cholly—lt was, indeed, ole chappie. Who vould have expected to see it in a dog ? FADS OF THE PEERAGE. Lord Rosslvn recently made a bet with Lord Headley that he would eat two pounds of steak and drink a gallon of ale in less time t ban Lord Headley took to kill and skin a bullock. The Marquis of Ailesbury, who was once in trade, still affects his costermonger suit on odd occasions, and likes to make a bet that he will sell a barrow of greens as quickly as any hawker in Whitechapel. Lord Gardner lives all the year round in India, and his baroness is a daughter ol Prince Mirza Shikoe, a grandson of the late king of Delhi. She is acorfee coloured lady, and enjoys her betelnut as thoroughly as a nautch girl. Lord Lisle insists upon smoking a short day pipe in the streets. He is an Irish (ieer and not very weE off. His dining room walls are adorned with coloured clay pipes, arranged in stars and crosses, all of whichever 300 —have been smoked by his lordship. Lord Newburgh point blank declines to ‘ be either an Englishman or a Scotchman, although he is the tenth peer of his title. He is "an Italian citizen, and calls himself Count Bandini —perhaps one of the only instances on record where a man prefers being an Italian count to an English peer. Viscount Taaffe, aji Irish peer, positively declines to be an irishman of any description. He and his father before him were naturalized Austrians, and the country has agreed so well with him that he has risen to the rank of Prime Minister to the Emperor Franz Josef. He calls himself a count —Count Taaffe, The Duke of Hamilton can be recognised 1 mile off by his clothes. They are always >1 Ihe same pattern —very loud check, very naggy trousers, very short coat and a pot uat. He usually has a dozen suits made on he same lines, colour and pattern at the .ame time, and he regularly, whenever it is 1 possible, changes his garments in the middle ot the day. THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. He was probably (says an American writer) first bred in England for the turf, ' but the traits which crowned him there soon made. him popular everywhere. He was soon found at the front in the chase, in the stage coach, in the gentleman’s carriage and even in the plough, The first importation }! thoroughbreds to America was in 1725 md 1730. At various times importations nave been made which formed the basis of the thoroughbreds of America. Recent Arabian importations have been made, but are not considered desirable. To maintain and improve the good qualities of the thoroughbred is a problem which has been before the breeders for over 200 years. The law of like begetting like, and the race track have done the work. A horse that ran fast and carried heavy weight, coupled to a mare that could do the same thing, would likely produce a foal with the good qualities of its dam and sire. After years of such trial and breeding the type of the thoroughbred has oeen fixed as no other breed, for no other 1 has had such a long and severe test, or has , been bred wifh such care.

Horse-racing has been licensed in England and America because it was thought necessary to develop the horse. It has certainly done this, whatever it may have done for a if pain class of men who follow the turf for gambling purposes. It does seem that this nvghl be done and the horse developed without any of the evil influences which attend n at the ordinary track. It is as much our dul) to make the most of this gift of God, the horse, as any other. He gave us the hoise just as he gives us other things, not in the highest condition, but in a state which needed development. It is as much our duty to do this as to build railroads or other national improvements. This is a fast age, and the demands upon us are such that we cannot drive a slow horse. A business man's time is. too precious to lose an hour each day by driving a slow team. We are paying too much to the man who drives our plow to tolerate a slow team. The sun is too hot in the harvest field for the heavy horse with his thick skin and poor lungs. The machinery must stop for hours each hot day or you lose such a horse. The stopping of machinery and men in the field means heavy loss. We need a horse for all purposes, with the traits of the thoroughbred, but a little more weight than many of them possess. When four-mile races were in fashion our horses had to carry heavy weights, and nothing but strong horses could succeed. If our horses had to carry such weights as they do in Australia, and run long distances, as was once popular in America, it would greatly improve the thoroughbred. It should be remembered that horse racing is licensed only to improve the horse, not for gambling purposes. A four-mile horse with ability to carry weight would have to be large, and he would be the best all-purpose horse in the world. It has been found that weight on the back of a horse, a long track before him, and a spur in his side to urge him to his best, is the most successful way to test a horse in all those essential points which make a good animal. His skin, his lungs, his bones, his muscle and his nervous system, all go to make his strength, action, speed and staying qualities. None of those can be seen with the eye with certainty. The bones may bo .veil shaped but porous, and have but little substance. The muscles may be well developed, but, like a loosely twisted string, have no strength. The skin may be sleek and velvety, but without the power to throw offbeat. The lung or chest capacity may be good, and the horse have no wind, because the texture of the lungs is not elastic and tough. Last, but not least, his brain and nervous system may be so sluggish that the horse has no power to move quickly, and has no courage. It will readily be seen that tests of all these things are necessary to the production of a first class breed of horses, and the tests should be made for years and the breeding lone with these facts in view. It will readily be seen also that the thoroughbred is the only horse we now have whose breeding and lest have been sufficient to justify any great expectation. The trotting horse is a coming horse, but his pedigree is too short—there are too many blanks. The heavy horse for farm work, even in this climate, does not stand the heat, and is too slow. Near the sea shore, and for a short time—for his life is short—he may do heavy work ; but in my opinion, after a trial of over forty years in a warm climate, the thoroughbred, crossed with a good-sized common horse, makes the best all-purpose animal.