Show england must dt dispose s of more than haifa Million Horses man many y of which W aich bear wounds received in in battle Qs fsr 7 BY LLOYD ALLEN special staff correspondent copyright western newspaper Kc union over halt half a million tour four legged heroes of the war a many of them gold stripe horses are being given the only kind of honorable discharge a horse can receive sold to english and other civilians to fill the pressing need in this count rys trans port system we thought in Aiu america erIca where inhere thousands of these horses hones came from that the british army horse led as precarious an existence ns as the machine gunners in the alie first line hue of trenches 3 during those first months of war when liebi british army agents were buying horses in the united states there were many who honestly believed the amerlean american steeds would last about one week in hint inferno of shell fire you should pee ce the american horses now being brought bro to hugland england froni from france if you over ever believed the life of a horse nt at the lie front was a hundred to one shot that hint loath would come in the forra form of a afuli shell by the hundred thousand the sleek well kept well fed quadrupeds tire anre being auctioned olt off to eager buyers many 1 were in france four years many were wounded in action but were carefully eared cared for by the army veterinaries and bear today the honest cars of battle as the memento ine mento of the lie days when they helped win civilizations war one of the first lots sold went under the hammer at wares Edge ware road repository about the middle of december I heres feres a horse that deserves the victoria cross cros the auctioneer shouted when ahen the first horse a black gelding was trotted out lies iles got two wounds and salu balne strong the alie gelding was as sold for about american money equine losses announced major general sir IV W 11 II birkbeck director of re mounts in the british army has just juat announced the losses among the british war bior horses during the entire period of the war during the last four months of 1914 general Dirk dirnbeck beck declared the armies in france lost 14 per cent of their horses or about 3 per cent a month that period included the retreat from froin mons the first battle of the marne and the first battle of cypres ypres 1 I 1 in the following year the losses were fo fourteen u arteen and a halt half per cent for the whole twelve months in 1017 the losses rose to as per cent 10 per cent of which took place during the last three months of 0 the hie year the balance of the losses being bc ang chiefly owing to the heavy figh fighting lIng at vimy ridge and the beginning of night bombing during the last year of war comparatively ively few horses were lost two and a half per cent being the official estimate among the british commercial firms soni something ething like 20 per cent of the horses hores ate aie always either sick or resting as in annual average while the official army reports reveal the fact that in france due to the careful attention of the keterin arles the usual average was a bit more than twelve per cent whether can profitably follow the accepted british system of de mobilizing finny army horses Is a grave question with the present shortage in ships and the pressing needs of european peoples for foodstuffs together with the mighty job of transporting general ings army home it Is possible that some horses must needs be either left behind or sacrificed to add somewhat to the already staggering debt of war the british people have been tola that in all probability some thousands of horses and mules in faraway far fur away awny egypt NN will have to be disposed of in one of three ways repatriation destruction or sale oppose shooting of animals there Is 15 a strong sentiment against shooting the faithful animals and there are a number lumber of practical obstacles to such a plan the carcasses of worth or horseflesh connot cannot be disposed of simply by signing an army order even though egypt does afford wide wastes of uninhabited 8 or ff Z ap V it 54 a k I 1 10 1 I 1 I 1 0 ifil na al 1 1 10 A 1 akrc ic 17 es si oe ja oi ceaf london k A fa deserts and plenty of vultures fundamentally however lo wever it Is the britons sincere love for the horse hore that forbids adopting any ruthless luth less expedient in reducing the E natian forces to a peace time tooting footing general allenby the british commander in the near east has cabled that every effort will be made to place all surplus horses in the hands of natives who will treat the animals well and infinitely better than the peoples of many european nations naturally the horses will be returned to In Justry at ft a slower rate than alian they were mobilized when sir J cowans came to the war office shortly after the british declared war on n germany he had to obtain horses in it 14 I t lays days ills his methods were successful the horses were supplied by the business people of england anol included the best of Leicester leicestershire shire the kitchener divisions however demanded riem the services of at least horses then it wits was that the british horse buyer made his appearance in force in the markets of america at the same time buyers vre v re busy in spain argentina china australia tunis algiers and Soma liland confronting the authorities are a number of grave problems just now first of nil all there Is in an urgent need of disposing of nil all surplus army stock with the least possible delay but there are too many horses only seventeen per cent of all army stock actually came fiant england manifestly it Is impossible to return one hundred per cent to irn england gland and thereby glut the market and demoralize the present schedule ot of prices so even though the he horses arc literally eating their heads off at ercal cost to the government the number of sales must be regulated to meet the actual demand also the horse sales must be held in all sections or of the country and the quantities offered must con conform forin to the needs of each community sell a month following this system as closely as they can the alie army men hope to dispose of some horses a month A horse has been known to live IT 17 days without eating or drinking time equivalent to days la IS paid to have been saved to the women of the united states by the electric washing machines sold last year A unique roadway of solid salt forming a part of the wendover highway in honcle county utah Is projected by the utah state road commission the only movable part of a new flour sifter Is a flat coll coil of heavy wire which passes back and forth over the wire mesh as the implement Is shaken no ko animal more than twelve years old will be off offered ered these steeds will go into a surplus that must be disposed of in bel glum and northern france where the peasants are trying to repair war damages and get back to a peace footing and where the cities are faced with the problem of settling alin back into tho the pursuits of peace there la is a wide ftc staw artru ir tor for the civilian buyer to choose from varying from the heavy ons to the light type useful for the ordinary w wagon a g 0 n and including sad dle die horses and driving stock in the first luts lots that have just been sold the irish horses were prominent in breeding and hardness but were rather excelled in size by the trans trana atlantic classes graded with them doubtless many of the american horses will be bought here for hunters army men speak highly of the american mule on the battlefield the mule ninde made good but among the british horse owners there Is a grave distrust of this imported luxury As a matter of fact the mule Is the clinet problem in this side of demobilization iza tion nobody wants him for peace work there are thou thousands sandi of them in the army trained to harness or saddle yet even the must most optimistic army person here Is wondering how on earth the government Is going to enthuse the civilian buyer or the subject may use same as food while the war office Is devoting a lot of thought to getting rid of surplus horses the food controller acting in dependently has possibly suggested a kind of remedy horseflesh has just been put on the list of food stuffs the price of which Is controlled by government order owin owing to the increased demand for horseflesh for human consumption it lins has been found necessary to control the prices both to retailers and consumers the official order reads the prices fixed are interesting the householder buying at retail will have to pay no more than 31 cents a pound for the best cuts the heart liver and head meats cuts known here as the offal cuts no joke intended may be sold to retail trade at 16 cents a pound eating horseflesh Is merely a feature of the meat shortage and all of europe are now experiencing meat and butter are going to be hard to get here tor the next year or so that one fact is the only point in the whole food problem on which the food ministry officials stand pat meat sellers may be able to dispose of some of the horses over the counter in pound lots but what of the 10 friendless mules liere here awaiting sale |