Show fmaher TT bwy firsa arar ra desm i p england must DI dis s B 0 pose of more than ha haifa ifa millio n so Ps e s many y of which beatman bear N wounds received tn in baule battle Qs zy 41 BY LLOYD ALLEN special staff correspondent copyright western newspaper New unlue ONDON over halt half a million four legged heroes of tho the war anany of them gold horses lire being given the only kind of honorable ils charge barge it a horse horae call receive sold to Eri glish ili un ancl dother civilians to fill 1111 tho the pressing need lit in tills this count rys transi trans port system wo we thought in america where thousands 0 of those came caino front from that tho the british horse led as precarious nil an existence as aa the machine gin gunners iners in trie first iane af fren frenchies clies during those first months dfwar of war when british briny agents were buying horses lif in tho the united states there were ninny many who honestly believed lolle bell vod eved tile amor amer icon steeds would last about ono one week in III hint dint inferno of shell lire yuu should ve ce the american it now abeln being 9 brought to england from france it if you sou ever believed the life of ot a horse at the front was a hundred to one shot that death would come boino in the form forin of a ilku shell by tile the hundred thousand cheso leek well kept well fed are arc being auctioned oft off to eager buyers many were in franco france four years many were wounded in action but were carefully cared for by the army veterinaries and bear today the honest cars cara of battle as aa the memento of the days dayi when they lie aped win civilizations war one of the first farst lots lota sold went under nilder the at wares Edge waro r road 0 ad repository about the middle of december I heros feros a horse that deserves the victoria Victor ln cros V i ahe auctioneer shouted when hen the first horse a black gelding was trotted out lies iles got two wounds to ills credit find and Is still going strong the gelding was M sold for or about 10 Arneil can money equine losses announced major general sir W II if lUrk beck director ot of re mounts in tho the british army has just announced the losses among the british war horses during the entire period of the war during tile last four months of 1011 1914 general 11 irlbeck Irk beck declared the a timbes r I 1 u jes in F franco lost 14 per cent of their horses or op about 3 per cent a month that period included the retreat from mong afons the first battle of the alie marne rne and thy tho first battle of ypres in the following year the losses were fourteen and a halt per cent for the whole twelve months in 1017 the losses rose to as 28 per cent 10 per cent of which took place during the last three months ot of the year the balance of tile losses being chiefly owing to the heavy fighting at ilmy ridge and the beginning of night boin bombing bin during the last year of war comparatively ively few horses were lost two and a n half per cent being the off iclal estimate among the british commercial firms something like 20 per cent of the horses aie ante always either sick or resting a as in annual average while the fact tant la in france due to the careful of the arles the usual was a bit more than twelve per cent whether america enri ann cnn profitably follow tile tho accepted british system of oc de mobilizing etiny hortes horses Is a grave q question with the present shortage lit in find and the pressing needs of european peoples for foodstuffs s together vath the mighty jot job of transporting C pe army home it Is possible that sonic some horses must needs bo be either left behind or sacrificed to add somewhat to the already staggering in g debt of war the alie british people have been told that in nil probability some thousands of horses sud mules in faraway far away awny egypt will vill have to ie be disposed dispo seti of in one of three ways waya repatriation destruction or sale oppose shooting of animals there is a strong sentiment against shooting the faithful animals and there are it nun number itier of practical obstacles to such a plan the carcasses of WO worth or horseflesh cannot be disposed of simply by signing nil an army order 4 ven though egypt I 1 galt doea IOV 4 afford wide wastes of uninhabited 1 lk 41 at 10 wa A 41 1 4 awe ho borjes aex vi art stafi no animal moro than twelve years old will be offered these steeds will go into n surplus that must be disposed of in belgium and northern franco france where the peasants are trying to repair war damages damack and get b back ack a to a peace f footing and where tile the cities are fa faced ced with the pr problem of settling back into the pursuit pence there Is a wide variety of stock stack 91 for the civilian V to choose buyer Z I 1 ai I 1 I 1 11 from v varying from nap the heavy ons to the light ED type useful for the ordinary w wagon a g 0 n and including sad deserts and plenty of vultures F fundamentally however it Is tho the britons sincere love for the horse that forbids adopting any ruthless luth less expedient lit in reducing tho the egyptian forces to a peace time footing general allenby the british commander mand er in the near emst east hus has cabled that every avery effort will be rande nindo to plade place nil surplus horses in the hands ot of natives who will treat the animals well and infinitely better than the peoples of ninny many european nations naturally the horses will bo be returned to industry at a slower rate than they I 1 were mobilized when sir J cowans crime to the war office shortly after the british d declared war on in germany lie he had to obtain borses in 14 days ills methods were successful the horses were supplied by the tha business people rif of england and included uie the best or of leicestershire Leicester shire the kitchener divisions however demanded the services of at least horses horsek then it wits was that the british horse buyer rondo made hla his appearance in force in the markets market of america at the same time buyerl aro Y re busy ausy lit in spain argentina china australia tunis al purrs and confronting the authorities are it number of grave problems leins just now first of nil all there Is an urgent need of disposing of nil III surplus briny stock w with ith them the least possible delay dalny but there are arc too to many horses horse only v seventeen per cent of nil army stock actually I 1 cama camo from england manifestly it Is impassible to return one hundred per cent to england and thereby glut tho market and demoralize the present schedule of prices so even though the hor horses seik aro arc literally eating their heads off at great cost to the government the number of sales must be regulated to meet the actual demand also the horse sales must be held lr in nil all sections ot the country rind tile quantities offered mus conform to the needs of eccli community sell a month following this system ns closely its as they can the army men hope to dispose of some horses a month them the first lut lots that have lust just been sold the irish horses were prominent lit in breeding ind and hardness but were rather excelled la in size hy by the transatlantic atlantic lc clashes graded with them doubtless many of the ail american horses will be bought hero here for hunters niters hi army men speak highly of fic tile the american mule on the battlefield the mule made good but among the british horse owners there is a fc ferito rito als distrust of this Itu imported ported luxury As a matter of fact tile the mule Is tile the chief cl let problem lit in tills side hide ot of demobilization iza tion nobody wants him for peace 1 cace work there are an thousands of 0 them 11 e rn in the array trained to harness or saddle addle yet even tile the must optimistic army per son ron liere here Is wondering on oil the government la 13 going to enthuse ahe the civilian chilian buyer or the subject may use same as food foca while thia the war office Is devoting a lot of thought to getting rid of surplus horses tho ti lo 10 food controller noting acting independently has possibly suggested a kind of rein remedy edy horseflesh has just been put on thu tho list of food stuffs the thu price of which Is controlled by government er ment order owing to the increased demand for horseflesh acir for human h consumption it has lins been found necessary to control the prices both t to retailers and consumers ers the 0 official order rends the prices fixed ire interesting the householder buying at retail etall will vw have to pay no more than 31 cents it a pound for the best cuts the heart liver lini and licad mens cuts known here jia its tile offal cuts no jolie joke intended pay may be bd sold to retail trade at 16 cents a pound eking horseflesh la Is merely h n feature of the meat shortage thor tage england and nit nil of europe are now experiencing mont and butter are going to bo be hard to bethere ge thero there for the next year or so that ane fitel Is iii the only point in the whole food problem on oil which tile food min ministry officials stand pat meat ilent sellers may be able to dispose dispo seI orsome of some of tho horses over the coun counter tel in impound pound lots but what of tile the friendless hero here awaiting sale |