Horses for War in Great Demand, Daily Racing Form, 1916-02-15

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HORSES FOR WAR IN GREAT DEMAND. That Germany stands ready to nay ,490 apiece for war horses if anybody can deliver them on the right side of the firing line is Interesting fnforaau- tion vouched for by an American horseman who has shipped tens of thousands to France and England in the lust few months. The shipper in question, knowing the supply of horses must lie running short in Germany, conceived a scheme by which he thought he eoald fool bis Incle Sam and John Ball and land S lev shiploads at a port where they wonld liud their way to the Teutonic army. He accordingly approached some of the unofficial agencies In close tomb with the kaisers activities in America and was given to understand that the price would be as abote staled. On following the matter up he soon discovered thai a shipload of horses would have atn ut as good a rhsnrr to get to the moon as to Germany just now and the scheme was abandoned. The wastage of horses in war times is shown by recently published statistics relative to live Stock in France. The ausaber of h.irses in France when the war broke OUt was about 3,200.000. Although hundreds of thousands had been Imported from the United States and South America after hostilities began, the number had fallen away to something like 2,300,000 in June, 1915. thus showing a l"-s of more than thirty per cent in less than one year of the war. Ti a Herald reporter the shipper above referred to said the other day that his advices direct from the seat of war were to the effect that France was commandeering about all the effective horses in the country, leaving only breeding stock and the defectives of equine forces to do the work in farming and industries. This report is perhaps exaggerated, like so many others from the seat of war. but with one million horses lost in less than one year Frai.ee must lie feeling an acute shortage. And if France is short of hor-es what must be the situation in Germany, where long lines of communication are being maintained OU several fronts :m,| where the rapid advances into the enemys country lone put a strain on nun and horses hardly to be compared with the defensive fight of the allies on the western front in Prance. Germany had about 4.500,000 horses at the beginning of the war and Austria-Hungary bad about 4.000,000 more. The British supply was approximately 2.250,000. while that of Russia was nearly 25.000,000. With the allies in control of the seas they can, of course, get all the horses they can pay for, but Germany and Austria must rely almost wholly on their own supply and must raise the grain and hay to feed them all besides. Few experts believe the supply of horses will be a decisive factor in the result of the great struggle, but none overlook the fact that the supply is hcroialnf more and more im-IHirtant to the contending armies each succeeding month.— New York Herald.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1916021501/drf1916021501_2_5
Local Identifier: drf1916021501_2_5
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800