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IMPORTANCE OF THOROUGHBRED HORSE Arguments in Favor of Race Horse No Longer Required Now That War Has Proved His Worth. It required a great war, where life, liberty and the future happiness of the nation were at stake, to bring the war department or the United States government to a realization of the importance and value of the thoroughbred horse as a sire for desirable and efficient cavalry mounts, writes Charles E. Brossman. No amount of argument, oral or written, could possibly have done what experience taught. Examples strike deeper than precept and serve as proofs to convince. We now seem to be, in this regard, in a fair way to profit by what was a great calamity. The thoroughbred horse has a higher order of intelligence than is iosscsscd by any other representative of the liorse breed nnd must be educated ilong the lines that he is expected to serve witli patience and intelligence. Hitherto in this country the outlaws, the undesirables, the offcasts of the race track were secured by horse traders for a small sum and resold to the army at a great profit; consequently our officers could not till now be correctly informed as to the superlative value of, the thoroughbred blood in a war charger until by actual experience they became familiar with the magnificent, substantial, enduring animals that belong to the cavalry of England and France. The numerous high-bred stallions acquired by the government, gifts from the different racing associations, prominent breeders and by purchase, indicate that the war department is proceeding along lines that the European countries have successfully followed for years; therefore with lis it will le no experiment, but simply using the most approved methods and indicating a serious purpose to produce the best. HORSE PLAYED AN IMPORTANT PART. The thoroughbred liorse has always played an important part in the affairs of the nation, more than the casual observer of our past history would be inclined to admit; but that he was a dominant factor in commercial and social life, exercising a great influence on the habits, customs and the political destiny of the country, there can be no doubt. To quote "from the Ohio Historical Societys publications: "When the middle west was young and began suddenly outstripping nil other parts of the country, to the marvel of the world, one of the momentous factors in its progress was the building of the great national road from the Potomac River to the Mississippi River by the United States government. The growth and prosperity of the west was impossible until the dawning of such, convictions as those which made the road a reality. So patriotic and so thoroughly American is the central west of today that it is difficult to realize by what a sleuder thread it hung to the fragile republic east of the mountains during the two decades succeeding the Revolutionary War. The whole world looked upon the east and west as countries as distinct as Italy and France and for the same geographical reasons." The national road was unquestionably one of the great influences that joined forever together the east and the v.-est and held what was the northwest territory loyal to the government through the great crisis of the Civil AVar. It made possible the formation of friendships between the business men of the east and west and that interchange of courtesies of social life so necessary to form a cohesive patriotic republic composed of united states. ; The rivers and mountains ran north jind south and seemed to form natural boundaries for new realms to be conveniently formed from the loosely bound federation of the infant government. The national road then was the first instrumentality that lound the west to the east; since then riveted bands of steel from - the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border, bind the nation together in a fraternal and patriotic endeavor to make and keep this the greatest country in the world. FAST MAIL OF OTHER DAYS. The older residents of Ohio delight to relate of the importance nttached and the excitement produced in the rural sections by the arrival of fast mail coaches from, the cast. First the blast from the approaching coachmans horn attracted attention, then came from four to six high formed, well bred, fast, substantial looking horses, driven at a sweeping gallot by a skillful reinsman for ten miles at :i. stretch from station to station. They changed horses every ten miles, and it required well bred horses, horses with thoroughbred blood in their veins, to perform the work and forward the mail according to the schedule required by the liostoffice department. Consequently these fast coaches were all drawn by horses sired by thoroughbreds and were just .the type of horses the government now desires for remounts for the cavalry. It is not generally known what rapid time was demanded by the postoffice department of contractors .that delivered the mail to the central west. In 1837 the time was from Washington over the national road to Wheeling. W. Va., thirty hours; to Columbus. Ohio, forty-five and one-half hours; to Indianapolis, Ind.. sixty-five and one-half hours, and to Cincinnati. Ohio, sixty hours. Marvelous time, and it is a testimonial to the horse breeders of that period that such an achievement was pos-. sible. Rivalry was keen, business brisk and stage line owners sought to secure the fastest, gamest and best horses that could be secured, therefore many thoroughbred stallions were brought into Ohio to breed on common farm mares to produce desirable horses for the different stage lines. But as men are disposed to forget what was considered indispensable yesterday and seek new discoveries and conveniences for today, so the half and three-quarter bred stake horse that could gallop ten miles and draw a load and was largely responsible for the winning of the west was almost forgotten in a few years after the railroads superseded him. Now that the government is breeding the same type of a horse "for the defense" of the country as the best that can be produced, the different states through which runs the old national road Ohio, Indiana and Illinois should each erect a mounment dedicated as a tribute to the memory of those old thoroughbred sires and have carved there- on in bold, bright letters, "The Thoroughbred Horse." here is the steed that was instrumental in colonizing and developing the west, and his descendants are coming, ready to protect and defend the whole country. 4 :
