MOTOR VEHICLE ALLY OF THE HORSE DEALER

The New York Times
April 21, 1901

Its Introduction Caused Farmers to Cease Breeding.

Result Has Been a Scarcity of Good Horses and High Prices—How They Are Handled and Sold.

"The motor vehicle as an ally of the horse dealer's business will probably strike the average man as a paradox," said Joseph D. Carroll to a reporter for The New York Times yesterday. "So much has been said about ' man's best friend ' being crowded out by modern mechanical inventions," continued Mr. Carroll, "that people find it hard to believe these very inventions are responsible for the active condition of the horse market to-day. And yet it is true.

"About three years ago, when the farmers throughout the country became convinced that the horseless carriage had come to stay, they actually, in many instances, quit breeding animals for draught purposes. This has resulted in a rise of about 50 per cent. in prices during the last year."

A visit to two or three of the big city stables and attendance upon one auction convinced the reporter that the dealer knew what he was talking about. One local firm is now receiving two trainloads of stock weekly from the West, the point of shipment usually, though not always, being Chicago. The animals are bought by special agents, who scour the West and Northwest for bargains.

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Coach horses, and many others for that matter, are usually kept on a farm near the city before being placed on the market. There they are given a chance to see trolley cars, steam cars, motor vehicles, and, in fact, every other contrivance that would be likely to frighten them in town.

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