About the Running Stinkers

Talking off our own bat we would not be afraid to meet a speed devil with any horse properly broken and properly rigged, providing the auto driver did not blow his confounded conch. Coming from behind, that uncivilized 'honk honk' frightens a horse out of his wits. If an auto comes quietly up behind a horse and passes when there is room there is no danger if the driver of the horse does not lose his head as so many do in an emergency. Coming head on where the man on the red devil is conspicuous a horse does very well but the 'honk' of the thing frightens the animal a great deal. It might be a good plan to get one of the conchs and blow it about the stable until the horse gets used to it. A horse that has been used about a quartz crushing mill is not afraid of steam cars the first time he sees them, because the noise does not terrify. This writer had a horse one time that loose paper flying about the streets would set unmanageable. He gathered all the crinkly paper a dry goods firm would give him and put them into the box with the horse. That cured him in no time, although he cut up great capers when the papers were shook up about him in the box on the pretence that his bed was being made up and in a short time he concluded that loose paper on the streets was a sheet of his bed away from home. However, a good plan is for the driver not to take a fit before the horse takes one. The former is generally the case. A year ago three or four men were in here in a touring machine from Amherst. I asked the driver if many horses were frightened on the way? "None," he replied, "but lots of drivers had fits," which is generally the case. We went into the car and were taken up Provost Street and down Archimedes. On the way down the latter the car overtook a carriage driven by a woman. As he turned out to pass, we said, "Be careful, that woman's horse may be frightened." He peered round at the horse and put on full stink ahead. The woman clutched the arm of the wagon seat and wriggled, but the horse took no notice. But one might write a book on this thing and the next morning might get run over a bank by one of the red devils, and there you are. Fortunately we don't meet death or even injury by any known rule.