Lovers of the Horse 125 



in color and size have met with tlie .sio;nal success tliat comes of sincerity and ex- 

 perience. His stan(hii(l is a horse ahout Hi liaiids and weighing 1/200 to 1,250 lbs., and 

 he favors a young liorse l>ecause it retains its color longer. Some persons who will 

 read this are possibly not aware that a grey horse gets lighter in color as age in- 

 creases, and eventually turns white, long before its usefulness has ceased. Mr. 

 Delanev has been in charge of the Simjjson horses for 17 years. He presides over 

 the stables on Mutual St. and Dalhousie St.. Toronto, where there is every accom- 

 modation for the bio- etiuine familv. and the situation is within easv distance of the 

 store, but the rapidlv increasing necessity for more horses and. consequently, more 

 room, is being acted upon i)y the company, and ]ilans are now being prepared for 

 new stables which will lie the eijual in modern equipment of any on the continent. 

 Nearlv a hundred men are at present engaged as drivers, or in looking after the horses. 

 There are some sixty wagons, about a fourth of that number being the large sizes 

 for team loads. A stringent system has to be employed in the assignment of the dif- 

 ferent wagons to their respective territoiy. There are three trips a day to all points 

 within the city limits, and the suburban places are covered once every day, and in some 

 eases twice. In addition to this, there are special wagons in readiness to wait on 

 trains and boats. Notwithstanding the precision involved, the system works to a 

 nicety. Each man knows what he has to do and is considerate of the welfare of his horse, 

 some of them being much ;itta<li(M| to their useful pet and taking personal pride in 

 havino- it look its verv best. The suburban deliverv extends as far west of Toronto 

 as Cooksville and Lome Park ; north to Richmond Hill, and east to Scarboro Jet. 

 The wagons are of a uniform color, as familiar to the Toronto eye as is the Simpson 

 grey horse. They are the up-to-date, rubber-tired, roller-bearing vehicles; different 

 from twenty years ago, when the sole Simpson deliverv vehicle was a two-wheeled cart. 



The manv advantao-es that customers living outside the Citv mav derive, have 

 been amply demonstrated by Simpson's, who are now handling in the neighliorhood 

 of 1.000, ()()() mail orders per annum. Careful and ]))-oni])t >liipment and honest value 

 have caused a marvellous growth in this branch of the lousiness, which is just as strictly 

 looked after as is the immense City deliverv. 



The history of the Simpson business is of decided interest. It was estaljlished Ijy 

 the late Mr. Robt. Simpson, who came to Toronto from Newmarket in 187'-2. and 

 opened a little store on Yonge St. north of the present mammoth building, which is 

 a monument to a courageous, progressive man. In ISSO the store employed thirteen 

 clerks and the horse j)articulai-ly referred to above. In 1S81, ]\Ir. Simpson moved 

 to a larger building in the block which is now entirely occupied by the business he 

 created, purchase and extension having continued until the whole block has been ac- 

 quired. In 189-1 contracts were let for a 7-storey building to occuj)y the site of his 

 old stores. The building, when completed, was the finest of its kind in Canada, but 

 scarcely before three months had elapsed it was reduced to ashes. This dreadful 

 calamity did not break the spirit of Mr. Simpson, who set to work to rebuild on a 

 grander scale, for the fire had made room for a biiiii-er iilace. In Jannarv. 189(>. the 



