234 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 



? luavu, 



place by the pole ? ready to have the collar fastened 

 about his neck ; but the gray was missing. They 

 looked in his stall, but it was vacant ; " neither hide 

 nor hair of him " could be found, and it seemed clear 

 that the animal had been stolen by some bold thief. 

 Presently, however, a horse was heard moving about 

 in the adjoining house, and it proved to be one be- 

 longing to the chemical engine, which had already 

 gone to the fire. He was of course immediately put 

 in the place of the missing beast, and the engine 

 finally got under way. The fact was, that when the 

 alarm sounded, and the doors of the stable flew open, 

 the gray had gone to his old place on the chemical 

 engine, and pushed aside the horse already standing 

 there, who, finding that he was not wanted, returned 

 to his stall. The men, in the hurry of the moment, 

 harnessed such animals as offered themselves, and 

 were off without discovering the mistake. 



There is a reason why ladder truck horses should 

 be taller than engine horses : the apparatus which 

 they draw is at a much higher level from the ground 

 than is the bulk of an engine, and consequently a 

 low-standing animal would waste part of his efforts 

 in pulling downward instead of pulling forward. 

 Some ladder truck horses are shaped in one impor- 

 tant respect like Maud S., Sunol, and other fast trot- 

 ters and runners, namely, higher at the rump than 

 at the withers, and with long hind legs. This is not 

 considered a good conformation for a cart horse ; but 

 it seems to answer well where, as in the case of a 

 ladder truck, horses are required which have height 

 and speed as well as strength. 



Such being the kind of horse needed for fire en- 



