FIRE HORSES. 215 



to have thrown, at one time and another, everybody 

 who has ridden him to exercise, except the captain. 

 John's sense of discipline is so strong that he draws 

 the line there. While used as a leader his stall is 

 different from the usual one ; and when on one occa- 

 sion, having occupied it for some weeks, the third 

 horse was dispensed with, and John was put back in 

 his old quarters, he rightly and sagaciously concluded 

 that his former place on the engine should also be re- 

 sumed, and accordingly, at the next alarm, he ran to 

 the pole, instead of going in front. 



The finest engine horse that I have seen is, I think, 

 the near one of a dark gray team used in Boston. 

 This is what horsemen call "a big little "un," that is, 

 a stout animal on short legs. He is a comparatively 

 small horse, standing 15 hands 3 inches, and weighing 

 1,320 pounds ; but he is big where bigness is required. 

 He has a broad chest, a tremendous shoulder, deep 

 lungs, a big barrel, a short back, and strong hind 

 quarters. His legs are flat and clean, his feet of just 

 the right size, and he has a broad forehead and an in- 

 telligent eye. Possibly his shoulder is a little too 

 upright, and there is a suspicion of hollowness in his 

 back, but otherwise he seemed to me an ideal engine 

 horse. His mate is handsomer in some respects, and 

 more gentle, but a trifle too long in the back and 

 legs. 



Beside the engine, hose-wagon, and ladder truck 

 horses, there are others, used to haul coal and sup- 

 plies, to carry men and tools for the repair of wires, 

 etc. These are chiefly old, partly broken down ani- 

 mals, no longer fit for the hard and rapid work of 

 running to fires. Then there are smaller nags, weigh- 



