FIRE HORSES. 247 



stalls are in the main room where the wagon is kept, 

 and at the back of the building is an entrance, the 

 doors of which are apt to be open. The animals are 

 thus exposed to strong and frequent draughts, very 

 bad for horseflesh ; and they are also continually an- 

 noyed by the noise, by the glare of lights kept burn- 

 ing all night, and by the coming and going of visitors 

 and officials. The object of this arrangement is, of 

 course, to save time ; but if the horses stood six feet 

 farther back, and were protected by a partition, prob- 

 ably only one or two seconds more would be required 

 to bring them to the pole. Moreover, they are so 

 often out at night that the suggestion already made 

 in regard to engine horses applies with more force to 

 those engaged in this service, namely, that bedding 

 should be left under them at all times. In the South 

 End house the stalls are open at both ends, so that 

 the horses stand in a thoroughfare for cold breezes ; 

 and this was formerly the case in the other station. 

 In the latter house there were for eight years a very 

 fine pair of grays, who were sold, not for unsoundness, 

 but because they were worn out by want of rest. 

 One of them also became vicious. The fact is, that, 

 with the possible exception of man, the horse is the 

 most nervous animal in the world, and the least able to 

 endure continual and multiplied annoyances. These 

 grays were last seen drawing a hack, and they have 

 probably long since passed to some lower and more 

 painful stage of equine degradation. 



Connected with a fire department there is usually 

 a veterinary hospital, and in Boston this is situated 

 on Tremont Street; being part of the building in 

 which a ladder truck is stationed. It consists of a 



