232 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 
they are almost invariably fat and soft; but they are 
immediately assigned to a station, without any train- 
ing or preparation. Consequently, they must be hu- 
mored, and, if need be, restrained somewhat, during 
their first months of service. Should they be driven 
fast at this time, they might easily become “ touched 
in the wind,” or otherwise disabled; and this some- 
times happens through careless or unskilful driving. 
The best and strongest horse in the world, if out of 
condition, cannot safely be called upon for an ex- 
traordinary effort. (There is a hint here, by the way, 
for fat or elderly people who persist in running for 
trains.) 
Elsewhere, the weight of fire horses is commonly 
about the same as it is in Boston. In Cambridge, in 
Lynn (which has an excellent department), and in 
Providence, they have none over 1,400 pounds; in 
Chicago the limit is given as 1,450; but in Brooklyn 
comparatively light horses are used, their weight 
varying from 1,150 to 1,350 pounds; and the veteri- 
nary surgeon attached to this department states that 
he prefers those approaching the minimum. 
As a rule, short-legged and short-backed horses are 
the best for drawing engines. It is indeed a general 
equine principle that “weight-pullers” should be 
formed in this way: they are more nimble, take 
shorter steps, and recover themselves more easily, 
than longer-legged and longer-striding animals. The 
trotters who make fast records to skeleton wagons 
(much heavier than sulkies) are almost invariably of 
such a construction. I have been told of a pair of 
tough roans built thus, and weighing not much more 
than 1,200 pounds, who could pull a heavy engine at 
