238 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 
when the gong sounds and the doors open. Of course 
no two horses learn with equal rapidity, and the dif- 
ference between them in this respect is greater than 
might be supposed. Two weeks constitute about the 
average period of instruction, during which time two 
or three lessons a day are given: but horses have 
been known to learn in one lesson; and _ others, 
again, have been months in arriving at the same 
proficiency. 
A pair of gray horses, newly purchased for an 
engine in Boston, were led out three times in the 
manner just described. They were then left to them- 
selves: the gong sounded, the stall doors opened, and 
the pair trotted out, each going to his place alongside 
the pole. They had caught the idea at once. These 
horses are remarkable not only for intelligence, but 
for strength and speed. They are both, and the off 
one especially, of a type different from that of any 
other fire horses that I have seen, being very tall (the 
off one is seventeen hands), rangy, slightly wasp- 
waisted, and having fine, thin necks, and small, well- 
bred heads. These nags are built after the fashion 
of the once famous Conestoga horses of Pennsylvania. 
They are great gallopers, and the hose-wagon steed has 
hard work to keep up with them; but this too is a re- 
markable animal. He is one of the oldest horses in 
the department, having served ten years, and being, 
naturally, a little stiff in the legs; but his strength is 
so great and his courage so good that even these pow- 
erful, flying grays cannot draw away from him. He 
is a big brown horse, with a great shoulder, the best 
of short legs, and a noble countenance. His original 
cost was the unusually large sum of $450, but the bar- 
