THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
189 
Cait a Horse Kcasou! 
The Editor of the Mobile Advertiser, whence we. 
take the followiiig curious arid arnU'iiig slateirieiits of 
Judge I’aylor, say.s they may be entirely relied on, and 
can be corroborated by the ti.sliinony of hundreds of 
the rnO'l reputable citizens of Mobile. 
My purpose is not to discuss the question at 
the head ot this article, but to submit some lacis 
for the speculation of those who may be curious 
in such matters. As you are aware, I own a 
horse called John, that lor several years has not 
only amused, but astonished the public, by his 
various feats of intelligence and sagacity. 
Everybody knows John ; and if he is seen, as 
he often is, in a buggy, and no one in it, walk- 
ing, trotting or galloping through the mo.st 
crowded streets, threading his way among car- 
nages andclrav-s, no citizen offers to stop him ; 
but if a stranger attempt it, he only excites a 
laugh, and is asked how long he has been in the 
city"? 1 have witnes.sed some amusing scenes 
of this kind, at the expense of some one’s grrorf 
inlcniions. 
It is proper I should state, that lor the last 
seven years, with the excefdioii of the past and 
present winters, I have resided about two and a 
half miles from the city. I generally come to 
town every day, about 11 or 13 o’clock. I fre- 
quently drive to town and back, without touch- 
ing the rein. If I come down St. Francis-street 
he is certain to stop at the VVaverly, without 
anything being said to him; and as soon as I 
. get out he wilfstart in a trot or gallop and stop 
at the Oorinihian. If 1 come down Dauphin- 
street, he will go directly to the posi-oHice, 
where he will stop until 1 get out, when he will 
wheel aeioss the street, and remain there, in his 
opinion, ?L rea.sonable time ; if he wants water 
. he will go to a pump, and from one to another, 
until he finds a friend to pump it for him, when 
he will return. 
John is also a general favorite. The "free- 
dom of the city” was longsince presented to him 
in a bugey ! He is therefore not confined to 
any particular street, but goes where he likes, 
in pursuit of me or his own amusement. He 
will sometimes go to Water-street, and then to 
Commerce, where, withexcellent te^eand judg- 
ment, he wilt sample bales of hay on the side- 
walk; but, unlike the cotton samplers, he was 
' never known to fill a bag and carry it off on his 
back. He not only knows me from others, but 
can distinguish my voice from all others, as 
may be easily proved. H undreds of persons 
may pass him daily, without attracting from 
him any particular notice. If I come toward 
him when his head is turned from me, and hap- 
pen to be talking at the time, although from his 
tight check rein the motion may be difficult, and 
perhaps painful, he will turn his head round, 
resting it against his side, with his eye, which 
then exhibits a peculiar, tremulous motion, fix- 
ed on me, till I pass. If he then desires to go 
home, he will raise his head, point his ears, and 
start after me, stepping loftily, and keeping me 
, in view. Although a spirited animal, nothing 
^“frightens him from his propriety;” in fact, he 
“dares do all that may become a”— Aorse.' It 
is a fact quite notorious, that he will go about 
athecityin pursuit of me ; it is equally so, that 
a'eiperiments have been made to induce him to 
Ifcleave me, by turning him up the street leading 
^to the country; but after turning a block or two 
he would invariably come back. There are 
y.many instances ot gentlemen having driven 
.jjJ''*hira to their residences in different parts of the 
Sr city, and turned him loose to come back ; and ! 
am informed some bets have been pocketed on 
«uch performances. I had a standing bet for 
some years, that I would send him to the mar- 
ket, or the post-office, or any house or point that 
^ might be designated, and that he would return 
safely with the buggy. No one doubted he 
would do it. But a few months since, I sent 
him from my house across the country to the 
Spring Hill road, and up that road a distance ot 
a mile, to the house of a friend, although he 
g- had not been there for more than a year. 1 
have often sent him on errands of a similar 
character. I have only to go with him and 
•iliow him a place, and he never forgets it. He 
is perfectly under command of my voice. 1 
speak lo liiuj as 1 would to a servant ; and that 
he understands many things I say to him, i.s 
proved by the tact tliat he obey.s me. In har- 
ness, or out of it, he follows me about like a 
eog. He stands in no tear of me, and has no 
cause; for although I may sometimes scold him, 
I have never struck him, as 1 b'. lieve, in the se- 
ven years and a lialf 1 have owned him. He 
therefore does nothing from fear, but everything 
from kindness. 
It is getting quite late— two or three o’clock — 
I must have gone up thes reet. He turns up 
Ifoyal-sireet, and stopping a short lime at the 
Literary Depot, and several other places, he 
goes to the VVaverly. There is no use in go- 
ing faiihcr in Uiis direction, lor he knows I sel- 
dom go above that point. He becomes uneasy; 
turns bar k, and goes down the street as far as 
the courthouse. He turns again, much exci- 
ted; hi.s ears thrown back, bis neck arched, his 
nostrils flattened, and starts in a fast trot. As 
he pa.sses the Mansion House, he is in a round 
giillop, wildly throwing his head from one side 
of the street to the other. It he sees me he will 
stop, or come up to me. 1 get into the carriage, 
ami without say ing a word to him or touching 
the rein, he takes up the first street leading to 
our home. Here is a narrow lane leading to 
llic gate, and to make a clean turn through it, 
it is necessary lo keep to the right, near the 
fence. John knows it, and slops at the proper 
point; 1 gel out, open the gate, and pass through. 
He wheels short round, desciibing a quarter 
circle, and sees all is right before him ; the gate 
is narrow, there being but five or six inches to 
spare, between the wheel and the post. John 
knows it, and in more than five hundred limes 
passing through that gate, he has not touched 
the post more than three or four times; but 
when he happens to do so, he will immediately 
back, sheet ofl of his own accord, and pass 
through, never failing in his second attempt. 
There are many instance.sof his having locked 
his wheels with other carriages whenendeavor- 
ing to get a good shade, and disengaging him- 
self in a similar manner, and which have been 
noticed by Gen. T. D. VV.arid others. But for 
the oddity of it, 1 certainly should not use either 
rein or bridle. In going to the city, or back, but 
especially at night, 1 would trust him sooner 
than a professed watchman. Not the slightest 
injury has ever occurred lo the carriage by any 
fault of his. 
But he has also a mode of communicating his 
wishes and want.s, by signs, looks, and actions, 
which are as perfectly comprehensible by me, 
as ifexprc.ssed in the plainc.st language spoken 
by man. H.'’ not only wsex a language lo ex- 
press his ideas, emotions, &c.. but be has clear- 
ly invented that language himself, as I think I 
shall prove. A portion of the year, the stable 
being left open for that purpose, John is allowed 
to come to the house and kitchen when he likes. 
About 12 o’clock one light night, I heard a hea- 
vy knocking at the kitchen door. The knock- 
ing continued so long and so loud, that I got up 
and went lo the window, when I found it was 
John creating the disturbance. His hind feel 
were on the ground, and his lore feet on the up- 
per slep. Lifting his foot, he would strike the 
point of his hoof against the door, ten or fifteen 
times, repeating it every few minutes. From 
many other feats of his sagacity, I was well con- 
vinced of his object. I called up the servant, 
and charged him with neglecting to feed the 
horse, but he stoutly denied the charge. It is 
certain 1 did not believe him. But the .same 
thing happened several times afterward.', and I 
had as often called up the servant, who still as- 
serted the horse had been fed. One day I hap- 
pened to hear the old negro talking to the ser- 
vants in the kitchen, laughing hoarlily, and re- 
peating, “ John won’t lie, and master knows it.” 
A laugh. “He believes John, and won’t be- 
lieve me.” Another laugh. “ I won’t tell any 
more lies about feeding John. It’s no use.” 
They all laugh, and I laugh ! When he wants 
water he will go to the well and knock against 
the cuib, or the water tub, in thesame manner. 
Of late years, the servant gets up at the earliest 
knocking, for lie knows that no sleep is to be 
liad on the premises until John’s demands are 
complied with. I often direct that he should 
not be fed in the morning, for ih'' purpose of in- 
ducing biiri to adopt some other me, hod of com- 
munii aiing his wishes. After cxhausiing his 
patience in his usual eflciis, he would come lo 
the house and wflk by the door, stepping ..short 
and quick, and wheeling abruptly round. After 
practising in ibis manner lor some time, he 
would give one of the queerest squeals 1 ever 
heard, as much resembling the yell of a Choc- 
law, as nnyihing else, although he can, if he 
likes, .squeal in veiy good English! 
In November last, Mr. H., of C,, who was at 
my bouse, desiied to witness someol John’s per- 
formances. After performing several feats I 
have related, and we had gone into the house, 
the servant came to rne and said John would not 
let her go into the kitchen. We went out on ifie 
gallery and saw that John had planted his heels 
directly opposite do the kitchen door, looking 
very savagely. I ordered the giil to drive him 
away, which she attempted to do with a slick. 
But no! John would not move an inch. With 
his head near the ground, his ears backed, 
stamping violently, and shaking his head, be 
bid defiance. A 11 this I knew was merely for 
effect. 1 knew be would not have injured the 
least of living things. I then told the girl to go 
to the well and draw him water. As soon as she 
sliirted in that direction, lie threw off his theatri- 
cal character and followed her, looking pleased 
and highly gratified at the success ot his inge- 
nious experiment. 1 will relate one feat of a 
different character. A year or two ago, when 
I came to ihe city one morning, I left John at a 
shop in Church-street to be shod, requesting the 
smith, after he had done so, to put the house in 
the buggy, and let him go; a practice I have 
pursued at that and other shops for several 
years. An hour or two after, I was standing 
on the side-walk, opposite to the Mansion 
House, when 1 saw John comingdown Govern- 
ment-street, and then up Royal, in a fast trot, 
slopping within a lew leet of me. He soon 
commenced stamping violently with his fore 
loot, which continued fur a minute or two. 
The West ward omnibus was standing some 
JO or 40 leet in front of liim. Walking up to 
it, be put his foot on the upper step, and com- 
menced biting it. After relieving himself of 
the fly — as I supposed it wa.s— he backed the 
buggy to hisold position. Although John Anew, 
and had his reason, why he went to the omni- 
bus, yet it is proper the /earner/ public should be 
informed, that as his check rein would notal- 
low his head to be brought down to bis fool, he 
went to the omnibus to bring up his foot to his 
head! Mr. P., then and now of this city, and a 
number of other gentlemen, were amused spec- 
tators of this performance. 
John is a northern horse, finely formed, and 
without a blemish ; and although in his twelfth 
I year, he has all the playfulness and elasticity 
of a colt. H. W. Taylor. 
Curious Clock. — The correspondent of the 
London Morning Chronicle, who accompianied 
the retinue of Gueen Victoria, on her late lour 
to Germany, in giving an account of the various 
curiosities in the Museum in the palace of Frie- 
denstein, gives the following account of a clock 
of very singular construction; “In another 
chamber there is a very elaborate and strange 
piece of clock machinery, combined with an or- 
rey, which keeps time with the celestial bodies. 
The different dials of the clock tell seconds, mi- 
nutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, centu- 
ries, and thousands of years. There was .some- 
thing curious in looking at a needle constructed 
to move one inch every thousand years. I could 
not help thinking it satirically emblematic of 
German activity ; but if it is slow it is sure, and 
so are my friends on this side of the Rhine. 
The ingenious piece of mechanism in question 
was constructed about a century ago, by a prie.st, 
whose name, I believe, is lo.st.” 
