EDTORIAL. 
93 
in Chicago combined. We select one paragraph from the arti¬ 
cle for illustration : 
“ The frog is a delicately constructed part of a horse’s foot and 
should be protected by a well-balanced and nicely-fitting shoe. 
In the cases of thoroughbreds that wear the thinnest kind of 
plates— plates that do not always keep the frog prom contact with 
the ground, we often read of paralysis setting in and, if the ill is 
not remedied, the horse goes lame and is unfit to run for the 
purse. Killing the nerve is a remedy that in the past has been 
applied by unscrupulous owners and the method was the hot 
iron . By the process the animal became dull to all pain in the 
hoof nerve centre and ran along as though he had never been 
abused. But a wise and humane law put a stop to ‘ nerving,’ 
under penalty of severe punishment.” 
In its indignation against the horseshoers of Chicago for 
their ignorance and poor workmanship The Stable sounds an 
alarm that “ if stringent measures are not at once adopted to pro¬ 
tect horses against the incompetency of alleged shoers, the 
horseless vehicle would be a blessing.” To show how perni¬ 
ciously the craft of Chicago are plying their murderous work, 
it narrates that “ Dr. A. A. Tocke, a veterinarian and horse 
dealer, selected ioo draft horses .... and of them 43 were 
provided with shoes without proper calks, 15 with unbalanced 
shoes, of irregular weight a,nd application, and 23 suffering from 
bad workmanship of smiths. Think of such a condition and 
then cry out against the automobile.” It is advised that in¬ 
spectors be appointed through municipal legislation, to examine 
the feet of draft horses, and to correct the evils so existent in 
that city. If such a ridiculous act were foisted upon the pub¬ 
lic, we sincerely trust, for the sake of our equine friend, that its 
enforcement will be placed in other hands than reformers of the 
school of which the writer of that editorial is a familiar exam¬ 
ple. With all the alleged incompetency of the horseshoeing 
fraternity, there is less danger of injury and suffering than from 
such brilliant ignorance as is displayed by asinine assumists of 
his type. 
