OUR WORKING HORSES. 
125 
Drainage. 
Several of the newest had no drains at all, the floors 
being simply swept clean. In these there was no 
trace of ammonia. Under ground drains of any kind are an abomina¬ 
tion. There is nearly always a smell from the traps, which are con¬ 
tinually getting out of order. If drains have to be used, the drain 
should be an open one, and should be carried out at least three yards 
from the stables, where it should be properly trapped before going 
into the sewer or cess pit. These town stables go up for two or three 
stories. There appears to be no reasonable objection to this practice. 
The horses go up and down the inclines without any difficulty, and it 
seems far preferable, from sanitary reasons as regards men, and from 
the point of view of resting the horses, to our system of having 
barrack rooms above the stables. 
One thing that struck me as being a great improve¬ 
ment on our system was the bails. These are invari¬ 
ably wooden planks, about one foot broad by two inches thick, suspended 
from the manger in front and the ceiling behind. The best which I 
saw were used by the South London Tram Co., and were fastened so 
that the least weight downwards on the bail released it, so that if a 
horse got his leg over it, there was no danger of his being hung up. 
The foreman told me that there is not much kicking at these bails, as 
a horse gets no satisfaction kicking at a swinging board which emits 
no sound. Personally I have always thought our system of iron bails 
attached to posts in rear of the horses, to be very faulty. The posts 
are a great temptation to a kicker, and disfiguring to him if he yields to 
it, and I can only think of one use for them, namely as a support for 
saddlery. This however is of itself an evil, as it is very bad for the 
appointments to be kept in the stables, and a separate harness room 
would be in every way better. 
The mangers in general use are also in my opinion an 
improvement on ours. They are removable, and 
therefore easily cleaned, and are provided with two bars on either side 
of the horse's nose when it is in the manger, which stops him moving 
his head to and fro and so spilling half his corn in the way some 
animals do. 
Sickness among these animals is almost unknown, and 
accidents very rare. I do not like to give figures 
without longer experience, but in many stables I only saw about 3 % 
of the horses unable to work, which, considering the chance of 
accidents in the streets of great cities, is a very small percentage, 
and speaks well both for drivers and horse keepers. It shews that 
more of the ills, horse-flesh as well as mankind, is heir to, arise from 
too little rather than too much work. All kinds of accidents both in 
the stable and out of it are due to idleness. 
With regard to this. Major Smith, of the Army Veterinary Depart¬ 
ment, whose experience amongst these horses is far greater than mine, 
says that this paragraph gives an unduly favourable impression. 
These companies have considerable sickness and mortality among their 
young horses, which are kept when sick, at farms, and which I would 
Mangers. 
Sickness. 
