Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 May 1892 — An Improved Horseshoe. [ARTICLE]

An Improved Horseshoe.

The London General Omnibus Company is about to make a thorough trial of an improved horseshoe, which is said to have been subjected to severe tests on the European Continent with very satisfactory results. The idea, which is the invention of a Frenchman named Pigot, is a very simple one, consisting merely of the affixing to t;he underpart of the shoe of two strips of cork, one on each side. “The cork strips, ” says a printed description, “are held in position by two very thin sheet-iron plates firmly fastened together by a rivet. The outer edges of these plates are slipped between the shoe and the hoof. The inner edges are turned upwards, forming flanges, between which and the inner edge of the shoe the cork blocks are tightly fixed. Betwen these flanges is fitted a screwed bolt, with nuts at either end, so that when the nuts are tightly screwed against the flanges the whole is perfectly immovable. In order to hold the cork still firmer in position the corners of the flanges are turned down over it, thus forming a couple of sockets, into which the cork, which at first sight slightly projects over the surface of the shoe, is Jammed and compressed more firmly every day by the weight of the horse.” These shoes are said to enable the horse to obtain such a grip upon .a slippeiy surface that slipping is almost impossible and straining is greatly diminished. The Brussels Tramway company, after trying them for six months, has adopted them for general use. The extra expense is estimated at $7.50 a year for each horse, against which must be put a saving on the wearing of the shoe and a prolongation of the life of the animal