Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1894 — Cheap Cavalry Horses. [ARTICLE]

Cheap Cavalry Horses.

The Government has been buying some very cheap horses in Oregon and Washington for its cavalry and artillery service. The average price paid was $75 a piece. A purchasing agent says: “We inspected horses recently at The Dalles, Pendleton, Walla AValla, Ellensburg and North Yakima, and at each place found about 100 awaiting examination. I selected such as met the requirements, which are that they must bo bays and grays, fifteen hands high and upward, and from four to eight years old. These were passed upon by the Government officials, and, if found satisfactory, were accepted. They were purchased at a very low price, as the sellers had but little money, and were anxious to dispose of their stock. The animals bought are of fine class, and especially suited for cavalry purposes. The lowness of the cost of horses this' year may be attributed to the small demand, which is insignificant, when compared with the supply. Never before during the fifteen years or so that I have been inspecting horses for the Government have I seen times so dull in the stock regions, or the stock dealers so anxious to sell their animals at a small price. The small demand is, of course, due to the supplanting of horse cars by electric and cable railways, the shutting down of logging camps and lumber industries on Puget sound, and the general dullness of trade. In Portland, cars which would require 8,500 horses are operated by cable and electricity. Then the freight cars operated on those steel railways have shut out trucks and delivery wagons, on which a large number of horses were used.”—[New Orleans Picayune.