Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 January 1901 — A Good Horse Market. [ARTICLE]

A Good Horse Market.

An agent of the British army is at Kansas City purchasing 50,000 cavalry horses and mules for the British army in South Africa. As fast as the animals are inspected and bought they will be sent to New Orleans and shipped to Cape Town, Durbin and New London on British transports, some of which are now on their way to the U. S.

By the time the horses and mules are landed in South Africa they cost the British govvernment $360 ahead. That is a large price for an animal which will he fit for a service of only six weeks. Most of the animals die because of the change in climate. They must cross the equator in going to South Africa, and the torrid heat of the tropics kills them rapidly. The average death rate on shipboard is thirty two to the 1000. Forty days after a horse is purchased in Kansas City it is landed in South Africa. So great is the demand for horses at the front that it is impossible to give them the needed rest after landing before putting them into service. Consequently they go to the front in weakened condition and not getting a sufficient amount of food they soon die. Since the beginning of the Boer war England has purchased over 100,000 head of horses and mules in the U. S. It required 75 ships to carry them from New Orleans to South Africa.