Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 December 1897 — A Business Horse. [ARTICLE]

A Business Horse.

A remarkable display of animal sagacity was given last week in Kensington by the horse driven by old Harry Pindle, an itinerant coal dealer. Harry has been a small dealer for years, and many a bucket of coal he sells to customers of twenty years’ standing. Hector, the old bay horse, has been owned by Harry for several years, and although he is old and lame, the animal serves his master well. Last week while out with a load of coal Harry was taken sick, and leaving his 6-year-old grandson on the wagon, he went into a friend’s house to rest. Now, Hector evidently got tired of waiting, for when Harry, who had become very sick, came out with his friend to be driven home, the team was gone. Late that afternoon the grandson came home with an empty wagon and explained that Hector had gone over the regular route, and that the people who had been waiting for their coal, came out and took what they wanted, and paid for it. Harry became very ill, and ""as confined to bed for over a week, but the supply of coal never stopped, as Harry’s oldest son would load the wagon before going to work and the team would be sent out in charge of the little boy. It has been proven since that old Hector never missed a customer along the route, and he is now pointed out as a remarkable horse.—Philadelphia Record.