HAS THE HORSE FAILED

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2346, 31 December 1914, Page 7

HAS THE HORSE FAILED

OPPOSITION OP THE BICYCLE AND MOTOR STORIES FROM THE FRONT I Of all tho spectacles thai I have seen during tho war none has been bo terrible as a certain wounded boree, and none so pleasant as a certain camp of heavy horses, which were presently strung out over miles of road with the Indian commissariat behind them, writes W. Beach Thomas in the "Daily Mail." The whole French population of the little country town went out to see and admire. The animals looked as peaceful and as well-liking as if they had never left their English farms. Even their "feathers" were combed out and their manes as little dishevelled as might be. Tho drivers wore not better groomed. One of the French admirers said to me, "Your men spend so much time in washing themselves I can't imagine when they find a moment to look after tho_ horses," and when I reached the unlimbored wagons there was indeed a regular outbreak of ablution and shaving. Little groups of men, boys, and women, especially women, stood openmouthed in front, while tho most amazing efforts of conversation proceeded. : One Manchester man was leaning over the pole of his wagon in the attitude of a public speaker and succeeded in gathering a really satisfactory congregation. His subject was the superiority of tho English language over the French. He had several arguments, but.when in doubt always returned.to the refrain that, whereas in French you had to say mad-dem-moi-eelle, which was four syllables, in English you just said "Miss," which was only one syllable. All the whilo he so tempered his English to the weak understanding of his audience by the affectation of a supposed pidgin abbreviations that I could hardly understand his leoture rayself. However, it seemed very popular, and when it was over he received several invitations to dinner which were well understood. At any rate, he accepted them "all. As the hosts pointed to their mouths and indicated an hour on their watches, he let go a regular cascade of "Oui's." .

It was a Sunday afternoon, sufficiently far from the lines, and both the town and the soldiers, were enjoying their holiday. The horses enjoyed it too. On© of the men in charge of 1000 gave me some figures of their wellbeing. In the German icavajry it is reckoned that the aveiago life: of a horso on active service is five-days and of a draught horse twenty days. The average life of these heavy horses eeemed likely to be little altered by the accident of war. Out of the thousand, in rough figures, twenty-seven had gone to one hospital and eighteen to another and eight had died. The sergeant Uhougbt there were four now with him which had better go to hospital, but that, was the completed list of sick or wounded after'two months and a half, and he expected most of the invalids to return to work soon. I gave earlier in the war-some'ac-count of the astonishing success of the veterinary icorps with their field and base hospital system. But excellent as this has been,'perhaps, after all, the real reason of our success, with horses — : ' cavalry and artillery and draught—has been the affectionate care of the riders and drivers. The Germans have certainly lost thousauds needlessly by not unsaddling when possible, and by allowing their animals to swell themselves out with green food. Many a wounded horse has been ridden to a standstill to save sounder horses, and oven tho more slightly wounded have .been, shot at once. Our veterinary surgeons-have proved again and again that even serious wounds may be successfully operated on—they have, indeed, operated even on the battlefield—and the . convalescent homos have saved hundreds Yet even they would have failed if the riders and drivers 'had not been as careful as hunting men with the food and grooming of their animals. There are probably : some .wonderful cases pf successful endurance , among our cavalry and our fcrtillery horses. Indeed some, I know, have twice returned from the hospitals to the front. 'Of course the strain upon them, even apart from tho direct risks of battle,-is enormous compared with'the experience of the draught horse, used chiefly on lines of communication; but what I saw that Sunday afternoon in the little valley town of North France made . all who were there delightfully '- sure that the men have been merciful to their beasts at all times and at all costs,, atid that in consequence the.horses have lived and flourished beyond all expectation,and in despite of the statistics and'prognostics of the greatest army on .earth-,, • Nevertheless, the. horse is supposed to have failed.. In the battle with cho motor-tractor, and even the cycle, he has been' defeated, they say. A Bel-, gian cavalryman' said to mo that the Belgian Army would have been much better off without any cavalry horses at all. In all seriousness he argued that the bicycle was a more effective mount, surer and faster and more mobile. Some of his arguments were a little absurd,, and I thought of that charming Oxford professor, captain of a volunteer cycle corps,: who maintained that if a row of bicycles were inverted and the wheels rapidly revolved no cavalry horses in tie world would face the specBut the Belgians have certainly done wonders with cycles. They are by babit great riders, and much of. their country is*, without hills. He acknowledged of course that they could not on cycles had then entirely, taken the place of horses—do the work of cavalry in charging. The virtues of momentum arid impetus, delivered against an enemy, do not belong to the cycle. But in many countries mounted infantry may be much inferior to cyclists in fighting virtues. They suffer more. They are, less adaptable and less quick. A Belgian will carry his cycle as easily, as a knapsack. A company will, if need bo, leave the road, slip across the fields, cycle on' back„ and be off on another.road before you realise the man-, peuvre. Their cyclists have fought some excellent rearguard actions, dismounting, firing a few volleys, , and dashing off again, well bent over the handles, and where, roads are at all concealed they are out of sight before the onemy havo discovered whoro tho volley came from. j In retreat they havo covered amaz- j ing distances without serious fatiguo or any. loss. No : one who saw them ride into Calais .after a straight run from Antwerp at the time of its fall will ever forget the sight. They .had travelled at a pace I hesitate to quote, an 3 yet they arrived—for those who cnuM' l«ok below the mud, which rcrtaiuly was considerable—quite, unwearied and undistressed. Think of the state of horses after such a retreat.