HORSE AGAIN IN FAVOR

Evening Star, Issue 19804, 1 March 1928, Page 16

HORSE AGAIN IN FAVOR

“ Is the horse coming back? A Liverpool veterinary surgeon, recognised as an authority on horse traction in England, declares Old .Dobbin is galloping back into the favor of big city firms, and that the last two years have seen increasing victories of the cart horse over motor transport,” says tho ‘ Liverpool Post.’ , . “This protagonist of tho horse is Mr G. W. Elam, of Roscommon street, who >-s been singled out in the animal report of tho hoard of Veterinary Studies as one who has investigated thoroughly the economics of horse tiaction, and lias established that it is the least expensive within a radius of ton miles. “‘you have only to use your eyes and you will see that many Liverpool commercial firms which once went in for vans and lorries have decided to put horses in their place,’ ho told the ‘Liverpool Daily Post.’ ‘Nearly every milkman drives a horse; timber merchants, brewers, tho cleansing departments of'Merseyside corporations, and many of tho big retailers are using more horses, while tho railway companies have as many as ever, .banners are doing away with tractors, since tho horse, besides being loss expensive to buy and keep, is equally useful in purely agricultural work.’ “Mr Elam’s slogan is; ‘Horses do half tho work of motors at one-lliird the cost.’ To sum up the comparison more fully, he gave the, following comparative facts:— LORRIES. “ Cost of motor and trailer, from £1,0(10 to £1,300. “Tax, insurance, running expenses, and wages for either two or three men, £2l a week. “ A lorry will work satisfactorily for little more than three years. HORSES. “ Horses and Inrnout cost about. £2OO. “Running expenses, including one man’s wages, about £7 a week. “Horse’s average life, eight years. “ Depreciation, about £3O a year. “‘lt is all a. matter of capital outlav. repairs, and running cost,’ said Mr Elam. ‘ One haulage contractor tells mo ho has doubled the number of bis horses and disposed of most, of bis lorries. The reason is clear when ono remembers that, for the same capital outlay as will buy a. lorry, five or six teams with an eight to twelve tons hauling power can be put on tho road.’ “ The question of speed only operated in eases whore quick delivery was essential. The utility of motor vehicles could not he disputed, but in largo towns, where traffic was necessarily slow, the comparative costs must in tho majority of cases result in preference to the horse.”-