The Cab Horses of London.

Manawatu Herald, 24 March 1892, Page 3

The Cab Horses of London.

Mr W. J. Gordon, whose interesting article upon the omnibus horses of London was noticed last month, continues his studies of the horse world of London by an account in the Leisure JTour for December, of the cab horses. He says : —

Bulking the London cabs together, we can estimate the turn-out complete, cab, horse, and harness, at £100 ; and 9000 of them mean £900, • 000. The 6000 additional horses at £80 each yield £180,000- The stable accommodation, freehold and leasehold, the fittings and sundries, and plant and working cash, would certainly be bought cheaply for £170,000, and that gives us a million and a quarter to work the London cab trade, which is surely quite enough. At one time the manure was worth threepence per horse per week, now it is difficult to get a farthing a week for iti The distance to and from Epsom is the average day's journey of a London cab horse; A hansom takes £2 a day. There are sixty cab-stands, a\eraging 11 vehicles each There are 7,000 convictions a year for misbehavour — rather a high proportion out of 15,000 cabmen. Grey horses are the least popular in hansoms, but the most popular in four-wheelers. Most cab horses are Irish, and take eight weeks to get into working order after they come over. As a rule they begin when they are four years old ; they cost £30, last three years, then are sold for £9 when they are used up.