The Horse World of London

Manawatu Herald, 5 January 1893, Page 3

The Horse World of London

From a series of most interesting papers on the above subject, by W. w-rh Gordon, appearing in the last ■ volume of the Leisure Hour, we extract the following :— The London General Omnibus Company are the greatest users ot living horse power in London. They have in round numbers, ten thousand horses working ten thousand omnibuses, travelling twenty million miles in a year, and carrying one hundred and one million passengers. An omnibus picks up six passengers in a mue. 'I he weight of an omnibus and load ia, when full, two and a half tons, the average two and a quarter tons, which a pair ot horßes has to draw at the rate of five miles an hour, twelve miles a day. The horse is bought when five years old, and works for five years, he is then sold. All over the country buyers are at work, picking out the peculiar class of horse which will best be «r the constant stopping and starting of the London omnibus trafric. The company's hsrses are all branded on the hoof. . The Road Car Co. another large omnibus company has one stable at Fulham holding seven hundred horses, half of which are housed on an upper floor. There are 2,210 vehicles requiring 22,00 horses and 11,000 men at work in this business, and taking value of vehicles, horses, food, wages &c. it is calculated that it costs one and a half million pounds to work the trade. The nest greatest number of horses are owned by the North Metropolitan Tram company, which has 8,500, though the London Tramways Company only own 150 less. The London cab horses number some 15,000 and averaging the cost at £80 each we find a sum of £450, 000 is invested in them The cab horses are generally Irish, they are four years old when broken in, and la3t only three years. During the season, in the si^c days work they generally cover 200 miles, and this with a cab and driver weighing together half a ton, added to which must be the passengers. The p general oolour is brown, and it is noted that a grey will not do for a hansom ai it has been found that a man with a horse of that colour gets fewer fares. The fares earnt average from nine to eighteen shillings a day, the height of the season being from Derby week to the Ascot week.