HORSES & MULES
The Cincinnati Horse
Trotting Horse Breeder
Cleves Horse Farm
& Mule Exchange
Loveland
The first card shows the Cincinnati Horse & Mule Exchange. This was known as the 5th Street Stables and was located on the south side of the street east of Main St. Sometimes 400 horses a day were sold there during the 1880's along with a 5 cent glass of beer.
These three cards were taken in Camp Washington. I do not know what the occasion was.
THE CINCINNATI EPIZOOTIC OF 1872
It is hard for us, living in the modern society we
do, to understand the complete dependence on our four-footed hoofed friends for
survival before the 20th century, and automobiles, arrived. For three weeks near
the end of 1872 Cincinnati was almost completely paralyzed. After the Civil War
the nation was swept by a series of animal epidemics. In 1869 the "Texas
Fever" attacked cattle throughout the Mid West and almost halted the
consumption of beef, milk and cream in many cities. Rabies was extremely
prevalent among dogs nation wide in 1871. In 1872 a very contagious form of
influenza among horses appeared in Canada and, from there, swept thru the United
States. Cincinnati seemed to have missed the "Canadian horse disease,"
epizootic or epizooty as it was variously called and seemed to be ok thru the
summer and fall of 1872.
Late in October 4 circus horses from out of town were taken to the
stable of veterinarian, Dr. Bowler and it was soon apparent that they were
suffering from the dreaded ailment. Within days more horses became infected. On
November 7th, it was publicly admitted that the disease had come to Cincinnati.
On the 9th it was estimated that 250 horses were ill. Rapidly the number of
streetcars and busses was being depleted; a few were kept going with mules
until, even they began to succumb as the disease began to grow in virulence. On
the 12th the first death occurred; then more and more died every day after that.
Within a week from the onset, practically all street transportation
had disappeared except for the cars running to Columbia, which were propelled by
little "dummy" steam engines (see streetcar link above). The railroads
tried to help out by stopping every two or three blocks but this was of comparatively
little help. Towards dusk each evening great masses of people in this city
of 200,000 began walking home from their jobs, many of which lived on the other
side of the Ohio River or up on top of the many hills surrounding the city. Many
began sleeping at their place of work as the walks back and forth became to much
of a chore. This became less of a problem as many businesses were forced to shut
down because of the lack of transportation.
The removal of goods from businesses became an impossibility,
enormous amounts of goods accumulated in railroad freight houses and overflowed
them, perishable foods spoiled rapidly. The food supply began to run out because
local farmers were afraid to drive their products into the city and cause their
own horses to be stricken. Milk supplies disappeared and it was suggested that
cows be driven into the city and milked in front of peoples doors, but this was
determined to be impracticable.
Boats on the Miami and Erie Canal were idle, even if their mules
were unaffected, there were no wagons to haul the freight to and from the canal
landings. The street-cleaning department ceased operations on the 12th, and
garbage and waste started to become a problem. Abattoirs and packing houses were
slowing down, but in the two or three days before they stopped completely, offal
accumulated, which quickly became offensive, the stink was overpowering.
Because the Fire Department had no horses for their equipment,
their greatest fear was a conflagration that might get out of control. They
returned to the old method of humans pulling the fire apparatus.
As many as 15 or 20 men could be seen hauling loads up grades.
Horses were dying at the rate of 30 or more a day which posed a
greater problem, that of disposing of the huge carcasses. Now the funeral
procession was seen in reverse, men carrying dead horses, in most cases to
reduction plants where animals were turned into soap fat, fertilizer, etc.
Oxen it turned out were immune and at the start were bought for
$125 to $210 a span (team). On the 15th they brought $175 to $250 a yoke (pair),
on the 18th 126 yoke were sold up to $264, and they were going for $300 a yoke
in another day. They were a strange sight in Cincinnati, they were not well
trained to the yoke and very few men knew how to drive them, plus they are one
of the slowest moving creatures on earth. Very little work was accomplished with
them.
By the 25th the death rate had noticeably slackened, the epidemic
was finally ending and before the end of the month, most of the streetcars were
running again. The disease never struck again. The sketch below is the only one
I could come up with.
BICYCLES
All 4 of the images above are not postcards. In the
1880's velocipedes, also called high wheelers was the great fad. Clubs were
formed for competitive racing and cross-country excursions. Speeds of up to 20
mph were achieved and trips of 10 to 15 miles were common. City
legislation restricted the speed limit to 8 mph but the racers called
"scorchers" and "coasters" still made life difficult for the
pedestrian. The "bike" had handlebars and a saddle seat above a
shoulder-high wheel made of wood or iron which was later covered by solid rubber
tires. You mounted using a small step attached to the smaller foot-high back
wheel. This smaller wheel was, for awhile, in front of the bigger one but the
riders had a tendency to nose dive into the ground. The 3rd image shows the
Brighton Bicycle Club, the earliest club formed for wheelmen (1878). By
1888 the equal size two-wheel bicycle with pneumatic tires called a safety,
began to supercede the velocipede. In the last image you see two ladies on
bicycles wearing long skirts. Bicycling was the spot which first led to the
higher hemline.
It was the bicycle that freed the average city dweller from the
expense of a horse and carriage or dependence on slow, inadequate public
transport. As more and more bicycles came into use the bicyclists insisted
on-and got-better roads. It was the bicycle that literally paved the way for
mans newest conveyance, the automobile.
AUTOMOBILES AND CARRIAGES
In the 19th century many roads were controlled by private companies. They had built the roads and were supposed to maintain them. They collected tolls from every traveler except widows, ministers, funeral processions and, sometimes, Sunday church goers. As a consequence travel was expensive because the roads were so poorly maintained that passengers were frequently injured and the stage coach companies were liable for such injuries plus any damage to the equipment. Often the transporting of goods cost more than the goods themselves.
Delhi Toll
Gate
Harrison Toll Gate
A private conveyance
Prepaid
postcard
Wilber H. Murray Mfg.
Co.
Auto Show, Feb.
1912
Decorator Geo H. Fern
5th and Eggleston
Ave.
at the Music
Hall
1252 Elm Street
American Carriage Co.
1275-1285 Budd
Street
National Auto School Reading Road & June
A Sayers & Scovill Co. Funeral
Limousine
Rahe Auto &Tractor
School
9th and Walnut
Sts.
THE SCHACHT MFG. CO.
The Schacht Manufacturing
Company began in 1904 at Sanford and Cumberland Avenues by two brothers, William
and Gustav A. Schacht. They were running a small shop producing wagons and
buggies when they tried attaching a 10-horsepower gasoline motor to one of their
2 passenger, high-wheeled buggies. It worked and they received several orders to
build more of these "horseless carriages" from early automobile buyers
in the tri-state area. Severe competition came in 1908 when Henry Ford
introduced the Model T, and General Motors was formed with the consolidation of
Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Buick and others. The brothers continued making
improvements and by 1912 they entered the 500-mile race at Indianapolis,
finishing a very respectable 5th out of a starting field of 33. This was a major
coup for the Cincinnati company. Unfortunately this race did not translate into
more business. By 1913 the Schacht power had been increased to a four-cylinder,
50-horsepower model automobile when the company decided to stop building
automobiles (8000 had been produced) and switch to trucks. The company had
become nearly bankrupt trying to expand onto the national stage.
The name of the new company was the G.A. Schacht Motor Truck
Company. Trucks were extremely popular by 1927 and orders increased. A new and
larger factory was opened that year at 8th and Evans Streets. The new building
and the national advertising costs again nearly bankrupted the company. At this
time the R.K. LeBlond Machine Tool Company stepped in with financial help.
LeBlond became the controlling interest and the official name of the company
became the LeBlond-Schacht Truck Company although the new trucks wore only the
Schacht name, as did the company's letterhead.
In 1935 Schacht bought out rival Cincinnati truck manufacturer Armleder
which had started out much like Schacht by making wagons and founding the Otto
Armleder Carriage Company of Cincinnati in 1904. He began producing
gasoline-powered trucks in 1912. Their factory at the time of Schachts takeover
was at 12th and Linn Streets. When Otto died in 1935 and the business was sold
to Schacht the Otto Armleder trust fund was set up which has since donated many
public buildings and parks to the city.
The Ahrens-Fox Fire Engine Company was a major buyer of Schacht bodies
for their fire truck. In 1936 Schacht bought out the debt ridden Ahrens-Fox Co.,
closed their 31 year old factory, and moved fire engine production to Schacht's
factory at Eighth & Linn Streets. The company continued making trucks up to 1940 when it closed.
After WWII the Schacht factory continued to make Ahrens-Fox fire engines, but
truck production was finished.
The Invincible Schacht Back Schacht in New Mexico The Schacht Mfg. Co. Schacht in Hawaii
Spring Grove Ave. & Straight St.
The 1st image above is a 1903 Schacht carriage ad. The next 2 images are Invincible Schacht ads. The 4th shows a Schacht model-K car. (None are postcards)
William Stacey Storage Co.
Harrison Ohio Truck
Stop
Norwood GM assembly Plant
Wilson Freight
2333-35 Gilbert Ave.
3636
Follett Avenue
Thanks to a relative of the owners of the 5H truck stop, shown in the 2nd card above, I have been informed that the truck stop was called 5H because of 5 members of the Harris family had built it and lived next door in log cabins.
This 1906 double card is from the Standard Automobile Company that was located at 640 Main Street
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