1914-07-24eff

Horses were an ever-present reality for Hamiltonians in 1914.

Whether pedestrians on city streets had to dodge wagons pulled by horses, or whether those same pedestrians, crossing city thoroughfares at intersections, had skirt around the plentiful “leavings” of horses, the creatures were a major factor in city life in many ways.

On July 24, 1914, the Hamilton Times reported an incident involving physician and a horse.

“A remarkably funny incident happened last evening on the Mountain top.

“A well-known professional man had occasion to be called in consultation. He was attired in seasonal clothing. He wore a straw hat which is the fashionable head gear for the dog days.

“Arriving at his destination, he left his aforesaid straw hat on the carriage seat, as he frequently goes without a hat when he motors or drives in the summer evenings.

“Having completed his mission, and discharged his duty in a highly creditable manner, the doctor, upon leaving the house of the suffering patient, searched in vain for his hat.

“Nowhere could it be found.

“Suddenly the thought occurred to him that he had left it in the carriage of the friend who had so kindly driven him to the home of the patient. He hurried there as quickly as possible.

“He found the carriage near the roadside, but on the seat where he left his one-fifty straw hat what do you suppose he found?

“In its place was a remnant of what had been his personal selection – only a few straws left to tell the tale.

“An inquisitive horse had made a meal of it, and would no doubt hae completely finished it but shied at the hat band.

“The doctor’s friends who know the joke say that it was the straw hat that got his goat.”¹

¹ “A Good Story : Told at the Expense of a City Doctor.”

Hamilton Times.  July 24, 1914