The Horse's Eyeglasses

If one wakes up next week to see the milkman's horse advancing down the block with a pince-nez on his nose one must not be surprised. The horse has become a four-eyed beast. The opening of the Saratoga, N. Y. Races was momentarily interrupted by Edward R. Bradley. Mr. Bradley announced (and he did not want anyone to laugh about it) that four of his horses, Barosa, Benedict's Vow, Billy Burke and Beneficient, were wearing spectacles.

Dr. E. J. Emons, of Akron, Ohio, conceived the idea. He reasoned that horses' eyes must be as fallible as human eyes. He invented tests with lights. But no one would listen. Finally he borrowed Mr. Bradley's ear. He examined some of Mr. Bradley's horses and found one with weak eyes. He set a small hurdle in front of the beast and Mr. Bradley watched the horse walk toward it and bump his shins. Mr. Bradley ordered his whole stable tested. Dr. Emons made glasses for four of them. They race truer. Previously near the rail or in a bunch of horses they climbed*; they performed inconsistently and ran good races only when breaking from the barrier far outside. Now they can see where they are going. They run fast in bunches. Racemen at Saratoga are converted. They see it all now, like the horses.

But serious-minded veterinarians, skeptical, demand further, exhaustive tests.

*Racing term meaning to rear up.