March 31, 2011

"No one was cleaning the street, and there were large pools of urine accumulating and festering."

"It was extraordinarily bad — bad enough that people would avoid the corner walking by... It seems like a small thing until you realize how prolific horses can be. We’re talking gallons."

But...

"Horses are not like automobiles. You just don’t put ’em in neutral. You have to hold on to the horse with one hand with passengers in the back of the carriage and spray this stuff down. Maybe one time out of a hundred with passengers in the cab, the horse might get scared, run off and hurt passengers and things. This will be a disaster.” And they say horse urine "doesn’t have much of an odor, since horses are vegetarians and 'don’t drink Coke or beer.'"

Please don't get sidetracked into the general topic of the smell of the urine of a vegetarian. Spare us your asparagus anecdotes. This is about horse piss and city traffic.

40 comments:

Ann Althouse said...

See? It's not all about Wisconsin and politics. This one's about Chicago and piss.

I needed to create a space for Trooper York to loll about.

Meade said...

Until now, residents had to wait for Streets and Sanitation to “power-wash the streets,” Reilly wrote, arguing cleanup should be the carriage industry’s responsibility.

Just like it should be the responsibility of the protesters at the [New York] state capitol to clean up and pay for any property damage. They should also pay for their own police protection - the protection they will need to keep themselves from getting too out of hand, unpeaceful, and violent.

traditionalguy said...

This is a good preview of life if the CO2 dimwits get more than 1 horsepower cars outlawed.

Ann Althouse said...

And did this labradoodle guy have to pay for the divers?

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a good law.

There should be a law that everyone has to take a shower after a public speech by Mayor Rham.

Fred4Pres said...

Think of it as biodiesel.

Unknown said...

Imagine Chi-town circa 1920. More horses, worse drivers.

I love the line in the article, "Effrat Stein, a spokeswoman for the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection".

I'll just bet. Somebody's getting well on this one.

PS Such language! My blushes.

WV "allatio" When you do it to more than fellows.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

This is a good preview of life if the CO2 dimwits get more than 1 horsepower cars outlawed.

This ^

Plus the idiocy of people making laws and regulations about things that they have no knowledge nor any consideration of the ramifications.

It is the same thing with the push for hybrid vehicles, $6.00 gasoline to curb gas usage and CO2 emissions, light rail and the mandate that a higher percentage of utilites be from renewable sources.

Unless you live in a city. Hybrid and electric vehicles are useless.

Increasing the cost of gasoline is NOT going to get us to buy hybrids. The result is going to be massive and painful inflation of every single thing we buy.

Demanding that we artificially have 'renewable' energy when there is no infrastructrue is going to increase the cost of heating, cooling, cooking and every other aspect of living. Creating hardship and probably even death in some colder areas as people can't afford to live.

Way to go enviro nazi greenies. Stupid treehuggers.

Hope you all enjoy the horse piss, because thats about all we will have after you get done with us.

YoungHegelian said...

Jobs I'm Glad I Don't Do:

Putting a Diaper on a Horse.

Jobs I'm even Gladder I Don't Do:

Removing a Soiled Diaper from a Horse.

Folks don't realize that back in days of yore when cities were full of horses and other animals, the whole city smelled like a barnyard.

That's why the rich left the city in the really smelly summer for the "salubrious air" of the countryside. Read "air with no fecal matter floating in it" for "salubrious air" and you get the drift.

Lincolntf said...

As someone who hangs out with horses regularly, I can safely attest that the urine reeks of ammonia, and while not as offensive as cat urine, you don't want to, say, kneel in a puddle of it while you're fastening a protective bootie on his fetlock last Sunday morning, meaning you have to stink up your car and then go stand in line at an Italian bakery smelling like a dirty stall...

Yes, I'm still a little bitter.

Pastafarian said...

I disagree, to a certain extent, Lincoln.

Horse piss is certainly worse than horse shit. Horse shit really doesn't smell bad at all; it actually smells good, in a way.

But even horse piss isn't nearly as bad as most of the things that you'd smell in its place in any city.

For example: The other day I was in the Greektown section of Detroit, walking down the sidewalk with my wife at about 11pm, and a grown man was standing on the sidewalk, urinating. We had to step over the stream. I've never been to a big city that doesn't stink of human urine. And that's much, much worse than horse piss.

Tibore said...

The fix is: Horse diapers.

... Ow! Who hit me?

-----

Word verification: witteri. What I just did above! (*Chuckle* *Snort!*)

... Ow! Who hit me?

Tibore said...

Oh, crud, Chip beat me to it!

Chip, you bastard! >:-(

Maynard said...

Horse piss is way worse than poo.
I love it when I'll be sitting in a movie with my kids and realize that one of them left their barn boots on.

Lincolntf said...

Yup, you can tell yourself the poo just smells like strong fertilizer, but the piss is like a smelling salt when it's up close.

Carol_Herman said...

Yup. Horse manure is a problem.

And, the architectural solution was STAIRCASES up to the second floor, which became the FIRST floor. Just like you see in Sesame street. Those stairs were then used for "stoop ball," too.

But basically transportation around New York City, by horse and buggy. Or horse and carts. Meant New York City had 1-million horses, serving 3-million people.

The custom, besides women in ankle length dresses, was that men walked on the outside. So, the spray from the streets, or a wild horse galloping in towards the people, gave the ladies a safety advantage.

Meanwhile, horse manure filled the streets. When the rains came, those Fifth Avenue mansions, had this dreck flowing into the first floor.

Until? Along came the architects. And, solved the problem by building staircases UP. So flooding didn't get the manure onto the lovely Oriental Carpets.

Oh, New York City's Subways ... designed to go underground, were considered a loser's bed. Because "who would go underground?" And, then came one of those snow storms. You couldn't get anywhere by street. People found it convenient to use the subways, underground.

MadisonMan said...

I needed to create a space for Trooper York to loll about.

An American Idol thread would do that.

Haley was good last night. Who knew!?

tim maguire said...

During Roman days, laundromats would buy this stuff for its ammonia content and the quest by an alchemist to make gold out of the yellow stuff in urine led to the discovery of phosphorous.

So it seems to me that what Chicago has here is an untapped resource.

Carol_Herman said...

"Protesters getting out of hand," couldn't be any worse than the looting and burning of businesses that went on during the Rodney King riots.

The LA cops didn't go to the Korean businesses. Some were looted and burned out. About 3 days into this, "snipers" went to the tops of roofs. And, as soon as rioters showed up, usually needed only one round, "up close and personal," to make all the rioters run like their pants were on fire.

I know my town has more guns (in locked gun cabinets) than it does people. Never underestimate the power of our 2nd Amendment.

The police didn't fire a salvo during the Rodney King riots. But THE PEOPLE did! (Yup. Some communities had "watchmen," where they took turns staying outside with rifles.

True, some of the Korean business people were so devastated and bankrupted they had to go back to Korea.

While "after it was over," and the Korean businesses destroyed in the "ghetto" ... Florence at Normandy comes to my mind. The cry went up that old ladies had to travel by bus to buy milk at stores 3-miles-way.

Cry me a river.

Freeman Hunt said...

In other news, you cannot dispose of the contents of your chamber pot in the middle of the sidewalk.

AST said...

Did you ever read The Alienist by Caleb Carr? Horse traffic was one of the reasons people left town during the summers.

But it's more green to use horses. I read it on PBS for Kids.

Known Unknown said...

That diaper would work, or, how about a tank of the stuff on the back of the carriage, that the driver could activate from the front en route to dilute the piss and wash it away?

I know, expensive. But very little stopping of traffic (just slow down).

Lincolntf said...

The Alienist was a great read. Caleb Carr, right?

wv: propine

antimaple

prairie wind said...

For a really funny experience, watch a child's face when the child sees a horse take a piss.

As for the smell...just be damned glad that we don't have pigs in the street.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

As for the smell...just be damned glad that we don't have pigs in the street.

OMG is THAT ever true!!. I have a pretty strong stomach, having cleaned more than my share of geese, ducks, fish and have field dressed a deer. Been a mom and cleaned plenty of baby poop and child puke.

However, nothing compares to the horrible stench of a pig barn. NOTHING.

Trooper York said...

I didn't read it because I thought it was about the protestors when I saw the title.

Trooper York said...

When we leave the Javits Center after the Moda Show we have to walk up the block to the parking lot. We pass some of the stables where they keep the carriage horses.

That tells you all you need to know about living in the olden days.

VanderDouchen said...

I'll be right back; I've got to go see a man about a horse.

WV: alingsav

Horse has daiper rash? Put alingsav on it.

KLDAVIS said...

"Spare us your asparagus anecdotes."

Oh, but I can't... After reading that the urine must be flushed with an "'deodorizing, non-toxic liquid' that is 'eco-friendly, safe, recyclable, and non-harmful to people and property'" I couldn't help but recall my own run-in with the dreaded mashup of eco-do-goodery and smelly urine.

Take my advice and never visit a autobahn rest stop men's room during asparagus season (mid-April through May)...Germany is flush with these waterless urinal systems that starting to spout up over here. They are supposed to be great for the environment but are complete rubbish at actually removing the waste. There wasn't a single decent public toilet in the entire country.

wv. kablog: Reaction to a surprise attack post. "I was minding my own business, protesting in front of her house, when Althouse hit me with a nasty screed. Kablog!"

The Thomas said...

Check out Not So Pure Michigan about the state of the streets on Mackinac Island, a totally automobile free location, road apples and horse piss abounds.

galdosiana said...

Ha. Now imagine any American city prior to 1920.

Anonymous said...

I live in the Gold Coast and Brendan Reilly is my alderman. I've never, ever noticed pools of horse urine.

I add, however, that Reilly is totally, totally awesome.

Trooper York said...

Ha. Now imagine shiloh's mind.

Just sayn'

Phil 314 said...

Well, it is the Gold coast.

Trooper York said...

By the way, expect the teenage Flipinia chick and Stefano the crooner from Frisco to be eliminated tonight.

Karly got the pimp spot and lots of praise so she should be ok. Screaming bearded douche guy was saved last week so a lot of people will vote for him. The Obama like phony African chick should be the one to go but because she pretended to be Jamaican and sang an Elton John song with a reggae beat. Mick said we should check her birth certificate and she should be disqualified.

1775OGG said...

Back in the day, circa 1900, NYC had a severe fly problem, caused by the tons of horse-manure (That's "horseshit" to all you prissy ones!) covering the streets. Flies congregated on the manure and spread throughout the town. One estimated I saw was that about 2-million pounds of horseshit was let loose daily on NYC's streets back then.

So, when the Greene's start lambasting the automobile and calling for a return to the horse and buggy days, they'll be right on regarding the buggy days.

I'm hoping the good professor is not saying there's another call for a return to those long ago days, but given the state of Socialism these days, that might be the case. After all, Socialists deal in shit every day with their rhetoric and actions.

Even if Althouse is using Chicago as her reference, I won't wish that fate even on a city that works.

Known Unknown said...

The Alienist was a great read. Caleb Carr, right?

Yes.

I've ordered The Sonambulist from Amazon. Not Carr, but in the same vein.

former law student said...

A reliable source says that a carriage horse pees a half gallon at a time. The problem is where it concentrates, such as Chestnut and the Inner Drive, where horse after horse must stop at the light.

SCOTTtheBADGER said...

I know that NYC figured it was dealing with 500 tons of horse bypruduct every day, back in the 1890's.

Lincolntf said...

"Horse-byproduct Credits for Sale! Come on down folks and get your HBC's, get your HBC's...! "