Smyrna times., 1875-06-02
II /Sc cII(YN z 0US.
4 Sketch Of a Peculiar Phase Of Life
in the West.


.ar.. ~ ulhr- afi,nal ar,.ol ling to
.H",a- "pln,on. - cn.im"n!Iar, in hi,
....;'l l.u,i,. l,J jf.ytr j. no othcr
a''' "..c.. Ea- - many native. l:.llan,
Er.n IL ,,Itu..- al,. l.;,,u8n,. and hi,
arr ~;.il u.4, ~ 1t j. sometimes
'.i..u!t t,r l.r oi.-n:v,t. to distinguish one
the "tu,i, VT in ta, uind Of the
An.. ! L.t~ il, .',uh; t,l.> .r,. rlra.iy di,-
eliminated.
"l ..I strange. and 'nlrur,!-of situation,
IN ual.I animals find Themselves. those
inch the mule seeks out and occupies are
t'.e most ~.riou~ and most comic:d. Tn.
ha,h@s, ~ix-mulv team. lace the animals
lie hy -..j- and faSteu thrir head. together.
"a" dr.yr them down 10 water: there do
mot l.v" ~iX animals Of auothc. species that
can ry.-t themselves into such strange.
knots. Tho Gordion knot was nothing in
comparison. II seem, ilnlo-~iLl- for them
- keep their tails III thr SAM. wav. Before
yT -ot iari, yo't viii find that The out ,i,!.
.nn"o harr got INTO t!l, ,ui,ldlc aI.,i that
.hr hcad- If tv" D.. tlr,- ara. u~t where
.hoir tale~ ,houll Lc. s, ,f. outset the
.,.1t.ou~l:! w.,i'4 hrnruu,.:,;.il, described
- follows: l2"45t. Rctuuin. from
water tie arithmetic would be. @.Iar4.
I'll" kicking ami t-h5iu. in the disturbed
ruMesatan would terminate seriously if
:he '-ua-t,. ,;id not with his black
-nsAo l,oii tn. balance Of power and
"l'p III" confusion INTO uamnnitv. The
a.~, j.. = mule la, keen u,t for giving
-nIri-'., lii capacity and RESOURCE. in
'l.- direction arr remarkable.
~ all hi- ventures and enterprises. /
know of none more elevated and ilu,triou,
than one which occurred on the yellow.
-lanc w had ralnrcd about TWO o'clock
.n the afternoon IN the river valley. and
,un,l I'll, mulo- o1,t to craze near Lv. Back
fru;I III" river w.i- au almost inaccessible.
t.nt. two hundred and fifty feet high.
commanding 1t view Of ,cruerv for mile.
around. About TWO hours after pitching
"ur tents "c happened to ca-t a glance AT
rhotor IT thi, bluff. and there. TO the aston.
i~l.ment Of everybody. Wa solitary mule
IN il very highest point. coolly and calmly
taking a survey OF the surrounding conn.
Try. The peculiar c,:a.grrat;on which the
atino-rher. in that latitude give 10 object,
-cen against the Ky make lin seem about
1wclvc feet high. Their" h" stood in calm
and lofty serenity. lnanifc,t.n. 40 emotion
whatever except that ut perfect satisfaction.
How the animal got up There nobody knew.
mai a.. y..irt lu.wa~ It'll l,.,- evident. There
wa. good sra-~ on tn. lain: th" bluff was
perfectly barren Th" nulc had travelled
twenty miles that day. and could not be-
lacking cNorr:-". Two conjecture, offered
themselves 10 the superb, lal mind he had
:,,flr mp ther" ON volunteer picket duty. or
',-,. 20 take view Of tho scenery. Put
ther. va only one adequate reason: he
climbed the hill b>carI,c was a mule. And
a. . result OF this cfIoit 10 f,thom and
analyz- tn" uuio W. come back to the very
proposition with which We started. the sim.
pie proposition OF identity The mule j. =
mule. W!ia, more could hc said?
But no characterization of the mul,. i.
complete without the adequate notice. OF
the team-tcr. He Is an intellectual and
moral hybrid, almost a. much Of am
enigma ~ the mule. 1t Is hard To- .uv
which of the two. mule or tcamSter. cx,r +
cises grcater influence over tho ether. and
it is hard to say in which direction the in
fiuence is better As class, teamstcrs arc
made up of that peculiar sort Of driftwood
which the stream of civilization always
leaves here and there along its borders
'yhev are nearly all wanderers and adven-
,urers. Many have served at mining,
syoodng. and boating and take to teaming
as a collateral pursuit Many are farmers
sons who have left their homes deluded by (
the hope Of high wages in the West When .
their small stock of money is gone they are
glad enough to engage as teamsters at
thirty dollars a month. Indeed, when a .
man of any calling is thoroughly "broke"
in the Northwest, he generally repairs to
teaming to mend his fortunes. The variety
of professions represented in this work of
redemption is sometimes very strange, On