The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1877-08-10
THE MULE.
BY GEO. A.oUIMBY

could not see mule waybiled for any place.
80 clear-headed a manas Noah did not dare
TO take one on board, as he knew he would
Kick hole through her in less than week
don't know man on whose head YOU
could pour quicksilver and run less risk of
its spilling off than ON Noah's He was
dreadful levcl-hcadcd man, aud before the
freshet was over everybody on the earth re-
allied the fact
Tho origin or them the mule s {, oaii7sbpsa iib n 4
good deal of mystery. Tradition hforms us
that when the flood had subsidized, and the
ark had landed on Mount Ararat Noah was
very much surprised in one of his first OBJ
servations to find good healthy mule stand
ing on the top of an adjoining mountain
The same tradition informs us that the mule
is the only animal that lived through the
| flood outside of tho ark
The mule can be considered in good
many ways, though the worst place from
which to consider him is directly from be-
hind, anywhere within the radius of ten feet
l never consider mule from that point, un-
less 1 am looking out through the flue of
boiler.
Sea captains and people who have to do
with mules always pay en- extra rate to life
insurance companies A mule and belt
of country where yellow fevorievisdigenou
generally stand the same as &gards the
death rate. =
The word mule comes from the Greek,
and signifies ''to STOP" and the mule himself
comes to stop also. Like multiplied by
like produces like. Grasshoppers multiplied
by grasshoppers produce famine, and po-
tato bugs multiplied by potato bugs produce
rise in the price of yeast. But when you
try to multiply mules by mules they don't
multiply, and hence the word mule. You
may study your arithmetic, and read through
all of Trains lectures, but you cannot dis
cover why this is SO, any more than you can
why woman cannot put on rubber with
out leaning up against something.
The mule has one more leg thah milk
ing stool, and he can stand on one and wave
the other three round in as many different
directions. He has ouly three seusss, hear
ing, seeing and smelling. He has mo more
sense of taste than stone jug, and will eat
anything that contains nutrimens and he
don't care TWO cents whether it be one rcr
cent or ninety All hc asks is 10 pass
him along his plate, with whatever happens
to be handy round the pantry, aud he won
go away and blow how poor the steaEis,-
He just eats whatever is set before hih, and
asks no questions.
Mules are naturally deaf, but that su.
premc wisdom that teaches the little boy to
wipe his nose on his sleeve, has fitted the
mule out with pair Of ears,that counter
acts its deafness so he can hear as readily
as person when you don't want him to-
These ears answer double PURPOSE, as tun-
nels to pour sound into his head, and also as
fans to brush away the flies with.aad keep
his head cool. They are hung by hinges to
the sides of his head, and flap backward and
forward like pair of wet trowsers around a
boys legs. In cold latitudes quito tasty
business is done in mule ears The ears are
cut off and dried, and sold for snow shoes,
and the stubs are trimmed up and the mules
are sent South and sold for horses. In this
way great many fine horses are purchased
for the army by the United States.
If were to have large picture of limo.
cence to hang up in my parlor, apd did
not wish to sit for it myself, l should get a
correct likeness Of mule. There is inno-
cence enough depicted in a mules counte-
nance to fit out Sunday school class. 1t
looks as guileless as an angel worm.
A mule never grows old or dies, Once
brought into existence, he continues on for.
ever. The original mule is now alive some
where in the South
Mules are chiefly found in the South and
West They have been more abused than
Judas Iscariot. boy who would hot throw
a stone at mule if he got chance would
be though ht by his parents too mean to raise.
The mule is good worker, but he cannot
be depended on. He is liable to strike, and
when a mule strikes, human calculation fails
to find out any rule by which to reckon when
he will 60 to work again. 1t . useless to
pound him, for he will stand More beating
than sitting-room carpet. He has been
known to stand eleven days in one spot, ap-
parently thinking of sdmething, and then
start off again as though nothing had hap
pened.
Down South, when they have surplus
of small darkeys on the plantation, they send
them out into the barnyard 20 play, where
thero is loose mule. They SsiNays bid
them goodbye when they start OFT, for they
arc sure the parting will be fin,s This is
the most economical style of finn IraI uov -,