Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-11-20
Value Of the Mule.


The mule has very unequal con.
test to wage in his quiet battle to win
popular favor. The world lie against
him, and the world stands In its own
light and wars against its own inter-
ests in the position it has taken. II
probably does not trouble the mule
any, and if the people do not want it.
very valuable services, the animal
will not urge them upon the unwill.
ing. 1t sometimes becomes fashion
able to abuse persons and things, or
to make light Of them. Horace Gree.
ley, we all know, was, during his
whole life, butt Of the wits and jok.
ers of the press and platform. None
of them conld tell why they did it.
1t was the fashion /: and 1t Ia a similar
fashion that makes the mule the OBJ.
ject of a constant fusilale of jest and
attack. There is a marked difference,
however, in the result of attacking a
public man and attacking mule In
this way. If the public man is az
good man a. Horace Greeley was,
the attack will do nobody any harm,
but the constant attack upon the mule
has brought it into disrepute, and has
injured the public by preventing /,
from using the animal.
II would be difficult for any one to
give reason why the mule should
not be employed upon the farm or on
the street. The disposition which has
been attributed to tho animal, it does
not possess. Its disposition is called
"mulish," and by that is meant stub.
bornness, q trait which it does not
possess in any unusual degree. 1t ID
quite probable that II is not possessed
Of as great intelligence AZ the horse,
and may therefore require often q
greater degree Of patience ON the part
Of the man. But as for stubbornnesa
which implies the exercise ofa strong
will. the mule is not as "mulish" as
thousands of horses. We suppose
that there may be balky mules, which
10 the most perfect type Of stubborn
ness that can exist, but among the
hundreds of mules that we have seen,
we are compelled to say that we new
er yet saw balky one. As rule, II
they understand what is required OF
them, mules will do with patience
and meekness. "But they kick" says
some one, and he will say it because
1t has been said from the time that the
first mule was foaled. That there are
vicious mules is true, but the same is
true of horses.
That mule properly handled at
breaking is any more apt to kick than
q horse, we don't believe. The neg
lect which characterizes the treatment
Of the mule does not begin, 1t should
be remembered, some time after it
has been broken, but it begins very
frequently, and entirely too frequent
ly, at the very beginning of its exist
ence, and is AZ marked during the
process of breaking as at any other
time. The animal Is treated in such .
way as would make every horse that
ever existed kicking and otherwise
viciously inclined horse If 1t were
adopted when horses are broken.
And then. IL the animal is not irrita-
ted to desperation at such time, the
trainer, following the bent of his pref :
udicee, and keeping the hind legs of
the animal most prominently in view,
does all that he can to let it know that
the man considers the brute the mas
ter. Give almost any young horse to
understand this, and ii will not be
likely to be as docile a. lamb.
The truth is that the objections to
the mule are largely based upon false
grounds. 1t has far more to recon-
mend II than it has to oppose his
claims to favorable consideration. In
very many cases it is far superior to
the horse. Its strength is immense.
A pair Of mules will do as heavy
work, and more, than will pair of
ordinary horses. Usually, their pow
er Of endurance lie greater than that
of the horse. They eat less than the
horse, and they require less care than
the horse. They can stand more heat
than horse, and are less liable to
disease. Add to this the fact that q
pair Of mules cost no more than Q
pair of horses capable of doing any
thing like an equal amount of ser.
vice, and pretty good case is made
out in favor of this greatly despised
animal.