The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1883-10-04

A well.tra,ned mule knows Ills Own tl
apparejo, and will come up to it and
stand OF his own accord. These all fast
ened before q single load IL touched
the careador, who always packs ON the
near side, being assisted by one eavan.
nero. and the assistant corgador by the
other. the cook, after he has washed enc
packed his dishes, lending hand where.
ever he is needed. Every animal. while
his load IS being adjusted. has his eyes
covered by leather strap 80 that he
may not move, and when this is finished
the strap il taken off, his jaQuima fast.
enod around his forehead, and he il
turned loose again to wander by himself
until the tram is ready to start. It takes
two or three hours to load the whole
train. Then the packers mount their
horses, and one of them sets out with
the mule that wears the bell immediately
behind him. Just as soon de that ami.
NAL arts, all the other mules that now
are scattered around feeding, lift their
heads and fall into marching order.
The bell iii the pack train is an ins,ru-
ment OF The gfeAteet ilnportahcG. The
whole crowd Of animals respect nothing
gut IT. SOUND. IT IS never taken 0H the
beast that wears it, and it seems to in:
2est MIN with q strange; attraction.
where the bell mule goes, the rest 20,
ana without 1t sometimes they cannot be-
made to bulge. They follow it on the
road Craze about it at night, and the In.
oisas. when they undertake to stam-
Pede pack train. which they frequently
90. always take the greatest care to get
vas run Of and the bell mule HAPPENED
ceeded in keeping tho rest with them
ward found b9 sb2 2o' 's 9 of t Was AFTER AFTER
One night they reached the Indian
camp. and they set the bell ringing.
Then the whole train of mules, winch
the Indians deemed safely corralled,
fed, through all opposition, to the sound
OF their former guide, and once more
returned to duty in The hands of their
owners.
Behind the train come the other
men. These have to keep sharp look
out on the packs, for the ropes are to
stretch. especially if they GOT wet duri 2
the night; and frequently the carsador
must dis'.ount; leaving his horse stand
Ing on the plain, and with one Of his as
slstants tighten up the load. A train is
counted on to make from two and half
to three miles an hour.
Accidents are not rare among pack an
ima!s. They often have to pass over old
Indian trails where the road goes up
seemingly impossible hills and ar ,und
the edges or cliffs that for q footway have
only sloping slippety rocks ON which
one would think no animal could get
any hold at all. Or it may 20 up path
down which for years the crumbling de-
bris OF some cliff far above has tumb e.;
till the. whole hillside is q lot Of small.
loose stones. Of which great masses may
be set in motion by a single touch. OF
such place as this: only q poor foot
path can bo made; and although such
roads are not impossible, it is impossible
to tell when tho crumbling bed NAV
give way. 1t an animal is thrown off his
balance, so that to regain it the slightest
struggle Is necessary, the probability is
that the whole part Of the path on which
he makes the effort will 20 like an
avalanche. He must go with it, and, be-
Ing top. heavy with his pack, he will in
evltaoiy be thrown over and rolled down
the bill head over heels, ard the result
will be a wreck of both mule and pack
at the bottom. Severe falls often occur
without serious injury. If the bottom
of bill is not too rocky, a mule may
roll down fifty OF. sixty feet as if shot
from catapult, and LING UP all sounh
and with his nnl1' :->act. A tired mule
has been known to deliberately Sent
himself and roll down tank thirty or
forty feet high just to see if ne couldn't
70! his pack off.
1t is wonderful to see the wisdom of a
pack mule on the march. Except that
q man, followed 10y the bell mule, rides
in front of the train to lead the way, he
is left to his own resources. AS a rule
the whole train marches in Indian file.
but when the road lies across a smooth
and even prairie, the train is apt to scat
ter little, and five or six animals 20
side by side. The moment that u ford
is reached, however, or difficult pas
sage of any sort, they instinctiveIy fail
back again into rank, end each passes
in turn. In going up or down steep
hill, If there is trail, it will not be d.
verged from; but if there is none, the
greatest freedom of progress is taken.
And yet the whole train will ascend or
descend on the same principles; that
is, they will follow all a ziszag
path. They may approach he
hill in perfect order. but the moment
that it is reached they scatter along
its sides. crossing back and forth among
themselves, making only short tacks,
and thus passing over seemingly i'm.
passable hill with little greater effort
than would be required for gentle
slope. Sometimes however, the only
trail goes straight up hill so steep that
each mule must have lariat fastened
round his neck and be helped up by
men standing on the top; not that tho
mule could not carry the weight up so
steep place, but because at such an
angle his pack would unbalance him
and pull him over backward.
Pack animals become exceedingly skill
full in threading their way through a
heavily timbered country, where the
trails have been poorly cut out and little
travelled over. They learn to judge tho
distance apart of trees between which
they must pass. They can tell whether
there is enough space for their packs TO 70
through or not, or whether an overl,ang.
ing tough is high enough for the pack to
60 under; and, strange to say, they seem
to learn whether tree or bough that
will inevitably interfere with their pas
sage can be brushed aside, or whether
IN attempt to pass it will result in carry
ing off the mack. In a pack train recent
~ travelling in the Rocky Mountains. q
mule that carried pack rather wider
than the others was seen to stop before
two strong trees, and. although several
animals lad already passed through
without difficulty, he carefully examined
The distance from one tree to the
other, and, after deciding that they
were too close for his load he
turned from the trail, plunged down q
steep and rocky bank. and came around
on the other side rather than try to force
his way through. Another mule right
behind l.,m marched steadily along be-
tween these trees without trouble, but
on finding himself confronted by a
bough hanging across the path, 50 that !
seemed likely to strike the top of hi
back, he plunged aside into the forest
ui h ~ ,,Ainn tina fort that IL 1nok o..