The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-04-09
MULE LIFE TN THE MINES.
| ANIMALS AS sAGACIOU5 AND SEN
sITIvE AS THEY ARE USEFUL.

AHrMA1s AS sAaAcIoUs AND SEN
sITIvE AS THEY ARE USEFUL.
Their Usefulness ~ an Underground
Motive POwcr-A High Tribute
Paid to their General Intelligence.
A Pottsvillc PENN letter to the Phil
adelphia Press saysthat the recent order
of the Girard estate trustees prohibiting
the use of locomotives in the mines on
the immense coal tra> g bought years ago
bv the sagacious Ill, benevolent old
French sailors son restores the mine mule
once more as an underground motive
power, a position he formerly occupied
with undisputcd honor. 1t is probable
that in %Schuylkill county three thousand
mules arc used ut the mines, and as a
coal operator paid over 81, 900 for five of
these dccp-voiccd K%cntuckians II few
days ago, an idea of the immense outlay
in that direction in the anthracite coal
regions may be formed.
A mine locomotive will do the work OF
ten mules, but it will throw off much
n~oxious and asphyXiating gas. The
miners, therefore, are reasonably opposed
to it. They arc sometimes. also, the cause
of mine fires, but Il majority OF operators
seem willing to assume that risk for the
increased amount of work ut the dimin-
ishcd expense.
Kentucky used to be, and still is, the
principal breeding ground for mules,
though of late years Illinois, Missouri,
Iowa and other Western States have bred
lust US good stock. The earlier breeds
were the offspring Of Spanish jacks and
thoroughbred mares. The get was
nimble-footcd, strong, handy and will
ing, but light. The substitution of Nor
man mares for thorough-brcds produced
a grade of mules better adapted to heavy
work and just as spry and spirited.
A mule is considered fit to enter the
mine after he has reached three years of
age. The latter is considered rather
youthful, and preference is given to ami
mails that, by reason of a larger expert
cncc with the world, arc better qualified
to contend with its trials and tribulations.
The length of his stay after he enters the
mines it is impossible to forecast. lie
may be removed, but he seldom dies, and
is not often, comparatively speaking,
killed.
From the day he enters he is COM
PEELED to exercise every faculty of which
he is possessed to prolong his career. lie
finds numerous natural enemies I'LL work
ing assiduously TO shorten his days, but,
in spite of them all, he gets fat and
round, his coat becomes sleek, glossy
and m~ousc-colorcd, and twenty years of
scrvitudc may find him somewhat calmcr
and more inclined to meditation, but
scarcely less keen, nimblc or willing.
The nature of his employment inside is
to draw cars in the gangways. 1t is Il
rare case when he requires more than a
few days to thoroughly understand what
is required of him, and thcncelorth he
performs his duties with %unwavering,
accomplishing zeal. AS SOC as he has
been harnesscd he will take his place at
the head of Il "trip Of cars" lie will
start at the right time and stop at the
right place. If the driver be a new one,
and by u mistake command him to stop
short, it is probable he will be UNDECIDED,
or that the mule, having stopped, will 60
to the rear and with his shoulder push
the cars to their proper place.
lie learns the ropes very readily, and
no well regulated horse would ever
dream of attempting things a mule does
without ii thought of lis impossibility.
TO Il mine mule nothing is impossible.
Experienced drivers say mules may be
taught anything, and the incrcdulous
would experience Il shock on witnessing
some Of the fcats they are compelled to
perform in the mines.
At night the mules of q collicry are
stabbed in a cavern off the gangway.
This is boarded up around to hang up
the harness, and, probably, also to keep
alive the memories of the stalls of youth
and verdant pastures. They arc literally
fed. and require and receive but little
other care. From year to year they live
in darkness and gloom. Sunlight and
fresh air are unnecessary to their thrift.
Their vision is sharpcned by the per-
pctual night, so that they acquire the
gift of the owl to penetrate far into the
inky blackncss Of the deep, damp pit.
They may become color blind, but are
always able to discern an object or find
their way in the deepest shaft they have
ever worked in. And thus they live
(barring accidcnts) ten, fifteen, twenty
ycars-ayc, one mule is known to have
spent the greater part of thirty-tivc years
underground.
The most frequent cause Of mine
mules death is being jammcd between
cars. While standing on the gangway
railroad at the head of II trip of cars
another dashing suddenly round a curve
may catch him and crush out the vital
spark, but if there is Il means Of escape
he will take it. 1t is only when there is
not room enough by the side of the track
for him to jump into that he loses his
life in this way. Twenty horses would
be killed that way before n mule is.
Really there is only one other way in
which | remember to have ever heard of
Il mule meeting his death, and that is
when the mine is suddenly drowned
ont.
This is not always sure either. Not
long ago seven mules were unable to cs.
cape with the men, when the accumu-
lated water in an old working broke
through into the one in which they were.
The water filled the gangway to within a
few inches of the roof. Hours aftcrward,
when the pumps had reduced it suffi-
GENTLY, the stablc-boss swan III to the
mules and found them propped up on
their hind legs with. their heads up, and
their noses elevated above the flood.
Fastening the halter of ono to the tail OF
another, and taking the lead mule by the
head, he swan them to the foot of the
slope, up which they walked with only a
shake and a %whinnying tor feed.
A c%olliery employing 200 men will find
use for thirty mules. They will average
$50 apiece. Half a million dollars in
vested in mules entities that oftcn-dc-
spised animal to consideration. Indi-
vidually he fails to receive it. His name
is an cpithct. TO be as ''dumb as a mule"
implies an almost superhEman depth OF
ignorance, whereas the mule is not dumb,
nor is he ignorant, but rather he is a sa-
gacious, calculating, sensitive, spirited,
reasonable and brainy animal.