Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1884-01-19
The Mule.

aSStAA SNyAt " y sAaN ~
see mule. but we banker not to be
behind him when we take the view.
Mules help to make graveyards. Oh,
you think that's funny! A man &C
cidentally passes within reach OF a
mule s hind hoofs-another door has
Grape on it--another grave is made
in the graveyard. We once saw a
mule stand in the same place for at
least an hour, as unmindful OF the
blows from clubs and fence rails, as
the falling of snow flakes on his
back. When his angry master had
fatigued himself and sat down to
mediate whether or not to shoot the
mule the animal threw back his ears
and suddenly rushed madly away ,as
if be saw a load of corn spilled in
the middle of the road. The mule
is as changeable as the weather, yes,
every wit so. But there is one fea-
ture belonging to the mule, of which
he is royalty proud. 1t is one of his
natural born talents-he is the ugli-
est, fastest and highest kicker ever
born. We have read of the Gattling
gun which shoots so many time in
minute, by simply turning crank.
The mule will give a Gattling gun
seven minutes start and yet kill
FIVE men while it kills one, and turn
the crank allthe time himself. Talk
ing of the kicking capacity of the
mule, recalls to us an incident which
once fell under our own observation,
and which convinced US that the
mule is whole thunder storm and
lightning on kick:
One day in early spring, after sew
eral hours sport with the gun, we
seated ourselves on top of fence,
under the shade of large cherry
tree, to rest awhile. AS we sat there
famed by the passing breezes, we
heard an angry voice following:
"W'oa dab !! W'oa dab, / say !''
We turned around to see who the
speaker was and discovered he was
an old-time darkey. Hetoo was I'M
der the shade of tree, and had two
compartments dog, and a mule that
seemed full of mischief, and stub
born as only mule can be. The
darkey was blowing. AS we watch
ed him it was evident that he was
preparing to cross the field on anoth-
er round.
'''H IN up, heah, I" said he hitting
the mule on the back with the line.
Off they started; but when about ten
feet from the starting place, that
mule suddenly stopped:
"'H'm upl yelled the driver; but
the mule didn't bulge peg; IN
up, heah! What's dc matter wild
you, mule2 Yer's got de debbil in
yer tO-da'" and he beat the mule for
five minutes, but still he moved not.
Then he threw stones at him, pulled
his ears, stuck him with his knife
but that heroic mule stood it all.
Twist his tail, unclel' we shout
ed from the fence top.
He acted upon our suggestion and
seizing the mules tail he gave it a
powerful twist. 1t came near being
his last twist. Talk about ticking!
That mule was mad. He stood on
one leg and kick the other three in as
many different directions. In one
minute he had kicked the plow up
among the branches of the tree, and
the lines landed in the adjoining
field. But still he went on. The
dust rose in such cloud that it hid
the sun from our view, and the
noise that he made was louder than
three threshing machines running
at once. A stone which met his
hoof was kicked through the dog
the poor thing was taken sick and
died on the spot.
The sound grew awful, the work waxed
warm,
But still that gallant mule kicked ON,
Presently the sound grew faint,
the dust faded away, the field again
stretched out before us. But the
mule was gone. We climbed down
from the fence top and approached
the battle ground. We searched long
for some trace OF that mule, but
found none. As we were about
leaving the place, we saw the tip Of
an ear sticking out Of the ground,
and upon an inspection we found
that tho hIauad unu1o bu<7 Ls.l.o17