Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1890-02-26
The MULE.
For MORRIS TRIBUNE.
Bureau of Southern News,
RALEIGH, N. 4.

IL,
ital invested in it as a means OF doing
business. Not from accident, hardly
from choice; bnt because it can do work
which no other animal could do, and at
less cost In its ability to do hard and
/ difficult work, it holds n middle place
| between the horse and the OK. Slower
than the horse and less fiery, it works IN
| safety where horse would soon rum
itself. Faster than the OK it will do
more work in given period of time.
Hardy, long lived, easy to keep, and pa
| tient under i'll usage, the mule is the
working animal of the South. The
mule does the, blowing, hauls the cotton
from the field to the gin, and thence to
the market. 1t hauls the logs to the
saw mill, and the lumber to the railroad;
the crude turpentine to the distil!ery,
and the refined spirits Of turpentine and
the rosin to the depot. 1t carries its
owner on its back to the village store
and post office, and safely home again
in the darkest night and through the
most tangled woods, \ farmer says he
works one horse, a two horse, or four
horse farm, as the case may be, but
mules do the work. A man keeps q
team for general work; 1t is usually two
mules. A man runs single wagon for
odd jobs at draying; but mule general
ly draws the wagon. If man wishes
to make a long journey in short time,
he will select the mule; for n mule
trained to the road will travel more
miles in day and for more successive
days than any horse. The writer wish
ing on one occasion to ride short dis
lance to the city and back in the short
est possible time, was put in Il heavy
two seated, top wagon with driver, be-
hind a good road mule. The distance
was made in very quick time; with Il
rapid, steady trot, up and down steep
hills which would break the wind of
any horse we have ever seen.
! When it is remembered that fifteen or
twenty mules are needed to work a saw
mill, and the saw mills are numbered by
thousands throughout the South, it will
be seen that the breeding of mules is
not small business. AS rule mules
are not bred where they are most used.
Kentucky is the greatest breeding state,
while North Carolina and Georgia are
! the largest users and consumers. The
owners of saw mills use the most but
| NIL
animal by any cause, he starts the next
day to find one; and in two days the
cars bring in one or more TO replace the
loss. The value of a really good mule is
about one hundred and twenty five dol
lars; Of good pair, two hundred and
fifty. Horses are not held so high. And
many a man in the pine woods or the
cotton fields refuse one hundred dollars
for his mule, who would not accept a
horse as a gift, with the condition that
| he be obliged to keep and use.
| We have been able thus far to write
some good things about the mule. We
have some other things to write which
the reader may consider good, bad or in
different as he pleases. The mule is a
cross between the ass kind and the
horse kind. 1t has the ears and tail of
former; the body mainly of the horse,
and disposition like what? We are re-
minded of a conundrum, so called, pro-
pounded to us in our youth, "What is
most like half o cheese?" Ans: The
other half. What is most like mule?
Another mule. In the former case we
fail to see any real conundrum. But in
the latter case the mule is the conun-
drum. There is a saying among the
people of the South that once upon
time the Devil and mankind put their
heads together, to produce an animal I'M
like all others; and at the same time,
something which could not freeze out
the inventors by taking the business of
making into its own hands The result
was the mule; grand success. 1t can
not reproduce its kind, and it is like
nothing in the Heavens above, in the
Earth beneath, or in the waters under
the Earth.
We are reminded of the small boys's
composition on the horse. "The horse
is an animal with four legs; one at each
corner" The mule is an animal with
four legs; one at each corner and fans
itself with it's ears. A definition of
mule about as minute as 1t is safe to
give. 1t is unlike all other animals;
and, as the darky said, "You never
know what a mule will do till it's dead"
1t delights in unique surprises, with an
expression of satisfaction as calm and
placid as a summers moon. My neigh
Dor owns mule fifteen years old. Her
personal appearance is a good deal like
tramp's overcoat. She is slower than
the days counted by the prisoner of
Chillon A short journey behind her re-
minds one of the six months night at
the poles. And yet, turn her out to
browse, and try to catch her before she
is ready. She'll bid you a hurried good
bye and jump a five foot fence without
touching it. My lady wishes to go to
the village store and post office. All the
animals available being in more inn
portant use, u mule is borrowed. Is
your mule gentle?" " Yes, gentle as
lamb" "Does he ever kick?" ono,
he never was know to kick" The beast
is harnessed and my lady mounts the
wagon together with the young man
who is to drive. The young man says
"Get up" The mule gets up, but only
at one end; and that the end nearest the
wagon. The unexpected had happened,
and at the next trial both ends moved in
serene harmony.
Some people say the mule is stubborn.
Webster's first definition of stubborn is,
unreasonably obstinate. Experience
with the animal we are treating, shows |
that the mule generally has reason for |