The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-09-28


MEEK AND LowLY.
Too wise and too accustomed to water for
that. He was simply looking and longing
for an excuse for declining to 20 farther.
and this little damp place in the road fur
nished it..
The gentleman riding him used his per-
suaslve powers, the guide belnbored and
punched him, but never a step would he
bulge. The gentleman then insisted upon
the two ladies going on alone with the
guide, which they refused to do, and-so
the sun set land SO did the burro, firm to
his resolution). the excursion was given
up until another day, and the procession
reversed ends and returned to the CITY.
1et the 'burro is an intrinsic and impor-
tant factor i'll civilization and history.
Hardy. stolid, patient of spirit and endur-
Ing of soul, to say nothing of back, he Is n
born pioneer and frontiersman. He is q
democrat and "commoner," scorning such
empty baubles as name and pedigree.
and philosopher from way back" as
they say out here. While the fastidious
horse must have his veA of pink or blue
mosquito netting to protect him from the
flies, that unaccountabc pest of this clean
and wholesome Countrywide burro will
stand and blink and mediate upon the
Tanities of life while n whole COLONY Of
flies come prospecting upon his nose and
eyes and after an hours discussion decide
to locate there.
lie can live all summer upon the candy
and popcorn fed to him by the tourists and
all winter upon the remembrance of them
lie knows he Is homely and glories in it.
Three or four of them will group them
selves together-all awkwardness shappi
ness. an1 lnUS nd CT = a
Enthusiastically waiting to bc laughed ut.
That Colorado burro was never known to
die Il natural death is n statement youched
Tor by the most reliable citizens of the
state. They get killed in mines or by q
misstep over II precipice, or something of
that kind. But to just fall sick and dio q,
get too old to live any longer-it is an I'M
heard of thing.
There is Old Dick, for instance. who
helped to build Pixies peak cog road two
years ago, and who ambles around Colorado
Springs and Manitou now the most frisky
and popular of tourists burros, and he was
Old Dick when he and his master, Wade.
carried the material for observations of the
great sun eclipse upon Pixies peak in 1870.
In fact, there is no evidence to disprove the
claim of many of Dicks hero worshipers
that he was also employed in the earlier
occupation of the peak during the great
gold panic of 1S49 Ii may be well to re-
mark here that Dick is blond, and ne to
whether his hair is gray with age no one
Is able TO say.
These Manitou and Cheyenne CANYON
burros are most interesting feature of the
tourists experiences. They are owned or
rented out" by the drove and are kept
saddled and bridled ut some specified and
accessible spot ready for parties They are
the only mode of conveyance suitable for
the rough and dangerous mountain trails.
Small, why, nimble and tenacious of foot.
they can pick and hold their way where
man or horse would stumble and full.
When they come to level place, whether
it be 3 or 800 feet, they run full speed,
and they have way of jumping chasms
and skating down ice slides exhilarating, to
FAY the least Of it.
But, alasl the sad whole truth NAV as
well come first us last. The burro is stub
born. He takes his notions jes like n wo-
man." said our guide yesterday as we
started out to Helen Hunt Jackson's grave
Chat was) on top of Cheyenne mountain.
And 'Jes' like woman is scornftlly SUI
perior to reason or persuasion. added q
horrid man i'll the party, when 10! as
though TO give countenalce to the Joint
Islander, Muggins. the hitherto gayest and
most amiable burro of the cavalcade, sat
down fiat upon his launches, his hind legs
doubled up under him and his forelegs
languidly extended in front OF him along
the smoothest, easiest bit of road we had
had
At first everybody thought it excessively
funny, particularly the good natured Ten
nesseean who was riding Muggins. We
all laughed-all but the guide--and the
ladies called Muggins "A cute little rascal"
and the gentlemen guyed Tennessee" say
Ing Muggins knew hewasn't good pay, etc.
Then we all chatted aud admired the
view and politely waited for Muggins to get
rested. But Muggins evidently was very
tired, for he rolled over cozily ON one fat
side and settled himself for an afternoon
nap, whereupon the guide went and cut
a large stick, mt which the ladies began to
cry: oh, don't hit himl The poor, dear
little fellow! Maybe he's ill.,
Then one said, Lets give him some
brandy" and there were five TASKS pro-
duced in the party of nine.
You tenderfeet don't know nothin at
all about burros, "'said the guide. 'They
amt nothin on earth the matter with that
burro but pure natur' born cussedness!
They's all that way ef the notion strikes
'em. Thar amt but one thing'll start that
burro, an that's twstin his tail"
"Oh-ooW demonstrated the ladies', and
the susceptible guide postponed the pain
fnl dernier resort while we tried our more
Christian methods OF persuasion. The