Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-09-20
THAT LOWLY BURRO.
PATIENT md ENDURING. YET OFTEN
A SIT WtLLFuL.
aeue Hunt says He Is y Isorn Paesees ana
rr.,n,iersnan-Yet the Interesting Ani-
,,a, Does No, Like to Got HIS Feet Wet.
~. r.r Somewhat Like Womnn's.

u.n, SAYS He Is . Hlorn Pioaeer and
rr.a,icr.nan-ye. the Intersstinx Ani-
| ,.., hoes No, Like to Got His Feet Wet.
M. Temper Somewhat Like WomAn'A
Is,ecssi Correspondence
| N,xrroy. Colo, Sept. iS.--"The kocky
| ,,crn,sin s~,,,ary.s as the bnrro here -
T, dubbed. has ways that ar. vain Snd trieAs
n,xu,,ar.. SAW party OF three tourists
rubbed ou, of an excursion up south Shes.
rnne CANYON yesterday all on account OF
| one Of the burrs deeiiaing TO cross over
,iny damn place Eissls across the ROAD os
lawn sprinkler Not that the burro was
/ frirhtenesi. No, indeed, He was too oid'
,oo wise and too accustomed TO water Tor
that He was simply looking and Longing
| for an excuse for decliainS TO SO far'ner'
and this little damp place in the road fur-
nished IT,
| The gentleman riding him used his per-
suasivc powers, the guide belaborett ana
punchsi him, but never step woo'd ne
hudge. The gentleman then insisted upon
the two ladies going on alone with the
| r,,ide. which they refused TO do, and-so
| The sun 50, land 50 did the burro, urn 10
! his resolution, the excursion was given
mn until another day, and the procession
rsyerstx! ends and returned TO the city
| Vet the burro is an intrinsic and impor
,aut factor in civilization and history
Handy. stolid, patient Of spirit and endur'
| a., ~ snnl 10 say nothing of buck, he Is n
| h,rn n;oneer and frontiersman. He is a
iamocrat and "commoner," soorning such
amnry bauhles As name and pedigree,
! aud \ philosopher from way back, as
| they say ont here. While the fas'idioas
| horse must have his veil Of pink or biae
mosquito netting to protect him nom the
| flies. that unacccuntahlc pest OF TINS clean
and wholesome Countrywide burro VIII
| stand and blink and meSluate upon the
| yaui,ies of life while n whole colony OF
| fies come prospecting upon his nose anu
| ewes and after an hours discussion decide
| TO locate there.
| He can live all summer upon the candy
and popcorn fed to him by the tourists ana
all winter upon the remembrance OF them
| He knows he is hopiely ana giorses IN IL
| Three or four Of them Will group them
selves together-all awkwar,iness, shassi,
ness, ears and legs-and stand patlehtiy anu
| Enthusiastically waiting TO he laughed az
| That n Colorado burro was never hnownto
die u natural death is statement Nouched
for By the most reliable citizens OF the
l
| misstep over n prccipice, or something q
| that kind. But to Just fall sick and diooI
| get too old to live any lunger-it is an I'M
heard OF thing.
| There is Old Dick. for Instance, who
| helped to build Pixies peak cog road two
wears ago, and who ambles around Colorado
Spring, and Manitou now the most f.isky
and popular OF tourists burros and he was
Old Dick when he and his master, Wade,
| carried the material for observations of the
1 great sun eclipse upon Pixies psak in 1872
| In fact, there ia no evidence to disprove tbs
| 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 1919 1t may ho well to re-
mark here that Dick is IA blond. and as to
| whether his hair is gray with ago no one
| /, able to say.
| These Manitou aad Cheyenne canyon
burros are u most interesting feature of the
| tourists experiences. They are owned or
| rented out" by the drove and are kept
| saddled and bridled Mt some specified and
accessible spot ready for parties. They are
| the only mode of conveyance suitable for
| the rough and dangerous mountain trails.
Small, wry, nimble and tenacious OF foot,
they can pick and hold their way where
man or horse would stumble and fall.
| When they come to a level place. whether
| it be 3 or 800 feet, they run full speed
| and they have way of jumping cbasms
| and skating down ice slides exhilarating, to
| say the least Of it.
But. alasl the sad whole truth may as
| well come first rs last. The burro is stub
| bornl "IIe takes his notions ies' like "A wo-
| man. said our guide yesterday a. we
| started out to Helen Hunt Jaeksun's grave
| that was on top Of Cheyenne mountain.
| And les like "a woman is seornfully su-
perior to reason or persuasion" added II
horrid man in the party, when, lol as
| though To give countenance to the joint
| SANDER Muggins, the hitherto gayest and
most aimiable burro Of the cavalcade, sat
| down fiat upon his Launches, his hind legs
| doubled up under him and his forelegs
| languidly extended i'll front of him along
| the smoothest, easiest bit of road we had
| had.
At first everybody thought it excessively
| funny, particularly tbs good natured Ten
nesseean who was riding Muegins. We
| all laughed-a.l but the guide-and the
ladies called Muggns "a cute little rascal"
| and the gentlemen guycd "Teunessee." say
| ing Mnggins knew he wasn't good pay, etc
Then we all chattcd and admired the
view and politely waited for Muggins toget
rested But Muggins evidently was very
| tired, for he rolled over colily GA one fat
| side and settled himself for IN afternoon
| nap, whereupon the guide went and cut
| a large stick, Mt which the ladies began to
| cry: oh don't hit him, The poor, dear
little fellowl Maybe he's illl''
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 cussctlness
Theys all that way ef the notion strikes
EN-. Thar amt but one thing'll start that
burro, an that's twistin his tail"
"Oh-oo!" demonstrated the ladies, and
| the susceptible guide postponed the pain
| full dernier resort while we tried our more
Christian methods Of persuasion. The
| men kicked Muesius' tough sides and
pulled him by the bride, but Muggins
went to sleep.
The ladies went in front and held out
enticing bits of luncheon and candy. Mug
gins ate them and went to sleep again.
Then the Tennesseean got mad and
pounded Muggins with club.
Muggins snored.
Then everybody got mad and told the
guide to do his worst.
Then the guide asked us to give him
COON" and getting behind the slunberins
Muggins caught his tail u both hands and
gave it an unmerciful twist, jumping back
as he did so.
'Yon-kee-ee-eeei' brayed Muggins, and
then such AN allegrettoof legs! There seem
ell to be lG Of them instead of four, and all
revolving in different directions. But the
effect was magical BY the time those le
legs had resolved themselves into fouI
those four were firmly planted on the earth,
and Muggins, after AN awakening shake,
craned his neck around and rolled his big
eyes, with his ugly but expressive little
comedy Of face saying as plainly rs words
TO Tennessee: "Oh, come on, pard; let's 20
| an see II. II. s. grave. was only iokiugr'
And Tennessee" took him at his word.
| and of we went at a lively capter, Muggins
| leading the way. - 1880
1 About Addressing Letters
Nv dear fpllovg t.yhou r,,, ,.-r;,, IL. 80.