The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-11-09
A MOVING TAIL.
This One Belonged to an Unusually
Obstinate Donkey.

Buffalo Express.
Did you ever come in contact closely
with a donkey?" asked the Uncle Tommer
during the lull in the conversation.
Nobody had.
We'll" continued the Uncle Tommer
''donkeys are curious beasts. / am moved
to say this because my theatrical lines
have been cast mostly with Uncle Tom
shows, and for the last ten years a donkey
has been an inseparable adjunct to this
highly moral and much-abused drama i
am minded of the donkey we had with the
last show 1 put on the road. Started from
Buffalo, too. That donkey was the king of
his kind. He was stupider, more obstinate
and could do more mischief than any l
ever saw. He was a brown and white beast
that came from the West. and he had nair
as long as a Skye terriers. His name was
Pete, which, by the way, seems to be a IA
vorite name for a donkey. Pete Joined the
show fresh from the stock yards, and, OF
course, he was green. He didn't like the
negro who had him as a care and ne
didn't think the white folks in the
company were any great shakes. either, 10
judge from the way he looked at US out OF
a round Of one night stands in the small
towns, and. as you doubtless know, the
opera houses Ghey are all opera houses,
even If they are on the third moor over the
general store) are generally up a flight or
two of stairs. In order that Pete might APP
pear in the play IT was necessary 10 get
him upstairs. The first night after We got
Pete we played in a town where the opera
house was up a long, dark. narrow flight of
stairs. We took Pete over in the afternoon
and tried to get him to walk upstairs. Pete
tom of the stairs all right. and then he
braced back and refused to bulge. And the
entire male strength of the company. could
not bulge him, either. We pushed: and
hauled. and showed, and Pete remained firm
as a rock. Then the negro got a whip and
hs n to Ah hammer Wns Pete su Tith f fellow butt w sas
the negro. and he laid the blows on
heavily. Pete dropped his ears and hung
his head and stood there like a stone
donkey. / have seen animals under punish
ment and they usually vince when
the blow is given, but Pete did not be-
tray any such emotion. He had no
feelings on the subject. Pounding him was
about as e~ffectual as hammering the side of
a stone wall. The negro stopped from ex-
haustion and Pete dropped his ears a bit
more and smiled a sorrowful sort OF a
smile. One of the other negroes tried his
Rand. but with no better luck. Pete looked
to be a fixture at the bottom of the stairs:
A tall, shiftless sort of a fellow. who had
been watching our efforts, stepped in just
here and said: Guess you folks haint no
We allowed that we knew something about
them. but told him we would give him a
dollar if he persuaded the brute to climb
the stairs. He took hold of Pete's tail and
out of his trance and walked upstairs as
nicely as you please, the tall fellow going
along behind him and pushing on his tall
now and again. After the show we couldn't
get Pete TO go down stairs. We had to send
after our friend, and he used the tail again,
this time holding back on 1t a bit and pull
ing il occasionally. Pete walked down stairs
calmly and quietly. That is the only way
Pete can be made to go up and down stairs
| don't understand why, but l would give
more than the g / paid the countryman to
find out where he discovered the philosophy
of moving donkeys by means of the TALL