Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-02-06
UNCLE SINS CAMELS
WE'RE foRTED AT GREAT Ex-
IN THE EARLY FIFriEs.
to Re Used by the Army"
was Found That They Were r'"'
.,..rrx worthless, and We're SET
rree-some OF Them stiil Alive
dos Ange.es Cab Letter.

20
fov lines in the telegraphic news Oh
the daily press the other day eoneei"'1e
tho killing of a camel on the Coiorau0
desert IN Western Arizona, by a SCUM
ern Pacific train, was the first intlmauon
millions OF Americans had that heru "
genuine "ships OF the desert were run.
ming wild anywhere within the DOMAIN -
rrrc,s Sam. Indeed, there are thousands
Of people who have made their no''''
Tor vears In California who have never
hoard that camels from Arabia ana bsSp'
have for wears been wandering over INC
sandy wastes Of the extreme
part Of their own state.
The history Of the camels OF Nes'er"
Arizona and along the Colorado river
very interesting. and forms one OF 'n'
htsh comedies that may once IN a"n'e
no found in even the dullest ana most
no,oorors volume of public record from
the Government Printing-Ohce at WASH
ineton. In some ways the procuring VI
The beasts in the orient and their estao-
uebment on the deserts of the southwest
resemble scenes and plots Of the hshS
a.+a~a's Of the dav. Some half-dozen OF
! the names Of the persons who were lh'ei
/ ested I'm the scheme 10 adopt camels upon
American deserts have since become
| famous in our national history. A hoinea ~
black. coth-covered volume or almost ooV
pages. bearing the title, senate ENecu-
| ,i,a Document No. g. of the Thirty
| fourth Congress- tells the carry SUI "
uncle Sans cames. The book was
I office IN 1891.
! and probably few copies are to De Iouhu
outside Of Washington.
| In fs52 when millions of dollars in gold
was mined annually in California ana
when thousands Of people were crossing
] the plains and deserts 10 make homes III
| the new III Dorado. and when trans
continental railroad was only a vague
/ dream. Lieutenant Edward f. Beale' al
/ terward General Beale. was stationed at
! Fort Yuma. on the border between Cali
/ fornia and Arizona, and on the edge or
| the Colorado desert. a stream Of immi-
| grafton and wagons Of freight passed
| that way daily. The disease and su1er-
/ ing and frequent deaths among the horses
| and mules, labOring under terrific dry
solar heat convinced Lieutenant Beale
| that here, of all places, was where the
camels Of Sahara and Arabia could be
used TO inestmable advantage. In con-
/
son. he wrote at length upon the subject
Of the utility Of the camel to Jefferson
Davis, the Secretary Of War. The ideas
| Of the young military man in the West
I had immediate and enthusiastic recep-
| ton by the Secretary. A commission was
soon sent out from San Antonio, Texas,
! to Arizona, to ascertain the uses that
camels could be put to in military trans
portation in the Southwest. The commits
] al. pqunrf and In
connection with Secretary Davis's an
nual report to Congress. in December,
1852 there was a request for an appro-
priation for the purchase of the beasts
OF burden from the Orient for the use
| of the War Department. Senator John
NJ Mason, afterward concerned with John
| Slidell IN diplomatic relations between
the Confederacy and Great Britain.
champloned the proposition 10 buy the
| camels
on March 9. 1853. a bill appropriating
$4,000 for the purchase and importation
of camels became a law by the Presi-
dents signature, Secretary Davis APP
| pointed Major G. Wayne, in December
1854. to go 10 Egypt and Arabia 20 buy
seventy-five camels. In May, 1885, Major
Wayne sailed from New York He was
instructed to go 10 London and Paris
and there get all the practical informa-
] klDA DDre4nlt llNNi IlAAAAAt AANl NAA'
had been in Oriental campaigns where
camels had been under fire, as TO the
habits, diet, and uses Of the beasts in
warfare and to consult with camel-eX-
perts upon the best fodder and care OF
the animals. In the Government Book
Secretary Davis tells I'm detail how he In
structed Major Wayne to proceed from
Paris 20 Cairo, and when ne had bought
his camels to bring them TO New York
on the navdl-storeship Supply, then
under command of Lieutenant ID. ID. Por-
ter. The Secretary goes into very careful
and minute particulars in his instruc-
tlons 20 the Major and says that Da-
mascus and Palmyra had once been
famed for dromedaries, and that kur-
distan still possessed ANIMALS Of fine
quality" The Secretary believed. how
ever, that the best breed OF camels was
to be found In Persia. lie bade Major
Wayne to keep the War Department in
formed Of his movements and OF the
progress of his quest.
Lieutenant Porters instructions were
to await Major Wayne at some convent
ent point i'm the Mediterranean, to disem-
bark land force at Beirout, and TO see
that the expedition was amply protected
against attacks from the warlke tribes
OF the interior. On returning, the Lieu
tenant was to land his cargo at some
/ point on the tOdSt Oh itAdo.
Major Wayne and Lieutenant Porter
accepted their quest in the same serious
spirit i'm which RI was conhded to their
execution. The Major promptly wrote to
Secretary Davis to report his arrival In
London Minister James Buchanan,
later President received the officer cor
daily, and at once perceived Lie i'm
pOrtant nature OF his business. The
Minister, by way Of introducing the
Major to the study OF the camel gave
him a letter to Professor Richard Owen,
T. r. s., "The Cuyier OF England" The
Professor was as much impressed win
the quest as was Mr.. Buchanan, and
so were the authorities or the Lon1On
Geological Gardens. Major Wayne VISITED
the gardens. and, there, as ne informs
Mr. Davis, studied the feeding. care, and
hygiene OF the dTOmedary. lie tells Mr..
Davis what food was served 20 The AMI
mails IN captivity there. AMI transmits 20
him their keepers cheering assurance
that the camel is a hardy animal, less
In need OF care than the horse ard quite
as comfortable in the lands of turo-
peans as In those Of ARABS.
} Major Wayne next writes from Paris
, where he was pleasantly received By
Major Mason. IL had been Mr.. Davis :
} wish that the Major should consult In
r Paris Generas Carbuccia and AIorey
Monge, of the French army. distinguished
} camel sharps, who had studied tbs
creature in Africa. General Carbuccia
however, had just died Of cholera, anC
! General Morey Monge was absent.
The next important communication an
nounces that Major Wayne and Lieuten
: ant Porter have joined forces. They wer'
as much In earnest as ever, and they haC
bought a camel at Tunis for the purpos