The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-11-08

inferiorss sThe horse makes the brilliant cav
airy charge, but it is the ass who brings up
the armys ammunition and the food sup
plies While one rides on gallOping horse
over plain in safety he despises the ass,
and he still despises the ass when forsak-
ing his horses he trusts his life to the ass
In a mountain pass.
The ass is to be found in every part of
the world, always melancholy and slow, no
bly, doing his work, whether in the Andes,
the Himalayas the Rockies, or in the place
of his nativity the Orient. Wherever he
Is his dominant characteristics are the
same; wherever he is, he is generally
abused-perhaps because he puts up with
abuse so meekly.
Always he is the friend of the poor In
countries where horses cannot be afforded
he is the sole means of transport. All day
long he will go over hot plain or up a
rocky mountainside. loaded down with more
weight is only half that of the average
horse, while II a horse were limited to the
down in its tracks and die, though it had
no load. With the load it would fall down
anyway.
vices of braying and kicking is proved by
the superior conduct of the London moke.
who is about a third cousin of the Oriental
ass of myeh, of fable and biblical story.
The moke, who is about the size of a big
Newfoundland dog, draws the barrels Of the
costermcngers who vend fruits and vegeta-
bles from door to door to all parts of the
city.
All day you may occasionally hear him
out OF your WINDOW cniVy-cn1VylnE with MS
rapid and mincing little steps over the as
phalt pavements. At the same gait he will
carry his barrel, well loaded with produce,
and two big costermongers up the side of a
hill This sometimes calls for sharp re-
marks about brutes who ought to be in jail
from old gentlemen with white side whis-
kers md a kindly expression of mouth, TO
whit the costermonger usually replies
&C a. i, old plum-pudding. 1t 'urts you
moren i'm
Until Baroness Burdette-Coutts and the
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals-organized in imitation Of the orig
inal American society-took the matter in
han made the passage of the law
ma great sentimental moment in the
Ho Commons instead of feeding his
lit -,nkey, the costermonger usually beat
him, and the moke, too patient and too hum
BILE to attempt to petition the Commons it
self, tried to thrive on the whipping and
succeeded wonderfully.
There is no finer playfellow for children
than a moke. When his fuzzy fur is washed
it is soft, fluffy and pretty. youngster
may crawl all over him and under him and
pound and pull him in every part of his
anatomy and he will only smile the content
ed smile of the moke who is living in the
moke heaven of currycombs and good ra-
tio1s
That the ass is not stupid is proved by his
equal cleverness with the horse in learning
tricks by his picking his way where a horse
cannot GO by his calmness under conditions
that make a horse uncontrollably fretful.
But he seems homely and out of proportion,
unless you look at him closely; and the
world too often goes by appearances. Scru-
tinize sharply the patient face of the ass,
and you will find those qualities which
make a face educational and perhaps even
beautiful