Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-10-11
THE PASSING OF THE OK.
A PATIENT, ANIABLE, SLOW AND
SOLEMN BEAST.


Notwithstanding the ubiquity Of the
bicycle and the more tardy development
Of the automobile, there Ii no evidence
that the horse Is losing ground In our
social aud domestic economy. On the
contrary, there has been an Increase OF
about 10 per cent In horsefiesh since 1882
and of about II per cent In the number
Of mules, while that dear, quaint and
faithful servant Of man, the patient OK,
has barely held his own Ia the last six
teen years. This 10 perhaps one Of the
inevitable results OF the quickened life
Of the country. His star is In the de-
scendant. While the country may be
cong :atulated upon the increased push
demanding greater speed and power IN
oar modern activities, sigh Of regret
will nevertheless follow the vanishing
OK Just as It did the old stage coach
when the locomotive forced 1t of the
road.
The OK IL such q good fellow that his
companionship will be missed. lie 10
the philosopher among beasts OF burden.
He belongs BY birthright to the 'Don't
Worry Club" He chews the cud ca con-
tentment even while he tolls and turns
upon his human companion eyes so full
aud soft and liquid that the great Homer
used them as the most expressive simile
occurring even to his almost induite In
ventiou to apply to the divine Hera. So
there Is poetry in the fine old beast as
well as philosophy. Huge and solemn
but sweet-breathed and amiAble, he per-
forms his task with steady dignity that
puts definite value, even IL small one,
on each passing minute and then ceases
to burden his soul with the digit OF
time.
The gradual passing away OF the OK a.
beast Of burden has the pathos that At
taches to the extinction OF one OF the
early families. They came into the
country together, and together they took
a pioneer part in its development. They
felled and drew of the trees, they tore
up the stumps, they scanned and mellow
ed the rooty soil, making 1t richly re-
sponsive to the needs Of man. They
pulled out the great stones that fretted
the face Of nature and made garden spots
Of the rugged hillside and plain. The or
was factor of every enterprise. lie
was on the farm, at the wharf. and the
mill, aud when Ia those early days OF
expansive and adventurous ideas the Old
places seemed too contracted for the
settler he bundled his family into u
prairie schooner while his faithful oxen
dragged the pondcrous vain a elk
months journey towards the setting sun,
accomplishing n distance which We may
now be whirled between the twilight and
the dawn, browsing cheerily as they
wended their toilsome way along, aud
boarding themselves when the time for
the nightly camping arrived.
Bat the old fellow has had his day ex-
cept where the conditions are still primi-
tive. Once he was the steady reliance OF
every farmer, but now one hardly sees
yoke in the harvest field or the plough
lot. His pace cannot be readjusted to
the quickstep OF modern ideas and In
ventions, and utilitai isnism has no use
for the poetic or the picturesque. More
and more his destination Is coming to be
the shambles. This makes life shorter
and we might say merrier but merriment
In an OF Is Observation-Disclosures Tran
scyipt