The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-24
UNCLE sAMs LIVE STOCK.
He Has Invested s3,OOO,OOO in Mule
and Horse Flesh.

He has invested $3,OOO,OOO IN Mule
and Horse Flesh.
Washington Post.
Since the beginning of the war there have
been purchased for army purposes by the
government 1900 mules and 4OOO horses.
The total number of these animals now in
use by the troops in the field and at the
several army camps is not far from II GEO
mules and 1000 horses With the further
equipment of volunteers under the second
call purchases continue to be made, and it
is quite probable that within a few weeks
this four-footed army will number 10000.
These Will cost in round numbers So 600 600.
Assistant Quartermaster Charles p. Miller,
who is in charge of this department, has
agents in several sections of the country
looking for young horses and mules that are
ut for army duty.
The attempts to corner the mule mar
ket, said Lieutenant Colonel Miller yester-
day, have all been Intellectual. Dealers
around st. Louis have tried it several times,
but as soon as this is done we have ceased
TO purchase in that market and transferred
our operations to other cities. The result
has been that. mules could eventually be
bought. in that market for less than the
The mules are rendezvoused generally in
the vicinity of some of the army camps and
are trained there for service in dragging
the neavy transportation wagons. The
mules for the teams at Camp Alger are
broken for army work at St. Asaphs track
During the civil war each wagon was given
six mules but it is found preferable by the
quartermaster department now to drive
many of them in teams of four. The price
paid for the animals depends upon the posi-
ton they are fit for in the team. The
wheel mules, which must be larger and
stronger than the others, cost the govern
ment about Sis. The swings" or second
span in a team of six. cost from $9S to sos
the leaders being lighter and not neces-
sarlly so strong, about $S7 a head.
The principal centerS that the government
depends upon for its mules are st. Louis
Kansas City and northern Texas. Some
have been purchased in Chicago and some
in Atlanta.
In fitting out these heavy teams the gov
eminent has taken a new departure in carts
which is thought to be an improvement
over the carts of the civil war Then wheels
with narrow tires, hardly more than two
inches, were used. These narrow tires cut
the roads up badly, and the passing of a
long army train was sufficient to badly de-
molish any ordinary country highway. For
the service in Cuba and the South Lieu
tenant Colonel Miller has some wagons
mounted on mammoth trucks of wood. They
are made in sections from oak and bound
together by an iron tire twelve inches
broad. Then the rear trucks are placed on
aXles that prevent their tracking the for
ward trucks. This arrangement is regarded
as especially adapted for the soft roads in
Cuba, where the rain sometimes makes the
thoroughfareS well nigh impossible Army
wagons mounted on these trucks will have
the effect Of packing the soil down harder
rather than cutting it up. Teams of four
mules are driven there instead of teams of
six which are seen in this city coming, from
Camp Alger.