The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1898-06-08
THE MISSOURI MULE.
Our Army Could Not Get Along
Without Him.

Our Army Could Not Get Along
Without Him.
The army mule figured prominently
( in the first hostile act of the present
war. A batch of mules destined fol
the Spanish army in Cuba were seized
from Spanish steamer at New Or
leans. When the war finally closes,
the army mule will probably be some
where on the spot, and in between he
will be making himself useful and en-.
tertaining, hauling the ammunition
wagons 10 the front just in the nick OF
time, and varying the monctony OF
camp life by exercising his uncultured
voice and his hair-trigger heels.
Uncle Sans army would not be COM
plete without the mule. What the
elephant is to the Anglo-Indian army
the mule is to our fighting brigades.
True to traditions, the iS"ment trouble
began TO seem imminen. we began to
collect mules. Nearly 1900 of them
had started for the front before the war
resolution was signed by the President,
and since then other thousands have
followed. In every land battle the
mule will have a share, and when il
is all over no small portion Of the glory
will be his.
M. g. tl,;,c, sba TTpifad Gfafac
government did when it decided to go
to war was to call for mules. Men are
quite necessary, but mules are indis-
pensable. OF course the government
agents went to st. Louis, the distrib-
uting point for Missouri mules. The
government wanted good mules. None
but Missouri mules would do.
The first call was for animals l5l
hands high and weighing loo pounds.
The price paid was S9l a head. Since
then some unpatriotic mule dealers
have tried to corner the market and
the price has been higher.
The rviceability of the Missouri
mule for war purposes is recognized by
the Spaniards and Cubans as well as
Americans. Within the past three
wears 10000 mules have been bought
and shipped via southern Atlantic
ports to Cuba. Most of them were
bought by the Spanish government.
The insurgents bought some, but as a
rule they found it cheaper and more
convenient to capture them from the
Spaniards.
The qualities which make the mule
more serviceable in battle than the
horse are his hardness, his equanimity
and his Judgment. This last article
has been named stupidity. That is a
libel. The Missouri mule is eonserva-
tive, but well balanced. He never
loses his head. He does not get ex-
cited. Even when he is indulging in a
runaway he keeps cool and steers clear
f danger, where a horse would plunge
blindly into it.
For army purposes mules are divided
into four classes. There are wheel
mules, swing mules, lead mules and
pack mules. So, you see, the mule is a
diversified species, after all. The
wheel mule is the largest, and is SO
called because he is hitched nearest the
wagon. He is the king of army mules.
Sixteen hands high and upward is the
required size. He is the long legged,
big cared, short buckled animal that is
supposed to huneh himself up and
pull like blazes when the wagon gets
stuck. This is merely a supposition,
however. Maybe he will do all these
commendable things and maybe he
won't. 1t depends entirely on how his
last meal agreed with him and wheth-
er he woke up in the right humor.
Uncle Sans animals are not different
from any others in this respect. In ad-
dition 10 being 16 hands high, the
wheeler must weigh at least 200
pounds. When he throws that weight
Of bone, muscle and stubbOrnness into
any cause, be it good or bad, something
is sure to break.
The swing mule is the middleman in
six animal team. he is the chap
that takes up all the slack left by the
wheeler. He must be l54 hands high
and must weigh about 1850 pounds.
So tar as the other peculiarities are con-
cerned he is much like the wheeler,
only a shade smaller.
The lead mule is the animal tnat
pul along to suit himself ahead of all
the rest. He is chunky, 10 hand ami
NAL and weighs about $50 pounds.
Last, but not least, is the pack mule,
blocky animal, Is hands high and
weighing an even 1000 pounds. The
pack mule is supposed to carry load
larger than himself It has never been
definitely ascertained just how much
he can carry. Atany rate, the packer
always feels justified in strapping on
his back all that can be piled on.
George Washington is responsible
for the mule in this land. 1t was the
Father of His Country who first inn
ported a jackass into the United States
for use upon his Virginia property.
JOHN 4, WILLOUGHBY.