Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-21
THE ARMY PACKERS
Brave Men Whose work Counts for
Much in Campaign.

From Leslie's Weekly.
One of the most striking features of the
whole campaign was the pack train. The
packers of the army are very like the stok-
ers on board a warship. They are seldom
heard Of but their work is the most i'm
portant of any that is done. They supply
the fundamental requisites, and should
their work stop the whole force would SUI
fer They are the heart of the military
system, and yet their praises are never
sung by poets, and they are seldom men
toned in dispatches. They are never seen
in parades and reviews. and yet to these
belong a great portion of the glory.
The packers of the army are even more
entitled to the praise than are the stokers
of the navy, for not only is the work of the
former the very hardest, but they are COM
PEELED to go right up in the firing line when
the battle is at its height, and where the
danger is greatest, anu unpack ammunition.
1t is really a remarkable sight to see these
men and their total indifference to all dan
ger at the front during an engagement and
very often one or more OF their mules are
shot.
The packers are all western men and in a
measure used to dangers, as the frontier is
the only part of the country where the
pack trains are used regularly. Conse-
quently there is that picturesque western
air about the men.
The army mule is the most essential fea-
ture of campa gning but there are several
varieties, ana the PACK mule Is, without
doubt, the most unique and Intelligent.
There are about sixty animals in a full
train. and these are led by the patient
"hc!imare,' a steady, well-broken horse
that leads the way, and around whose neck
a bell is suspended. The sound of this bell
is the guide the mules follow. no matter
where it leads. They follow blindly, with
out any other guide except the constant
urging from the packers who ride other
mules along in the train The animals
wear no bride except, perhaps. halter,
and yet they trot along and never stray
from the trail. As long as they are with
the train they show remarkable intelli-
gence, hut once take them away from the
rest and they are hopelessly lost. Horses
were very scarce during the Santiago cam
paign, and few of the pack animals
Were impre sSed into service under the sad
die. l was fortunate enough TO have one
and he was not the least of my troubles
He was branded with a huge "l3." and in
every one Of his adventures he upheld the
tradition Of that time hcnored symbol of
bad luck. 1t was most amusing To see him
on the road. as he always agned that the
pack tram was Just ahead. and at every
bend he would crane his neck TO see if the
rest of the mules were ahead. If he ever
heard bell that sounded like the one he
had been following he would make for it
and no power could stop him. When riding
hear the front l lived in deadly fear lest
some one in the enemy : line should sound
a bell. II ever heard pack train coming
in the opposite direction | had to climb
down and anchor him to a tree or he would
JOIN it
The packers of this campaign worked dav
and night. ana no one ever heard of them
getting sick when the fever was laying the
best Of US low. There was no glory for
them; they We're Just simple hired civilians:
no uniform no regiment. but Just good
hatured, Woodworking weSterners. Each
one of the packers carried a 'six-shooter''
OF the frontier style.