The St. Louis Republic., 1901-01-14
More of a Factor in Gaining Vic
tories in These Days Than
Heavy Guns.
STORIES OF HIS USEFULNESS.
How HostiIities in the Various
Quarters of Earth Have Brought
Him to Notice and Increased
His Worth.
by SUDDEN. Jefferson City.
Tue Republic Bureau
C. .,1 Danr<rlvanta Ave

Uasbineton. Ian. 13-There Is an eminent
American army officer in the Philippines
who has revised the proverb about heaven
giving the victory to the side with the best
quns Heaven gives the victory to- the
side with the most Missouri mules" Is ms
version. To-day the Missouri mule Is re-
parded as the sine qua non of modren war
fare. should his nuleship rise as a unit
and baIk on the firing sine there would be
no more up-to-date wars.
The continued demand for army mules In
Western markets has almost doubled the
nrice Four years ago a velvety-eared, high
Kicking 16-hand mule could be bought Tor
81. and a good mule for $50. Now West
ern farmer who owns a sound 1S-hand mule
will not look at less than s1ss for him. and
almost any sort of specimen will fetch 800
Since the occupation of Manila 1000 mules
have been shipped to the Philippines alone.
Three times that many have been sent 10
Cuba and Porto Rico. English mule buyers
have drained the ST. Louis and Omaha mar
kets since the commencement Of the Boer
war in spite of the alleged unsoldieriy be-
hayior OF a squad OF American mules IN
General Buffers command, who. on three
occasions. IL Is said, deliberately led their
English drivers into q Boer ambush ana
bolked at every attempt to retreat IL TINS
ia true. it is the first instance OF disioyaity
ever recorded against the army mule he
has his faults but he is game and he Is
faithful.
In Demand i'm War Times.
lust before the breaking out of the Span
ish-American War Spanish buyers shipped
1s 90 mules from American -kefs- Our
army buyers were equally busy.
1T was a popular supposition at the time
that Uncle Sam was holding back to get
his warships ready" says an old army offi-
Ger. He wasn't: he was buying mules. L
myself bought 1900 on contract during tho
Maine investigation.
Army officials have expended more worry
In the transportation Of mules to the PM
ippines than in the carrying OF troops Up
TO a year ago nobody had any idea that q
mute could stand on his sea legs during
VOYAGE of forty-one days and trot down a
gapg-plank in better condition than ne
trotted up. The American mule mas
achieved this.
Formerly In attempting TO transport
mules over long distances the beasts were
supported in their stalls by a sort OF slinS
like a hammock. supposed to give them an
opportunity to rest themselves. Inis
process killed from 25 to 50 per cent of the
animals and the rest were in state OF
collapse at the end of the voyage. This plan
has been abandoned, and mules are now
carried to Manila from Portland. Ore. with
a loss of not more than per cent AT Ma
Mia they swim through the surf a mile in
landing and within a week are ut for work.
1T amt kindness that a mule wants; II 5
abuse" says the sage army teamster. Ger
tainiy the patience Of the mule Is the pa
tience Of Job. He is somewhat stubborn
and hard-headed. but he has a sort of mule
In, NJ
big for nothing. He is watchful as cat
ANY unusual sound awakens him. He can
tell the tread Of the enemy at any hour or
the day or night, and he is not bashful
about lifting up his voice and warning his
superior officers.
The Mules Prcscience.
"A mule will speak out and tell you about
a thousand things that a horse would let
pass without saying a word" says the old
army man. Hes a better sentry than the
!! average man, and would resent being called
by his name.
"A mule never gets ratified; has intuition,
but he pever jumps at conclusions. and he
does not know the shape of fear. A mule
\ can discover water two miles of, and he
always speaks up and tells the driver
about il. He will go without water for days
| IL necessary. but when he gets within sniff
ing distance of it. he halts.'
A well-trained mule can be ridden intt
| a well Up a tree. He never breaks down
on a march. As In the case OF the army
| wagon. there Is a tradition that people have
seen people who once saw a mule team
collapse. but no person can be found who
4 has himself witnessed such an event.
Nothing short OF an earthquake will cause
a mule to run away. He listens to tha
roar OF canton without batting an ear
4 The sound OF battle has neither terror mol
| charm for him He stays where you put
him and he raises the white nag never.
The mule Is an army classic and ths
legends
| Samson. There Is a familiar Lincoln story
| to the effect that one day the loss by cap
| ture Of a few mules and two Major Gener-
| ais was reported to the President.
WELL" said Lincoln, with a shrewd
twinkle In his eyes, Il can make plenty o
Major Generals. but do hate 10 lose thos
mules"