Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1902-06-09
THE MULE IS NOT A FOOL
THAN ONE WAY He is
THAN THE HORSE.
IN
Have Not tho Knack of Doing Parlor
Tricks, But Have Their Share of USE
full, Everyday Wisdom-Did You Ever
See "a Dead Mule?

See "a Dead NJ ule?
Patience, calmness, attending to his
own business, frugality and faithful
ness have earned for the mule the rep
utation of stupidity. He has become
marked as the Ounce and blockhead
among animals. So long has the mule
rested under this charge of mental dull
ness that his long ears have become a
mark OF lack of intelligence. Unjust
comparison with his near relative has
made "horse-sense" a term of compli-
the time the mule has been suffering
under undeserved reproach, for the
man who knows the beast of sharp an
giles and exaggerated curves values him
above the horse in practical intelli-
gence, and believes that patince, lack
Of nerves and the faculty of attend
ing to business have been misunder-
stood for absence OF sense
Animal trainers take not to mules,
and the horse shows know them not,
| for they are always beasts of burden
and do their playing among themselves
after working hours. They may not
have the knack of doing parlor tricks,
but they have their share of useful,
everyday wisdom. Everyone knows
I that horses can hardly be forced out
of burning stable. Terrorstricken
they tremble with every nerve bred
| into them and wait for the flames
Seven or eight years ago Sparks Bros
horse and mule barn burned near the
| stock yards. Robert Booth, of Sparks
Bros, says some of the horses were
dragged out after much work, only to
tear themselves loose and run back to
| burning barn. Wherever there was an
avenue of escape for the mules they
came out without help or urging. Two
of the long-eared animals showed hotel
experience, jumping through windows
four feet above the ground.
(Which showed the horse sense" Mr..
Booth asked. "The mule can be relied
on to keep his head under circum-
stances in which horse Of any grade
would practically commit suicide from
excitement"
The mule shows his sense even when
he grows wicked. Let pair of horses
run away, and there is a good bill for
repairs or for q new wagon awaiting
the owner. He is even thankful II
not called on to pay for other vehicles
wrecked in collisions with his OWL,
and is happy to find that his horses
have escaped with few cuts. When
mules run away, the mule men say,
they keep the road and simply run
till they get tired. The man In the
wagon who knows will sit quietly and
let them do the driving. They avoid
telegraph poles and drug store win
dows like the pest and can turn cor
ners in better curves and with more
safety to what they're dragging than the
man who's riding so fast. Calm minds
are not usually quick. and by the time
the pair are growing tired of their
sprint, they decide that the runaway
is over. Nobody hurt, no blacksmith's
bills. They used "horse sense" A
/ horse seldom forgets n runaway; the
mule, apparently, never remembers 1t.
! A mule will wait six years to get a
good. square kick at a man. That, the
mule men say, is another foundations
less tradition of the unlearned. They
declare most solemnly that there is
less danger of sudden death from a
mule than from q horse. AS for kick
ing in harness, practice not uncom-
mon among horses of even the best
breeding, the mule does not know the
feeling of hoof against the dashboard.
! True, even the friends Of the long
cared do not waste much time in cur
rying the hind legs, but that they say,
is because the mule needs compare
lively little of the comb and brush.
His coat is shorter, coarser, and not so
full as that Of the horse and he is by
nature cleaner. Mules like to wallow,
but not in mud, as do the horses,
In the sale barns at the stock yards
the managers of the mules are filled
with food, and the animals eat what
they want and quit. The hay and grain
might be mountain high and they
would not be tempted. The horses
are given no more than they are sup
posed to need. for they haven't the TEN.
| pcTauCP OL lllSlT u-WOThlus DlOiu-
ers. With no limit to the food before
them they might eat to the foundering
point and then not eat again for two
weeks Many horses are injured for
ever by laundering. A mule eats much
less than horse of equal strength
and wastes nothing.
Before crossing a strange bridge the
average mule will lock it over as if
estimating it's strength and then wall;
over cautiously. Nor can it be forced
into stream without careful recon
noissance. If he decides that he can't
sw i'm it he refuses to bulge until mSin
force is used. He is using discretion
and is cursed for his "mulishness."
The mule is always useful citizen.
After a neglected youth he begins to
work, and that's his life story. He will
do as much work at thirty as he did
the first year he wore harness. Then
some morning he may be found in his
stall dead. He is seldom an invalid
Work to the last day and no doctor