The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-07-12
zEBRULE VERSUS MULE
SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT IN CROSS
ING HORSE AND ZEBRA.
Animal That Will Withstand the
Dangerous Sting of south At
rican Tse-Tse Fly.
Washington Post.

Washington Post.
For the past eight years a gentleman of
the name OF j. c.. Ewart, professor or
zoology in the University of Edinburgh,
Scotland, has been conducting a series of
experiments at the little. village Of Peny-
cuik, near the Firth of Forth, which,
though well known to a small body Of mill
tary men in the armies of the United States
and Great Britain, and to some few scien-
lists, nave failed thus far to attract the at
tention of the public. Now. however. that
Professor Ewart has given out the an
nouncement that the work in which he has
been all these years engaged has passed the
experimental stage, the American news
papers are beginning to take the matter up
and to give it space. This is owing to the
fact that in the event Professor Ewart's
work is taken up by others it will, for a
time, at least, seriously affect thousands OF
mule-breeders in the great Embarrassing
States of Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee,
Arkansas and Texas, and may even result
In the total disappearance of the mule as
an amin Al of draught.
The work In which Professor Ewart has
been, and is still. engaged is that of cross
ing the zebra with the horse. the hybrid
offspring having (as in the case Of the buff
falo-cattle cross of the West. which the
cowboys dubbed "cattloes'') received the
names of 'zebrules'' from the Scotch farm
ers and stable employees. Although, con-
trary TO the wishes and desires of men OF
science, the name "Zebrule" has been al
ready adopted by the mass of the English
people, especially by the army, and. though
for the time outlawed. will eventually IND
its way into the English dictionaries.
Professor Ewart's experiments originated
entire continent of Africa, south of the
Sahara, there is found a small fly known
as the ~tse-tse, the bite of which Though
not a whit worse so far as actual pain Is
concerned than the prick of an ordinary
blue bottle), is fatal to horses and mules.
Once they have been bitten by these little
pests, horses and mules live only a few
hours. In South Africa the tse-tse is not
evenly distributed over the country, but Is
found here and there in certain scattered
districts, which the Beers VINO own horses
are careful TO avoid.
Therefore, at the close of the late Boer
war in South Africa, when Great Britain
| came to foot up her losses, she found the
destruction of mules and horses by the tse-
tse fly to be something astounding; to the
British taxpayer positively appalling. All
the mules used for hauling provision wag-
ons, ambulances and light mountain bat
teries in the Boer war were purchased in
this country from Missouri, Kentucky and
Tennessee breeders, so that while 1T brought
money into our pockets 1t proved ruinous
to the Brftisher. Moreover, England has
dreams OF an African empire, extending
from the Cape to Cairo. Her African pos
sessions are enormous. comprising almost a
third of the Dark Continent. To develop
and build up this great empire horses and
mules are necessary. The presence or the
~tse-tse. however. renders them worthless.
so that, therefore,, the development or these
countries remains at a standstill.
ZEBRA is IMMUNE.
On the other hand, the zebra, of what
ever species he may be, whether the bril-
liantly striped, donkey-like mountain
zebra of the Cape! the more horse-like
BurchelPs zebra of the plains, or the large,
narrow-striped deep-chested Crews zebra
of Abyssinia, is everywhere immune to the
bites Of the tse-tse. To him they are no
more than common house flies are to one Of
our horses.
Another consideration. The remount de-
partment of the Indian army have long
been seriously handicapped in their efforts
to procure draught. pack-train and noun
tain battery mules for the Indian. army.
First they imported large, 1ne-looking
mules from Poittou, the great mule-breeding
center of middle France. sThese could not
! stand the climate. There were no tSe-tse
flies in India, TO be sure, but the trouble
was the animals succumbed TO the heat.
Then, to overcome this difficulty. the re-
mount officers decided to establish mule
farms in India in the hope that the native
born animal would prove OF more service
and stand the climate better than the i'm
ported ones. When, however, they sent 10
Spain, Portugal, Malta and Italy 10 OBTAIN
animals from which to breed mules, they
discovered that the best and most superior
donkeys had all been purchased years be-
fore by American mule breeders ana that
the few remaining good ones were not Tor
sale.
Professor Ewart to experiment with zebra
hybrids. He was warmly seconded and en-
couraged by the British War Department
and officers of the army In Africa and In
dia. as we'll as by large mercantile con-
Germs having interests in those countries.
%Singularly enough, something of this sort
had been attempted nearly a century be-
fore by Lord Derby. The latter was a
fine specimen of the typical old English
country gentleman and exceedingly fond
of animals. At his country seat, Knowsley
Place, he gathered together many rare
animals, among others several specimens
of the mountain zebra, Burchelis zebra, the
long-legged, graceful and swift-footed wild
ass of Central Asia. With these he obtained
crosses between the Maltese ass and noun
tain zebra, Burchelrs zebra and horse.
common ass and hemione, zebra and hemi-
one, etc., his most remarkable product
being a dark, iron-gray animal, about eight
hands high, round-bOdied, big-headed,
rather long-eared. and striped on the knees,
| hooks and TANKS, which was one-fourth
Maltese ass, one-fOurth mountain zebra
and one-half horse. the mother having been
a bay mare pony. But in those days Eng
/ land had no ambition to become mistress
of Africa, while as for India, no one
dreamed OF the Sepoy revolt or of the ne
cessity that would some day arise for main
tanning a large army on the northern 'front.'
Ter to arrest the onward march of Russia:
and with the death of Lord Derby his ex-
periments passed into oblivion. Now, how
ever, the case is different. Whereas the
! whole of England looked on amused at the