Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1905-07-18

the mermaid by whom the sailor swears |
ever tempting and alluring and dom.
mating body and soul--whose smile
transcends even that of the siren Of |
the sea and who ever beckons him on |
with the promises of joys to bei
Next TO the prospector as a factor in |
the development of the mineral wealth |
of the west ranks the burro-h his pard,
though beast. Small Of body, large |
of head and elephantine as to ears
wise, courageous, patient, strong, will |
ing, yet written down by those who
don't know him as an asst 1t is not
so, good sirs, even if vouched for in
the holy writ as the animal the Son of
God once rode. Though his name, the |
word is misnomer. My friend Char
ley Wells, who gives the Hassayampa
high sign in his sleep and has the Josh.
'ua tree of the desert burned on his
breast he knows more than any
other beast, and than most men, and
the first allegation in his bill Of par
ticulars is that the burro keeps his
mouth shut and attends strictly to his
own business, the which is lesson
alas, many of us have yet to learn.
Guilty, most excellent King Solomon,
guiltyl The burro is patient e'en to
the stress Of forbearanee and more
faithful than friend. He it is who
totes the prospector's pack o'er cac-
tus-strewn mesa and sun-scorched plain,
through fallen and almost unpenetrable
timber, across gulch and canyon and up
precipitous slope TO mountain top. OFT
en- the only voice the man hears for
months is that Of the Great Spirit in
the clouds and his Rocky Mountain ca
nary. Subsisting solely on scant herb
age and occasional bacon rind, often
several days without water, yet he
never strays far. Though slow and
deliberate as BELTS his serious calling,
prowling bear or sneaking mountain
lion will send bin into camp for pro-
lection with the speed Of winged god.
II cornered he fights like fend. He
has only one mood; is obedient and
ready for work, always an optimist, APP
parently, like his master-withal, his
solace and slave. And when the pros
pect becomes a shipper and until 1t is
reached by wagon or iron rail, 1t Is
the burro whose hurricane deck carries
the ore TO smelter or mill, and machin'
cry or other supplies to the mine. A
burro train following narrow tran
winding up the side Of the mountain Is
sight TO see, sure-footed and confident
where n slip would mean certain death,
and bearing a burden which almost
surpasses belief. The prospector VIII
tell you that the burro knows his dan
ger and the limit of his endurance, and
that il improperly packed or overload
ed he positively refuses to move-that
though willing his head is always work
ing. Another damning comparison
with the more intelligent brute, mani
The breeze freshensi the aecentuat'
ed fragrance Of pine and spruce beto'
kens the approach Of twilight. From
the west where but a moment ago the
sun sank meath the world-rim in a
blaze Of chromatic glory, beautifying
sombre hills, empyrean peaks and
shrines of riven rock with the nstre
Of FURNISHED brass, whose sinister
shapes enshroud the valley with bulky
shadows as they crowd the sky. 81
lence relgns-monolith and man are as
nau6ht now beside the advent OF the
omnipotent, Snd cover in abasement
both-yonder stand the brazeA gates
of the immoasureable and inscrutablel
But as watch the grotesque cloud-eur'
tain in which here and there hangs
star, behold, it opens A marvn-us
picture unfolds-evaneseen and woven
of misty shapes and heeting figures
and yet so unlike. Alone in nature
1