Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-14

Imals needed for the great American
experiment
First Herd Imported
! Several camels were presented to the
party by Egyptian officials. and. with
those that were purchased, the ex-
! pedition started homo with thirty-three
animals. In the herd were nine drome-
dories or runners, twenty-three camels
OF burden and one calf. One of the
camels was of such size that Lieut..
Porter had TO cut a hole I'm the deck
| that formed a roof to the stall in order
to accommodate the big fellows hump.
Six Arabs and a Turk, who posed as
a "camel DOCTOR" were engaged TO care
for the animals on the ocean trip, but
they were next to useless. The
doctor" in fact, was Of more trouble
than the camels. He knew nothing of
the treatment of diseases of the ami
mails. as might be suspected when &c is
known that he prescribed a piece OF
cheese for colds, gun powder diluted
In tea for swollen legs, while his favor
lite remedy for newly discovered all
ments was the tickling of the beasts
noses. Six baby camels made their
appearance on the three-month trip
and four OF them, together with the
mother on one. fell victims to the at
other two babies survived and became
important members of the herd.
The herd, numbering thirty-four was
landed in Indianoa, Tex, and marched
across the country 100 miles to San
Antonio. 1t was Major Wayne's idea
to demonstrate first of all whether the
camels could be successfully bred in
this country; hut while he was pro-
ceedng with his plans to establish a
breeding ranch Secretary Jefferson
Davis called his attention to the fact
that If the animals were not adapted
to the purposes for which they were
designed it would make little difference
whether they could be bred or not.
Experiments Prove a Success
Mr.. Davis ordered that experiments
be made at once to ascertain if the
camels were fit for employment in the
military service, and these experiments
were, therefore, begun. The camp was
moved to Green Valley, sixty miles
from San Antonio, and the first ex-
periments We're in the hauling of oats
from the town to the camp.
Three six-mule teams and six cam
els were sent to San Antonio. The cam
els returned in two and a half days
with $3.50 pounds of oats. The mule
teams rolled into camp two days later
with 1900 pounds Three camels with
out any vehicles had done the work
of six mules with wagon. In another
test of the ability of the camels four
bales of hay weighing 1856 pounds were
placed on the back of a lneeling camel
At signal the animal rose to its
feet easily and strutted off with it's
big burden. 1t was found, too, that
the camel with a pack of three to five
hundred pounds could easily negotiate
the steep mountain passes which were
insurmountable obstacles 10 other
beasts of burden.
The fame of Uncle Sans camel farm
spread afar and its praises were sung
In high circles at Washington. The
government authorities were so pl .ased
with the result of the experiment that
Lieutena Porter was told to go back
and get more camels Arriving at a
Turkish port he was met by repre-
sentative of the sultan, who presented
him with six magnificent dromedaries
as token of that dignitary's interest
in the tests that were being conducted
by the United States. With the ami
malS he had purchased the lieutenant
began his homeward trip with forty
four in his herd. Three died en- route
and in the meantime Major Wayne had
lost several of the Green Valley herd,
so that the new arrivals brought the
total number up to seventy.
The experiments progressed favor
ably, and various army officers who
were assigned to investigate the work
of the camels reported enthusiastically
upon their observations. The animals
were put to practical use in carrying
supplies and in scouting. A part of
the herd made a forty-eight day jour-
ney from Fort Defiance. New Mexico,
to the California boundary. crossing q
trackless desert. They performed their
work so well that the officer in charge
reported that he would rather have one
camel than four of the best mules.
Asked for 1000 M ore
Glowing reports were made to con-
gress, and the new secretary of war,
John b. Floyd. was as enthusiastic over
the success of the experiments as had