The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-08-04


up into little farms mighty fast now"
remarked the red-headed man as the
tram was passing across the plains of
Westerh Iexas. You can get a glimpse
OF cornfield and a comfortable home
every Few miles, but I remember the
ume-and 1t was only a few years ago,
at tnat-when the man with the hoe
was about as welcome out here as the
tax collector
Some of ems findin' it a pretty
hard matter to keep their minds occu-
pied, too, put in a San Antonio man,
says the st. Louis Globe-Democrat.
There's that fellow out at San Angelo,
1or instance, who's gone to trainin'
burros just for amusement. Has a big
punch of EN-, and every one he's edu-
Gated to do some funny stunts alone
or IN groups. There's one sets down
IN chair and pretends to read a book.
Another is grand opera singer, and
the way he tackles Wagner makes the
prafries wake uD and howl. You've
heard of the mountain canary?' Well.
mes It. with a cultivated voice They
do whole lot o. such tricks, and then
when the old man wants to he forms
EN- IN line and they go through drill
that's just wonderful. Funniest thing
] ever saw. Old mans been offered
fortunes for 'em by the big 2ircuses,
but he won't sell. He's got mure'n lie
knows what to do with, anyhow, and
the burros keep him in good humor."
Like a Brother.
That reminds me of PADDY Multi
gan, saiu a mining engineer from
Denver. Il suppose you've all heard
of Paddy No? Well, you would if
you ever lived in the mountain country.
Everybody used to know Paddy from
IN 70 To j. IL.
knew Paddy knew lis burro. He was
from geographically. not the burro
and he always claimed that he came
over with Tom Walsh I have my
doubts about that, but there wasn't
any question about where he came
from. He was the most Irish Irishman
ever saw; not typical, but an eX-
aSgerated Milesian; something of the
sort you see on the stage. He had a
face that made you laugh Just to look
at 1t. To the end of his life he wore
one of those funny, fuzzy high hats
That used to be so popular in Ireland,
and he always smoked a clay pipe,
usually with the bowl down.
He got into Leadville soon after the
rush opened in the '70's. and, after
working at day wages for a while, he
got him an outfit and went to pros
pecting on his own hoow. Somewhere
far out in the mountains he located
a claim and worked it ali alone for
several years. l said alone but he was
not entirely so. He had a fOur-legged
companion, the burrO. and he became
as much attached to it as he had ever
been to his old hat. He treated it
like a brother; talked to it, sang to
ii, swore at it, but never struck it To
relieve his loneliness he gave it an
education, and such an education as no
burrO ever received before. If there
ever was such a thing as a burro col
lege, Wolftone, as he called 1t, would
be its chancellor, for it was undoubt-
eddy the most finished scholar that ever
wore long ears. 1t could do almost
anything but talk and Paddy always
insisted that it could talk if it want
ed to.
Faith says he. an taIxin's no
trick at all, at all 1 be thinkin' it's
kapin' your mouth shut when we say
things tibet takes the sinse'
And Wolftone had ways of making
his wants known that answered all the
purposes Of speech. He used his voice
seldom. and only in moments of en-
thusiasm. For ordinary communica- |
ton his ears were his favOrite medium |
of expression, but on occasions he |
spoke with his eyes. his tail and Occa- |
sionally with his feet. Paddy taught !
him to do a great many remarkable |
tricks, and after while he abandoned |
his mine and took to wandering from
town to town, displaying Wolftone's |
accomplishments and collecting quar-
tiers for the privilege of observing
them. He would go into a mining
town, head straight for the best pat |
Tonized saloon, and leading the burro
up to the bar would call for the drinks |
When the bartender would hand out
the bottle and one glass, Paddy would
roar;
Drank With Him.
1.-Two it is. Don't yez see I've gin
tilmin with meT
with a grin of wonder the barky |
would pass out another glass.
"'Will We take it straight me bye |
er f1oatin'?' Paddy would ask of the
burro, and when the animal reflectively
closed one eye he'd push the bottle
over. saying:
Straight ii is. Yell not need the
mug at all, at all
'sThen the burro would grip the neck
of the bottle with his teeth. throw up
his head and drain every drop before
he put it back carefully on the bar.
This trick, of course. would make a
hit with the miners. The news would |
go out. and in a few minutes the sa-
loon would be packed with people |
curious to see the wonderful burro. |
through his repertoire and collected all |
the loose change the crowd would con- |
tribute he'd manage TO get into a polk ]
er game the burro always being an in ]