Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1908-07-30
MULE PROVED RIGHT
DID WELL TO STAY OUTIN OPEN
DURING STORM.
Call it Stubbornness or Prescience. or
Anything You Wish, But His Ac-
ton Saved the Life of
His Rider

Everybody knows that all mules
are brainy, but the mules of Old Mexi-
CO have something on other mules for
sort OF prescience of their own" said
man who has spent many years in
the neighboring republic, to a New
York Sun writer "a Mexican mule
will do just so much work and not
bit more
The riding mule, for instance, is
fully aware Of the distance, down to a
rod, he is supposed and required to
traverse in the progress of one travel
ing day, and all the sharp sticks or
goads or dynamite on earth won't get
him to do a bit more than what he
knows to be the correct distance. The
Mexicans have a peculiar saying in
connection with this characteristic Of
the Mexican mule You ask a Next
can, for instance. how far it is by
muleback to such and such a point.
Two days journey If you are not
rushed, but three days If you are
in hurry the Mexican will reply.
His meaning is that if you don't
ask any more Of your mule than you
should ask of him the mule will be
able to make the trip in two days. But
If you attempt to drive the brute he'll
soldier On you, and in C, nsequence the
journey will take you three days.
Now for the prescience of which I
spoke. l don't know what else to call
it. The latest instance l saw of it
was when l was riding through the
state OF Sonora month or so ago on
an old gray mule that knew every turn
and twist of the road 1 was taking so
thoroughly that l let the bride reins
hang and permitted him to go it alone.
Along toward evening a terrific
thunder storm came up. The air was
heavy with the fumes of sulphur
something l had heard about but had
never experienced beforehand the
crashes were deafening. The road was
rocky and bad and there was only an
occasional scrub pine alongside.
THE old gray mule, when the storm
REACHED its height, stopped his jog
of sudden and stood in the middle
u TIC AOcu, pSctSSLulIS SAIOuSh. A1O
wasn't worried, apparently, but he
considered that that was pretty good
place to stand during the continuance
of the tremendous electrical storm,
for it was out in the open.
For myself, l wanted to get under
the shelter of pine tree about hun
dred yards ahead of me. But the mule
couldn't and wouldn't see that. Him
for the open, and there he stood.
81 prodded him with the spurs, but
he merely looked around at me In
dusgusted sort of way. Then l dis
mounted and tried to lead him. Moth
ing doing He wouldn't bulge
so at length, giving in to him that
he knew more about it than l did.
wrapped my poncho about my head
and stood at his head, waiting for the
storm to pass. 1 hadn't stood by the
mule in that way for more than three
minutes before I saw couple of balls
Of red fire playing around the trunk
of the pine tree that I'd wanted to get
under the shelter Of. Then there
came a positively deafening crash and
when I could see again there was that
pine tree stretched across the road
and good part of it in kindling wood.
Il suppose maybe that old gray mule
didn't know. give it to him, anyhow,
that he did"