Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1908-07-23
MULE PROVED RIGHT
DID WELL TO STAY OUT IN OPEN
DURING STORM.
Call il Stubbornness or Precedence, 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 Next
co have something on other mules for
a sort of prescience of their own" said
man who has spent many years in
the neighboring republic, to New
York Sun writer. "A Mexican mule
will do just so much work ard not a
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 point.
Two days journey if you are not
rushed, but three days if you are
In a 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 Oh you, and in consequence the
journey will take you three days
Now for the prescience of which l
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 a month or so ago on
an old gray mule that knew every turn
and twist of the road l was taking so
thoroughly that l let the bride refns
hang and permitted him to go 1t 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.
1.-THE old gray mule, when the storm
| reached its height, stopped his jog
| of a sudden and stood in the middle
of the road, peacefully enough. He
wasn't worried, apparently, but he
considered that that was a pretty good
place to stand during the continuance
of the tremendous electrical storm,
| for 1t 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 a
| 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 | did. l
| wrapped my poncho about my head
| and stood at his head waiting for the
storm to pass hadn't stood by the
mule in that way for more than three
minutes before l saw a 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 could see again there was that
| pine tree stretched across the road
| and a good part of it in kindling wood.
Il suppose maybe that old gray mule
| didn't know. l give it to him, anyhow,
| that he did"