The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-01-11
HAULING ON rHE pnsERr.
oidtime Methods Of transportation
in the Sonthwest.

IlOn lTOH Jne beginning OF time mas
been the history of success and fail
ure, principally failure, says the Los
Angeles Tribune. Few efforts within
the realm OF commercial life have
been attended with so many compli-
cations and distressing situations as
the question of desert traffic
Exclusive of the railroad, four spe-
cific methods of transportation have
been employed - Arabian camels,
traction engines, mules and burros.
aud within the last year and half
the automobile has come into use to
some extent. The steam traction
engine passed reverently over into
the valley of sublime antiquity years
ago; the jolting, rambling camel,
with the axlomatic PATIENCE, also
long since paused by the roadside
with his heavy burden and fell
asleep, and the burro and mule only
remain to tell the story of the long
ago.
After 200 years Of faithful service,
however, the wise men of Washing
ton. during the administration Of
Pierce, when Jefferson Davis was
Secretary of War, said one to an
other: I'VE must have camels for
our desert work; the mule and burro
are all right; they have stood by us
when every one else had taken to the
tall timber, but the time has come
when we must have the trusty cam
ell" So in the early COS High
jolly" Grecian camel driver ar
rived in California with half a hun
dred Bactrian and Arabian camels
direct from Smyrna, Great was the
rejoicing.
Fort Wilmington on the Pacific.
Fort Yuma and Firt Mojave on the
Colorado river were now to be
brought into such close communica-
ton as to promote soclability on the
part of the commanding officers
Fort Mojave, lying north of the Nee
dies was 500 miles away by way OF
Yuma, and over one OF the driest
sandlest deserts that ever invited a
traveller out into its bewildering
depths; but bah, the Syrian driver
with the. red cap said: What is that
when camel can go six or seven
days without water and remain per-
fectly happy each day on few mes
quite beans and a handful OF carob
pods" All of that was indeed true
The bumped beast would also close
his nostrils as High Henry represent
ed when the desert sand blew as only
desert sand can blow.
Great indeed, were the expecta-
tions of the commanding officers, es-
peclally at Fort Wilmington and
Fort Mojave. and there was likewise
a hope born of anticipation at
Washington. So far the plan had
worked immense, but like the ma
jority of plans woven in the brain of
ambitious man, II had It's weakness
and its little vulnerable points that
lay hidden away from the rosy sur
face. The camels, It was observed,
after the first trip to Fort Moiave,
were not as rugged as they had for
away Smyrna. Instead OF making
three miles an hour under their
heavy burden they failed to average
more than one and one-half or two.
True, they paid no more attention to
the blazing heat and the burning
sand than an Indian does to social
etiquette at massacre, but there
was that something in the climate
that caused partial cessation of
progress. The slow record, was dis.
couraging. to the commanding off,
GERS, but still the great circus moved
on like a mighty phalahx on the de-
serted sands
At last the feet of the trusty
beasts began to grow sore. 1t was
found that the hard sand on some
parts of the desert soon affected the
heavy pads of their feet, gradually
cutting them into small threads.
After a thorough trial OF six or eight
months the government abandoned
the experiment and the camels were
turned loose along the Colorado
river. While the herd is almost ex-
tinct, there are few long haired
shaggy specimens yet remaining
along the Sonora and Arizona bor-
ders, existing In a wild state, and
whose appearance frequently STAN
pedes horses and cattle to an alarm
ing extent.
After the decline of the camel as a
means OF transport, the burro and
mule again returned to favor. Then
came the heavy borax wagons with
their 20 and 22 mule regimental
line.
Soon great ponderous wagons pro-
PEELED by an army of mules, began
to outlive their usefulness, at least
in the minds of the enterprising men
engaged In desert traffic, and In
obedience to general demand for a
faster and more economical method
of transit the steam traction engine,
with its enormous bulk, huge iron
tires and tremendous horse power,
was introduced on the scene. Not
the small traction engines that we
have been accustomed to see hauling
thrasher machines over the country
roads, but gigantic iron structure
Weighing 10000 to $4,000 pounds
and resembling much the appear
ance OF railroad locomotive.