Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1912-10-03
FITTING TRIBUTE 70
THE LOWLY BURRO

says Tic DOStOn ueEalO. Inc only
one Of mans four. footed COM
panions who has not had his due
portion of praise is to be classed in
Arizona along with the church and
the school as an institution whose
contribution to the general welfare
of right places him on the free list.
1t is we'll. So small that he can be
slowed away in a go0d-sized game
bag, so strong that he carries the
latest woman to the top of Pixies
Peak, so safe that he treads uner.
ringly the path that makes an
Indian shiver. and so homely that
he needs these virtues to balance
the account. the: ,burro is after all
the builder Of empii els and the
PIONEER Of empires and the pioneer
of CIVILIZATION. Arizona DEGREES that
the Rocky Mountain canary
shall go untaxed, if his owner is
prospector. Poets have sung the.
dog. The horse stands in bronze
in the squares of the cities and
madly gallops across the pages of
the novels. The cat and the cow
have had their affairs. Now comes
this partial and belated recognition
of the burro. ....
Let the friend and scapegoat of
the miner and explorer be praised.
Frugal and complacent, he is the
indispensable comrade of the ad-
venturers who disclose the worlds
treasure. The spoiIs of Peru was
loaded on his hack for transport
across the Isthmus of Darien.
From the city of Mexico almost to
the site of Kansas City he trudged
on Coronado's astonishing journey
of exploration. All the mining
camps Of the three. Americas have
been opened by prospectors whose
burros carry their grub and out
fits. Unlovely but not unlovable.
doing their best to live down their
reputation of stupidity and stub
bUrnness, these beasts of burden
have carried food, clothing AND
lumber to isolated camps, ore to
the smelters. and not infrequently,
the body of some poor cuss" who
has "cashed in" and left behind the
"dust for the hoy" to bury him
back home"
Man might well learn some
things from him. He minds his
own business. Stoically he con-
templates the trials of life. He
has" flung away ambition" What
sends horse right up on his hind
legs budges him not mite. Not
often given place in strutting
parades. he ''gets there" without
osteDtation. He chooses usually q
perfectly safe place for his most
common freak of characterization.
Upon the brink of some narrow
and pretty stream he halts. The
"puncher" may coax and fog but
no kicks nor tears will move those
legs planted as immovably as the,
everlasting hills, The artist in the
use of Language" then has his op.
portunity and flow of white bot
profanity and does what nothing
else but a stick of dynamite could.
have done. - .a
A possible mistake of the Pill.
grim Fathers was their bringing
no hardy little Spanish donkeys
along In the Mayflower. Just how,
different would the history of New
England have been had the PLY.
mouth settlers had some beasts of
burden? Not altogether unnoticed
has the burro been in literature.
If Sancho PaDza had his Dapple one
may hope that Robert Louis
Stevenon would not have objected
to our calling his Notes.-The a
burro. And the words Of
Colerdige may be applied to the
beast whose emancipation Arizona
has begun:
Poor foal Of an oppressed race.
I love the lHnguid patience of thy
face.