Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-09-19
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MULES HIGH PRICED
Biggest Dealer in America Tells OF Do
v.,nd for Thar

rnand for Them.
A. d. Cottingham Of Kansas City.
says the word "mulish" in the diction-
ary, is not properly understood and
that its definition Of "sullen, stubborn
Is one that maligns every mule in the
United States, with the exception of a
few outlaws" says the New York
Times. Mr.. Cottingham is not a leN-
cographer, but q mule dealer, the big
gest in the country, and in the world,
he believes, and as he has been dealing
with mules for twenty-seven years and
has known hundreds Of thousands OF
them personally he Is inclined to be-
lieve that his definition Of q mule and
its derivatives, speaking metaphori-
cally, ought to have some weight as
against the evidence Of learned doc
tors, who speak only by nearsay.
1t is a source Of regret with Mr..
Cottingham, who came on yesterday To
meet his wife arriving from Europe,
that the north and east have not TAX
en- the mule to their bosom as the
south has done. He can only explain
this neglect by the existence here
about of a tradition that q horse is
better than a mule for any kind OF
work and the definition in the die
tionaries that leads people to think
the hybrid lazy and unmanageable.
Kansas City sold more mules to
the British government during the
South African war than did any other
market" said Mr.. Cottingham yester-
day at the wolcott. "At that time the
American mule was a small creature.
and the sale of the big lot during that
period was not any loss to this coun-
try. Nowadays the farming machin-
cry that a mule has to work would be
too heavy for the mule Of ten or
twelve years ago. Since that time
mule breeding has been developed
tremendously by the use OF better
mares. Twenty years ago the top
price of mules was from $50 to SIS.
The best mules now fetch anywhere
from 1925 to $275, and the average OF
the $500 sold last year was $3.50.
have seen some sell for $3.50, and 9TH
ers which were intended for show pur-
poses have brought still bigger prices.
.When started out in the business
they called me the Gypsy, because j
used to travel in gypsy wagon" con-
tinued Mr.. Cottingham. 81 used to
travel some pretty great distances. 1t
was a sort os hand-to-mouth exist
ence, but 1t is pleasant to look back
upon when you have come to be doing
considerably over a million and half
dollars worth Of business in a year.
while the south is a great country
for raising mules, 1t Is not much for
breeding them. Most Of the mules
used in this country come from Mis-
souri,. Kansas and Oklahoma. We
have two big seasons. The season for
what we call cotton mules starting in
September and lasts until April. Then
the season for sugar mules begins In
June and lasts until September. The
sugar mule is the best on the market,
but the cotton mule is pretty good.
We call them by those terms because
the former are in demand for work
upon sugar plantations. while the lat
ter are needed for working cotton
plantations. ...... ....
"The mule Is the incest dumb brute
there is. Why, in my stable In Kan
City, which has frontage Of 645 feet,
I don't keep the mules in stalls, but
IN pens. They don't fight, and can
put double the number Of mules there
that could Of horses, and you could
handle those animals all day long
without any trouble. It's all bosh
about their being harder to handle
than horses. I don't know how the
term 'mulish' was derived, except the
man who first used it might have
come up against what we call an out
law an Independent cuss Of a mule;
but pshaw! there are just as many
outlaws among horses as among
mules. Why, could put 100 mules
into one Of your streets here with only
three men to handle them, and they
wouldn't interfere with traffic at all.
A mule becomes very much attached
to the man who drives it. II you were
to lead a procession Of 200 mules with
an old gray mare, they would follow
her all day, especially If she had bell
on her, and if the mare went into the
water over her head the mules would
60 right in, too. You see they can
easily distinguish a gray horse. They
will not follow a bay so readily.
while automobiles have had big
effect on the sale and use Of draft and
coach horses, they have not affected
the mule market We sold more last
1aor fbop tho war heforen