Milford chronicle., 1915-06-18
OUR ARMY CAMELS
Tho Festive OrientaIs Uncle Sam
Once Tried to Adopt.
, BRIEF AND UNRULY CAREER.
nsady Hatred Toward Mules,
'"s ~..i. Craving For Taste of Soldier
Few Other Eecentricities
o.ovsd on Their IngIOriOus Undoing.

The United States governments first
III venture into the use of cam
anu army transports on the south
%,stern eo frontier was sanctioned by
Nes's through the efforts of Jeffer-
consruri noris then member of the mill
SOU .o,,nission and later secretary Of
lal! novis had commanded troops in
wa. ai.,ntbwast in the Mexican war and
tue sovr r.bat if was to march for days
Ane" drv barren country in a scorch-
Ve hoot with nothing to drink but
ms drv mfr and nothing to greet the
nO'' ovcont cactus and rattlesnakes.
eye rho ronid development Of California
.iin ln +bo cold strike of 1S4S made nee
al.s, r,. nrovision for the transportation
es'a, s.roons and supplies to the new coun-
u N orer q desert trail, which was a
~. ~! tbot SET patriotism at a premium.
,a1r TaTorson Davis asked for camels, and
..noross finally authorized an eXpedi-
80 .'aa to tbe orient to buy them.
T Tbo eynedition brought back nearly
IN animals. which were added to from
lgg t ~ to time till the number grew to
,oo r1c,' They we're stationed at Ell Paso,
Tn,ra Ariz.; San Antonio and other
ronts on the frontier.
The return trip across the ocean
nth the camels Is recorded in anus
,ng detail by Lieutenant D. D. Porter,
,r5o was in charge. Each animal was
.ro1idod with a competent chauffeur,
rbo was caretaker, Interpreter and bag
aaro master in one. Most Of the animals
Sof soasick. and so did the drivers, and
Iotb complained bitterly Of the ar
-oncements. The camels wished they
hadn't come and showed it by kicking
and biting pieces from various officers,
who were not to blame.
After landing in Texas the camels
did not improve perceptibly in their ma
trres. Their particular aversion was
tba army mules. Even the younger,
,npynerienced camels learned quickly
n kin q mule with one blow Of the
hind foot and INDUCED. in that pas
fine frequently. Their taste for army
officers remained undiminished, and the
ebauffeurs got the blame every time
captain lost some Of his anatomy.
The soldiers took to the camel with
reciprocal affection. In the first place,
tbey dldn't like his looks, contending
that the soft. faraway look In the cam
els eye indicated that his mind was
not On his business. Then the soldiers
couldn't get used to the odor radiated
BY the oriental beast-circuses not be-
ing in yogue-and many of them said
that Kipling was perfectly correct in
his opinion that a camel smelled most
awful vile KIpllng hadn't said it yet,
but soldiers are farseeing and knew he
was going to say 1t.
Besides, the camel was no good TO
ride, the soldiers agreed. His ambling,
rapid stride made them seasick, and
they wanted no animal which 1t took
ten minutes to awaken when the In
dans attacked them in the night. No
American had lived up to that period
who could tie a cargo on one of the
beasts so It would stay on. The cam
el is not constructed fiat on top, it is
remembered. and only a clever Arab !
chauffeur could load one to travel any
distance without losing the supplies.
The high record in dead mules was
made, it is said by a camel in San An
tonic whose name was Major. Major
kicked seven valuable mules into eter
nifty, and one day some soldiers, friends |
Of the late mules took Major off up on
q nigh cliff and came back and said he |
had fallen off incidentally" No ex-
haustiye probe was made of Majors
disappearance.
a caravan loaded with supplies went
lhto the city Of Sutherland Springs on
one occasion, and the camels were wa
lered at the town well. 1t was the
D0ast OF the city that the well had
never gone dry. About half the cam
es took drink and the well was dry.
IAe disturbance caused by the remain
lng thirsty camels set the population
nto panic.
But the endless feud between the
tamels and the soldiers soon convinced
tle government that railroads would
~ Just as well The rush to Califor
pa was we'll over and frontier trou
tles We're Well under control by the
llme the war broke out The govern
.uent withdrew the foreign came
.sehls and closed the foreign offices
~ the time the war was over the cam
II uied and some were stolen. Other,
Scaped to the desert, and even toda,
noary wild camel, white with age
Ecaslonally terrifes Sunday newspa
n feature writer's into writing some
pllg about it. Very likely the one
uicn didn't 90 to the desert swan
~ RI. TO Egypt Both reports are au
Ielucated dl.ted in the same degree.-Kan
Hs City Star.