Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1917-09-22
"HoRsE SENSE AND OTHER THINGS

Perhaps the reason "horse sense" is held in such esteem
is because a horse never goes on a strike. lie does MS
work uncomplainingly and works over time without any
increase in paw. We are led to this short dissertation by
the faithful work Of a little lady horse here in Salem
"DoDyo. that was her name, belongs to Silas Howard, the
postman who gathers up the mail for Uncle Sam. For ten
years she pulled the little covered wagon used In assem-
bling the mail. She never offered to strike in all that
time though she was paid only her board and lodging,
furnishing her own clothes all except her shoes. Every
morning she went to work at the same hour, rain or SHINE,
and in ten wears never missed a day. She knew every mail
box as well as did her owner and driver, and went from
one box to the other without any guiding, and stopped
ALWAYS at the same point. She Travelled about 20 miles a
day, six days in the week or about $500 miles a year. In
her ten years perigrinatings from one box to another
here in Salem she travelled more than 10000 miles. inns
would have taken her tire times around the earth at the
equator, and every year would have made the round trip
from the only city of Salem to the witch burning village
of that name back in Massachusetts,. Nor did she quit the
lob of her own account. She was ready and willing to
keep up her gait, but like all other live things kept TOO
persistently at one thing she had become so used to her
work that she did it mechanically. Toward the last she
stepped just as lively as ever but she forgot to reach out
with her feet and brought them down too near the place
she picked them up from, and so like others travelling IN
the daily grind "she got nowhere" She is OIL the OLD
route, but still at work, and still for Uncle Sam, having a
nice rural route to travel where she can at least see the
green grass and hear the birds sing and take the dust OF
passing autos and lead a quiet country life. Does she IKE
the change? Who knows? Anyway she does better per-
haps than the human individual would under the circum-
stances, for she keeps her mouth shut and does her work
Just as uncomplainingly as when on her old route. There
in she shows horse sense. 1t may be commended that a
man should have more than his board and clothes in re-
turn for his labor, and no doubt he should. He has many
desires a horse has not. He enjoys movies that would not
make horse laugh, and he smokes cigars or a pipe That a
horse would not touch. He wants and should have a
home, and money to educate his children and make them
comfortable and also good citizens. He wants those
things that bring pleasure to his better half, and ne wants
innumerable things that a horse, even a female mail
horse, gets along without. Yet after all, what does any
person get from the world except board, clothes and
lodging, save such things as amuse or please him! 1t is
our wants, not our necessities that drive us to chasing the
elusive dollar, and that is where the horse has his own
laugh on us. Perhaps the horse has the better of it over
the man. An old German discussing the difference be-
tween himself and his dog said; "Honus you IS only a
dog. Ven YOU die, Honus, you is dead and dat is de end
of it. When | die mabe l got to go to hell already. Yes,
Honus, it is good to be a dog"