THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: Al'OUST 25. 1007.
Freighting in the Good Old Days Before the Advei"ofthTi?aHroad
lit Vrn't'ii l. ... - . .
Jf rouj'a Mr of i,i ,.aw wants to
......... niKiiiuni, iip bpip iorin
with iv.ore up lo ff rkxiupnt
ft Portion tlir. ... . u -
1 l I lid I 1119
rsllroad has developed the count rv. H
-wMom occurs to . him that mavhe the
railroad deVeW.ned wit h the country, and
he forget, that before even the railroad
w.s the country hud It romtner. e. that
there wm going to and fro of cnravans.
and that ware and commodities were
transported from one end of the world to
tha other, and buHmm of al sorts ma.
thrifty. Not an it la now. maybe, but still
with such activity .. kept money in cir
culation, gave many men employment and
enabled loma to iihim Competencies that,
while not mu,:h to apeak of as comparod
with tha billionaire bank roll, were suf
ficient to satisfy the more modest wants
of their owner. Kven y-t some old boy
will tell you now and then of the good
times before the railroad csme. Then
some of those more venturesome spirits
who pressed forward ahead of the Iron
horse until there was. little or no territory
left unsullied by his hoot, lament the time
and places Into which, the locomotive was
Hot driven. It was a golden pro for ad
Venture and for life In Its nakedness. Close
to the earth, and devoid of the frills and
furbelows of modorn existence, but en
dowed with a charm that can never be
Understood by those who have been hedged
bout forever by the. conventions nf so
ciety based on the presence of the steam
road and Its accompanying- Jlmltatlon. on
individual conduct
Me Who stood t'p Straight.
While there was a freedom of personal
action beyond the conception of the man
of today. In those times men had to stand
tip quite straight.. Certain primitive no
tions of right and wrong prevailed, and
these were generally founded on substan
tial principles of equity and right. Justlci
was sometimes crude, but It was Impartially
done, and In a spirit that took away its
roughnesa to a large degree. The victim
was seldom heard to complain, usually for
the reason that he jiad taken his case be
. fore a Higher Bar, and was through with
things mundane. Notions of "meum et
tuum" were most pronounced, and prop
erty rights were sacred.' Kven an Indian
had a show for Tils owrvin those days. It
was early borne In upon the man who en
gaged In the life that his physical well
being depended solely on himself; that he
need not be Imposed on, but he was not to
Impose upon anyone else. This waa the
simple basis of most of the proceedings
between man and man. and along the great
routes of travel and .In the mining camps
and river towns, where the roads termi
nated the conditions were generally under
atood and respected. So well established
was the rule that In one aectlon of the
country, where settlement was extensive
before the coming of the railroad, locks
and petty thieving were, equally unknown.
It Is recalled that on '! the occasion of the
first slugging by a footpad, which came
some weeks after the railroad had begun
running Its trains regularly Into one of
the towns, the general cry went up, "Well,
we'll have to commence locking ourj doors
Bow, since the railroad ) has readied us."
" ' Trmffle Was General Etch Then.
Lewis and Clark went up the Missouri
river, and Zebulon Pike'followed the'Ar
kansas for the purpose of establishing
rade routes. The water' courses had lived
for many years with the batteaux of the
fur traders, but a livelier commerce was
-'"to spring up. Closely following Pike" we're
the freight trains of ,U old 6ntA Fa
trail, merchants of St. Louis and, other
river metropoli reaching out for closer
relations with the Mexicans. This trade
had reached a very reapectabk-growth at
h time of the Mexican war. Then, came
the Callfornlan excitement, and the-Overland
trail came Into existence. pike's
Peak or Bust" waa the cry that carried
thousands of adventurers. Argonauts', look
ing for the Golden Fleece, Across the'bral
rl. as true a sea and fraught with Ldan
ffers equal to thoaa encountered by Odysseus
anS.hls fellows during their wanderings.
The- land to which these men . ventured
tn arch of gold gave them absolutely
niillng In the way of clothing or ro
vlljons; all they ate, drank or wore had
tottbe freighted - In. Frc
From '49 to
were
till golden days of the trail. Santa Fe.
Ofl Hand, Oregon! What romance la there
tollhes names. Parkman tells the story.
many writers have given us accounts
he adventures, hardships and pleasures
olBth trails, but no one has yet recorded
thp romance of those great avenues of
eqVnmerce along which flowed the at ream
of) traffic between the older east and newer
west during those two momentous decade
of the country's history. In some future
day It will attract the pen of a Prescott,
a Mottley or a Fiske, and will be blaxoned
as It deserves to be on the annals of the
world. But It should be borne In mind
always that there was even then traffic
that assumed proportions such aa to at
tract the attention of the great men of the
east, and they debated for many years the
construction of a railroad that should link
the east and the west. It . was for busi
ness already established that they were
reaching out; at no time did the develop
ment of Nebraska and Kanaas to their
present state of productivity and wealth
ocour to tha pioneer railroad builders.
Most of the states' surface was hopelessly
condemned as being a part of the Great
American Desert.
A
Omaha aa lsastortaat Point oa Trail.
Omaha was an Important point on the
Overland trail and the Oregon trail,
too.. Jefferson City waa the first hea4
of the Santa Fe trail, and then West
port, now forgotten and swallowed up
In Kansas City' great pes. The Hanni
bal ic St. Joseph railroad, switched the
business to 'St. Joseph, and the Chicago
as Northwestern brought Jt again .to
Omaha. This was the last head of
traffic on the OvwUnd and Oregon trails,
although the Pony Express ran from tft.
Joseph almost to the time the railroads
-ended It forever.' Omaha' prestige a
an outfitting point was established early
In the history of the town, and fiom
the late 'SO' throi g! the '$0' It was
headquarter for big freight outfits ai'd
for many entailer ventures. Ekpr-.se
companies did but I nets here, and a con
stant stream of gold dust flowed through
tb,e town from the Rocky mountains tird
the far-off placer beds of California.
Kevada, Utah and Oregon, and late
Wyoming. Montana. Idaho nd the Blaek
Hills dt South Dakota. contiibuted. It
would be Interesting to know Just how
ruaiiy millions of gold dust were carrlt J
tlrough this city during the freighting
lift) s. but this will nevef be arcurutely fig
ured. It la certain that an mormons sum
WV taken out by returning Argonauts and
lii'the ordinary course of business. Many
of, the older residents of tiie city engaged
lit freighting between the river and the
Hocky mountain tinning camps, going to
Denver, Suit Lake. Virginia City, Mont.,
ahd other of the then far-away placea
w,here gold and sliver were being dug from
the rocks. Almost any man who lived
here during the 'UJe can till you stories all
night long about the days when Omaha
was headquarters for the Rocky Mountain
trade, and when never a locomotive had
been heard to sererh on this side of the
river.
The wey of the trails lay along the great
water course of the west, and the coun
try traversed Is among the most beautiful
of all the wotld. How the name of "the
fJreat American Desert" ever came to le
given' to any part of that great plateau
that sweeps up from the valley of the Mis
souri to the foothills of the Rockies Is be
yond comprehension. Rome few miles of
It, In extreme western Nebraska and Kan
sas and eastern Colorado may, perhaps,
hsve looked bleak after a hot summer
had burned off the vegetation of early"
spring, but It never resembled a desert. Oit
the rontrsry, for hundreds oi miles the
read led through rolljng lands whose sur
face was covered with the rankest growth
of grass, and where In spring and early
summer nature spread a carpet of tha
most brilliant of flowers. These prairie
swarmed with life. Herds of buffalo and
deer, antelope and elk; coveys of part
ridge and grouse, song birds and beasis
of prey were numerous, and such nulssnct
as rattle snakes and skunks abounded to
the discomfiture of the unwary. Kverjr
nlle of the slow progress of the great
caravans was fraught with Interest, If n't
danger. On all sides nnture showed her
self In her most alluring form, and It is
not to be wondered at thst the Indian re
sented the Intrusion of his white brother
Into the lsst of his hunting groumN. It
was this opposition to progress that led to
mnrh of the excitement of the journey.
At no time was the trail absolutely- safe
from Interference on the part of the wsr
Uke tribes of the plains. Pawnee. Cheyenne,
Oglalla and Brule Sioux, Bt'ackfoot, t'te
and Comanche, each with. his. share
of dominion over the plain... well de
marked, united In opposition to the
white, and forgot for the moment their
hereditary enmity to make common cause
In the effort to exterminate the pale face.
Many a ghastly tale of the trail Is pre
served In commemoration of the seal with
which these aborigines pursued their vin
dictive hntred of the whites. "Sandy" For
evthe's stand at Reerher Island against the
Cheyenne under Roman Nose la clauslc of
the west, but It has been repeated many
times by tho embattled freighters under
the direction of some' wagon boss. The
Indians never let up, and never omitted to
cut off the venturesome outfit that had
the temerity to travel so few in numbers
as to make it available for massacre. To
this element of danger and uncertainty
was added the instability of the great rivers'
of the plains, and no wagon master was
ever sure of his passage of the ford until
he had gotten his last wagon safely over.
The life was far from monotonous, even in
the most piping time of peace. Is It any
wonder that the great trails of the west
called Irrestlbly to the young and vigorous
manhood of the country
a
Makeap of the Oatflt. ,
Freight trains were divided Into . two
classes, "bull" outfits and "mule" outfits.
Horses were catalogued With, the latter.
In the early days of the trails the '"but!"
outfits had It all to themselves. Light
travelers had horses, but they did not dare
wander far from the main body on account
of the ever-present marauding ..Indian.
Their days were spent In hunting and Ash
ing and exploration of the country within
a limited range on either side of the main
traveled route. As the population of the
west Increased the demand for better traf
fic accommodations . brought the "mule"
outfits Into service, and these with, the
stage coach reduced the time consumed In
the journey. The gpVemmeat did it share
by establishing posts for J the army at
convenient distance along the trails and
furnishing armed escorts for wagon trains.,
and stage coaches at times especially
perilous. ' .
A "bull" outfit might consist of any
where from one to a dosen teams "of oxer?.
ea.cn of from ten to fourteen "yoke," while
a "mule" outfit would have ' the same
number of teams of from six to ten "span"
of mules. It la recalled that now and then
some unusually ambitious driver had as
many as fifteen "span" In his team. . This
number was unwieldy, though, for the ex
tra trouble In driving and caring for them
was .not compensated for by the added load
pulled. Three ' wagons were usually In
cluded In the load, the' "lead,"' "swing" and
"trailer,"isomet!mes two "swing" wagkna
being use. This was the case In the big
teams. The load varied. In the lead
wagon from 6.000 to 8,000 pounds would be
put, In the swing wagon from 3,000 to 4,000
'
A Dayat
HI K-.t w.mr f h --t. f.l. I.
the meeting of homefolks and
A I the atlrrtnir un nf nlii-ttm mem--
orles. Perhaps you did not think
of this when the crowd- was
milling around like a lot of restless cat
tle, and the. crash of brass bands fwaa
adding to the'; general din.' But whan
you have left the fair behind and have
settled back: into the harness of your
work-a-day life, these things come home
to you, and you begin to'seeand to-afneo
Xhe ether and tha better -sider-of this an
nual gathering. You .ecall the fact that
the fair was something more than a crowd
and a horse race. And If you have come
up from the farm, and find yourself-shut
In by brick wall and bounded by stone
walk and granite pavement, you begin
to understand that the fair was Ilk ,
breath from country lanes and the quiet
by-ways of life. You scent the fodder In
the shock and the leafy green 'of autumn
tinted woods, and a great longing comes
over you to go back to nature and re
fresh your soul. -
''About the .time these ideas begin to
takehold upon your Inner self, the click
of the typewriter over by the office win
dow merge tnto the noise that comes up
fiora the buny .street, ,and your mind
drifts sway from corttfacts aiid discouhta
bs easily and aa Idly aa a fallen leaf
drifts down a woodland sin am. Yourar
dimly the droning voloe of the man at a
nearby d. sk. dictating letter to John Doe
"In rtply to your farir of even date"
and then the dingy Wall, have faded into
the sheen of a, gieeVtvKl and the blue
of a summer' sky. Tou're hack at the
fair with the horneiolks. and the burden
of the years has slipped aWay from your
tired shoulders. t-
, s
Walk over this way "a hit and we shall
e if the thing thst go to niake up the
state fair are really so different from what
tate.falr are really o different from
the old time country . fair ' enlarged and
made over. Tleee exhibits to..:V from the
farm. This corn amf wheat, trlesa. yellow
pumpkins are grown on the black soli of
the broad prairie lan4s. Bee that fat
watermelon, the big. round fellow In the
corner! Don't you remember th bend in
the creek down by tba Klvelt place, juat
over the line of the south eighty? t'an't
you feel again the dew from the grass on
your bare feet when you crossed the road
In the early morning to bring beck one of
those portly melons? That was , an armful
of Joy you lugged through the stubble of
the wheat fieli and laid tenderly lu tha
newly turned furrow. And then you swung
the line over your shoulder and clucked
) .. .
. sAir' "
.'.i! 'V' W , ?. t
l':.L-?l';-.:.... - t
snd In the trailer from l.Soo to i.OM). " This
would give maximum load of about four
teen tons. The "grub" wagon was an ex-'
tra, tho cooking outfit and provisions being
carried In a wagon usually attBched to tha
rear end of the lightest load In the outfit.
Several of these outfits together made up
a "train," and a most Importing spcctaola
It, was, winding slowly across the prairie,
making ten or twelve or mnybe fifteen
miles on a good day and two or three or
even less on a day of bad muds. Cross
ing the streams took time, and Interference
from the Indians often delayed them still
more. Sixty to seventy-five days to Den
ver, six months to Salt Lake City or Vir
ginia City, Mont., and even longer to Cali
fornia was the rule. "
Spirit of Caste ftrons
. It would be hard to exnsgerate the lordly
contempt with whlcji tho "mule skinner" ,
looked down upon te "bullwhacker." From
his lofty perch on the, near wheeler he
. gased with a pitying commiseration on the
patient plodder who trudged alongside the
slow moving ox team guiding it with word
- of mouth, commands Issued In stentoriun
tones and backed up by stinging reminders
from the most portent lous of whips. For
the "mule skinner" was a Jerk line pilot.
That is to say, he controlled the move
ments of hl8.feam by a single line, running
through rlrujs on the hemes from the near
wheeler to the. near leader, and along
which he communicated his desires by
means of Jerks, cryptic enough to tho
uninitlate, but wonderfully expressive to
the properly trained leat? mule, who would
unerringly interpret the signal and "gee"
or "haw" as suited the purpose of the
driver. This lordly aristocrat of the trail
never forgot his own Importance, either on
the road or off, and maintained his caste
with Jealous care. -But he suffered In
turn, for the princely cow puncher enter
tained for the mule skinner all the con
tempt the latter had for the bullwhacker.
la. fact, 'the, cow puncher had for these
and the farmer, whom he Included' under
a -most expressive designation, a feeling of
undisguised disdain that not Infrequently
led .to. sudden ..death. But this Is a little
aside from the story, The miner, In turn,
' professed to understand neither, while the
gambler swindled each with utmost In
difference as to hi social condition, and. It
might be added, with unerring certainty.
Singular as It may eem, the soldiers, on
whom devolved the safety of all, was
placed literally at the bottom of the heap.
Skill of the Bnll-Whaeker.
If the bull-whacker did not pretend to the
social eminence of the cow-puncher or the
mule-skinner, he at least was entitled to
some distinction. He had necessarily to
develop a certain degree of skill In the
handling of his charges that amounted to a
title to honor, even It it were denied him.
- r i i m hi i j
1 - r - ' J- ' . ... - ... . ... ' : ...... ... -a- - .... ,
State Fair is Like
to Frank and Old John, and the smooth
turning black soil, fresh from the plow,
covered over that cool feast and kept It
safe. You haven't forgotten that! You
can't forget It, If you have ever been a
boy on the farm! You can still see that
furrow In the rich loam, and that big
melon, and you can feel again the hot
ray of the afternoon sun when you went
back to dig up that banquet bf Juicy swe'et
ness. You never find a melon like that
now-a-days; no, sir, they don't grow any
more, -or If they do, the bare-footed boys
on the farm hide them away. And it has
been many long years since you ate the
heart from an "old yellow core. Wonder
where they have all gone?
Here Is another has-been from some old
fashioned garden. An old-time gourd, one
of the sort we made into dippers and hung
by the old well the dug well rock-walled
and furnished with a pair of real moss
covered buckets. Did you ever come in
from the field, hot and dusty, and lean
far over the curbing of the well to catch
a glimpse of a sun-tanned face In the cool
depths of the water? How the drops glit
tered and splashed on the rocks as you
pulled "up the brimming bucket. Adam's
ale, we called It then, and never since
V2J?'&? I"! .v-'. " l"i
l f v " .r ' a w it r,
L --s;- . V';-" ;
i ' : m
-A - r ar-. :j k -A, - .wm.-. . .
THB HOO IN HIS HARVEST OF
. et '
ONB OF
MULH1
The ox he drove was seldom of the variety
that has been poetically described as pa
tient and plodding, wide-eyed and all that
sort of thing. - He was generally a long
horn, born In the wild and come up
through a series of experiences from In
fancy to oxhood that developed any In
herent vlcjousness and general cussednes
thatsmight have lurked In his nature. Pro
fessor Slialer of Harvard once wrote that
the horse and the ox were Inexcusably '
stupid, or they would never have allowed
themselves to become domesticated and re
duced to the condition of burden bearers,
for man. This Is true of the ox who made
up the bull team. He was stupid, but at
times the suspicion that some gleam of
realization of his situation must have peneX
trated his dull brain was Justified, for he
showed a perverseness that was all but
Inspired, and was surely Inspiring, at least
as far as profanity may be deemed the
result of Inspiration. Probably the most
picturesque forms of sulphurous blasphemy
known to the tongue were those devised,
frequently Impromptu, for the purpose of
dealing with a bull team In a moment of
fractlousnese. -But It was another sort of
skill that marked the humble bull-whacker.
Inremalty ofthe Driver.
It required Ingenuity and understanding
of no mean order to get the twenty or
more yoked oxen under way and set them
to pulling so that a load could be started
and kept in motion. It required much
more than ordinary ability to turn a cor
ner with one of those unwieldy teams, and
the general handling of one brought con
tinually Into play judgment and knowledge
of the beasts that almost marked the suc
cessful bull-whacker as a specialist, ftven
the manipulation of his huge whip was an
accomplishment that would attract atten
tion. Its dimensions weie most formidable,
have you tasted drink so sweet or satisfying-
Wouldn't you like to fill another
gourd with - that pure, cold water, and
drink a toast to the days' that are past
and gone forever? You can close your
eye and see the year go marching by
In dim and shadowy procession all the
years of life eome of them wasted years,
but all beyond recall. Let's get out in the
open and be jostled Again by the crowd;
there are so many ghostly memories here.
But we can spare a moment to see tho
apples. Heaps of crimson and gold and
green, piled high and smiling up at us
Just as they used to tantalize our childish
eyes and appetites. See that plate of Jon
athans and the deep blush that a prying
summer sun has painted on their ruddy
cheeks! Don't you remember the tree in
the far corner of the orchard, and how
we climbed to its topmost bough when
the leaves were turning brown and the
haze of Indian summer hung upon the hill
tops? Helgh-ho! Other days; other days!
The Cattle Shaw la On.
Over this 'way the cuttle show Is on.
Look at the sleek, well-kept kine descended
from famous families, and bearing their
honors with the modesty that comes of
mm.
t
- .
FAT.
THB
THB LATER-DAT BULXi OUTFITS GOINO
OUTFIT OK ITS WAT ACROSS THB PLAJNi
.J -e fJ-W . -iv
STAGE COACHES WKRBJ THB "FLTKRS" OF TUB BULL TRAIN DATS.
1
a
OX CARTS READY
and, properly handled. It was capable of
producing terrible results. In the hands
of a man of brutal instinct Its effects were
often such as would secure the perpetrator
today an exemplary term In prison. A rip
six or more Inches long through an ox's
hide or a piece of skin an Inch square or
larger lifted was the common result of a
snap from that terrific lash. It Is to the
credit of the drivers, though, that that did
not frequently occur. But the hissing of
the lash and Its sharp, pistol-like crack
was generally enough to awaken the sleep
iest steer that ever tugged In unwelcome
yoke. Half a dozen of these brawny bull
whackers tn a tournament of whip-cracking
could easily give one who only heard the
result a notion that a miniature battle waa
a Breath from Country Lanes
true worth. These are the kings and queens
of the pasture and the meadow lot. Here
comes a long string of proud aristocrats
reds and whites and roans Durhama, we
called them, when the western range waa
free and the herder circled far and wide
to gather In the strays. There are white
faced beauties, too. tracing back to Here
fordshire, and bonnie black, whose sires
once knew the heather of Scotch .high
lands. Worth a king's ransom are these
herds. Take note of the level backs, the
spreading ribs, the great heart girth, for
these are the beef breeds. You admire
their fine lines and beautiful coats, but
none of these can ever take the place In
our hearts held sacred to the memory of
Longlegs and Old Tut. They boasted no
Illustrious lineage nor pedigree In ponder
ous herd 'book, and they might have
changed hand for a paltry thirty piece
of sllveV, but. oh, the sweet, rich milk
they gave and what pet we made of thoae
old, homely cows! After they had acquired
the dignity that comee with age and large,
responsibility, they led the herd to pas
ture in the morning and home again at
night. And It waa worth while to meet'
Old Tut at tha bar and put your arm
i
BEATTXa OF THE" HOMES' HOOFS' TFON' THB'tiCXcK.
INTO CAilT.
,, ...
1 -
TO START A STREET SCENE IN OMAHA
In progress. The accuracy with which the
blow might be directed was llulu short
of marvellous.
Life that Has Gone.
But this phase of western UJe has van
ished before the hoot of the Iron horse.
Along the trail where ,once the bull trains
toiled a snail's pace from civilization to
frontier the modern train de luxe now flits
on Its mile-a-minute schedule, while pas
senger give seldom a thought to the life
that has gone, for the reason that they
know nothing of It. Freight trains are
handled on a time schedule that was con
sidered fast even for express trains twenty-five
years ago, and tha stage coach and
about her neck while you told her the
troubles of the day. Not that she ever
said a word, but there was a look of un
derstanding In her calm, untroubled eyes
that was better than a world of wordy
counsel; And patience was writ large
across her broad and kindly face.
HI Spllrlns Ilaat Up Cronies.
Old HI Splivins knows about cows. He
has studied them at first hand and looked
carefully into their way and habit. He
has looked longer and with more care
since he lost an eye hooked out by a
brlndle heifer. His says he has no use for
pedigreed stock at fancy prices. He wants
good, plain cattle that wilt grow into beef
and give plenty of milk. Cows are like
women, avers the sage ana one-eyed HI,
In that they can be petted and fixed up
until their usefulness Is spoiled.
HI always comes up to the fair and takes
a keen delight in hunting up a company of
cronies as-old and as quaint as himself.
He likes to hark back to the old days,
and perhapa you heard what he said about
going In swimming. Well, it came about
'in tills way. Hi admits that he Is getting
old, but he doesn't brag about It. He
J.
j..
; " Lis
s ,,-as.
" t
n
-C SWW-a - -
-,"v
IN THE SIXTIES.
the immense freight wagon have Joined "the
other discards of civilization. In a very,
few remote regions, seldom resorted to,-tHa
transportation business Is carried on by
the picturesque methods of a generation
ago, but for the most part the railroad has
conquered. Until the very last of tha
old-timers has passed In his checks, thouglk,
the claim of the railroad that It developed
the country will i.ot go unchallenged. -Tha
railroad has been an lndispensible faetop
In the Immense growth of the middle westj
but It waa the growing traffic of this region
that first brought the railroad here. ,tq
compete with the bull-whacker and the
mule-sklnner. These served their purpose
and served it well and deserve to be re
membered for what they did. M'C '
says that the saddest day of his life wis
when he realized that he didn't want to to
In swimming any more. Ttme was when
he would break out of schooT on a warm
afternoon In spring and beat the crowd to
the swimming hole. Used to scatter big
wardrobe all the way from the achool haus.
to the creek, but that dldn t count If you
hit the water first. Wardrobe, were
extensive In those days, anyway, and ,
few pieces, more or less, didn't matter.
You recall those old swimming hole.
the creek and the keen delight of a plunge
Into their clear depth.. They gr. "th.
only real fountain, of youth, the kind that
, Ponce da Leon .ought in vain, and that
every country boy ha. found. HI believe
in going back to nature. Say. that a
bath tub 1. too- cramped for him and
that the money now being spent on the
Panama canal would dig a million swim
ming holes and fill them full of clear
water and happy boys. HI looks at a
good many things on the bias, having only
one aide light, so to speag, but you will
have to admit the justice of his swlroV
ming hole contention.
When you have looked over tha sheep
in their winter coat of Dure wool an
have paused to see th biggest hog in
hi- V. ..... . A , .W. I .
ib iiw-i v. iiik norse mows
claim your attention. You cannot over
look the horse show at the fair; he get
right Into the spot light and he is dec
orated with ribbons -that vie for color wlih
Joseph's coat. But If you have any defi
nite Idea of utility you will pass on down '
the line to where the mule is on parade. '
You find him here In force anil you will d. ;
well to stand afar off, out of range of that '
long hind leg that owns the hitting power j
of a Jeffries and the force of a plledriver. '
He Is man's most patient and long-s iffer
Ing friend. Urst In peace -and Indispensable
In war. Sometime he make a kick, but
who shall arise and say that It la without
juat cause or lacking In effect? Of all our -domestic
animal he 1 the only one with
out pride of ancestry or bop of posterity,
and yet this long-eared orphan always'
claims our warmest sympathy. He Is st
truly a beast of burden, a patient plodiler
of the fields, willing ever, and aa strong
aa th leathern thong that bind him t j
til tbankleea task and hold him tn an en 1
leas bondage. Ever and again he droop
bl long ear and relieves h pent-up feel.
Ing In a hoarse bray that I unlike an
Other sound In all the scheme of nature.
A njt vma Vi 1 1 a t t r. . . ir Kl,nl L . . . i, i .
walling protect against the unkind de- .
oreea of fat or only a long-drawn, jeering
(ODntlnuefl an Page Five.)
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