s stubbornness,
that many of them, in this condition, would not move an inch if you were
to cut them to pieces. And let me say here that nothing should be so
much avoided in breaking this animal as the whip. The young, unbroken
mule cannot be made to understand what you are whipping him for.

It is a habit with mule drivers in the army, many of whom are men
without feeling for a dumb animal, to whip mules just to hear their
whips crack, and to let others hear with what dexterity they can do it.
It has a very bad effect on the animals, and some means should be
applied to stop it. Army teamsters and stable-men seem to regard it as a
virtue to be cruel to animals. They soon cultivate vicious habits, and a
bad temper seems to grow up with their occupation. It naturally follows,
then, that in the treatment of their animals they do just what they
ought not to do. The Government has been a very severe sufferer by this;
and I contend that during a war it is just as necessary to have
experienced and well trained teamsters as it is to have hardened and
well trained soldiers.

The mule is peculiar in his dislikes. Many of them, when first
harnessed, so dislike a blind bridle that they will not work in it. When
you find this, let him stand for say a day in the blinders, and then
take them off, and in forty-nine cases out of fifty he will go at once.

It has been said that the mule never scares or runs away. This is not
true. He is not so apt to get frightened and run away as the horse is.
But any one who has had long experience with them in the army knows that
they will both get frightened and run away. They do not, however, lose
all their senses when they get frightened and run away, as the horse
does. Bring a mule back after he has run away, and in most cases he will
not want to do it again. A horse that has once run away, however, is
never safe afterward. Indeed, in all the tens of thousands of mules that
I have handled, I never yet found an habitual runaway. Their sluggish
nature does not incline them to such tricks. If a team attempts to run
away, one or two of them will fall down before they have gone far, and
this will stop the remainder. Attempt to put one up to the same speed
you would a horse, over a rough road, and you will have performed
wonders if he does not fall and break your bones.

The mule, especially if large, cannot stand hard roads and pavements.
His limbs are too small for his body, and they generally give