Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/25

Rh M U L M U L 15 The Poitou mules are large, and strong enough to be used for heavy draught ; those produced elsewhere in France, especially in Gascony, are light and better adapted for weight carrying. In Poitou at the present time about 50,000 mares are kept for mule production ; of these it is estimated that 38,000 are bred from every year, and of the produce 18,000 are sold annually. In the fairs of Poitou some mules fetch the large price of 1300 to 1500 francs, and many are sold for 900 or 1000 francs. If the average price be fixed at only 600 francs, it will be seen that Poitou alone realizes annually from its mule- breeding no less than 10,800,000 francs. The statistics of 1840 give the number of mules in France at 373,841, of 1852 at 315,331, of 1862 at 330,987, and the census of 1866 at 345,243. The average price of a mule in 1840 was reckoned at 172 francs, in 1852 at 183 francs, and in 1862 at 278 francs. The total value of the mules in 1840 was estimated at 64,284,246 francs, in 1862 it had increased to 92,078,458 francs. The total amount of revenue derived from the trade in mules was: in 1840, 21,244,148 francs; in 1852, 87,548,310 francs; and in 1862, 162,341,162 francs. Since the last-mentioned date it is probable that there has been a further increase. In the United Kingdom mules are seldom bred, and their services do not appear to be much appreciated ; hence their importation is almost nil. After the war in Egypt in 1882 a large number of mules which had been pur chased by the British Government for that campaign were brought to England and sold by public auction, but the average price realized was probably not more than one- half the amount they had cost in the countries in which they were originally purchased. Mules have in recent times been largely employed in British campaigns, as in the Crimea, India, Abyssinia, South Africa, and Egypt. In the Abyssinian campaign more than 10,000 pack-mules were obtained from Cyprus, Brindisi, Malta, Smyrna, Gibraltar, Alicante, Valencia, Scanderoon, and Beyrout. The order in which these places are enumerated indicates the relative adaptability of the mules for pack transport during that campaign. During the Zulu war, South-African or Colonial, South-American, North-American, and French mules were employed ; but of these the South-African and South-American were found to be the most suitable. In India mules form part of the permanent transport of the Pun jab irregular force, and are used as pack animals in the mountain batteries. They have also been largely used for transport in the many expeditions which have taken place on the north-western frontier. During the recent Afghan war it was proved that for mountain warfare the mule was by far the best beast of burden ; and the director of transport with the Indian division during the late Egyptian campaign reported highly of the work done by the Punjab mules, which are somewhat famed for undergoing a great amount of exertion on little food. The breeding of pack-mules, as also of those adapted for batteries of mountain artillery, too much neglected hitherto, is now much encouraged by the Govern ment of India, which supplies many good male asses to different districts free of charge. These asses are chiefly Arab, Spanish, French, and Italian ; but very good animals are at times obtained from Bokhara. By stimulating the breeding of improved asses an increasing supply of good sires and mules is obtained. The experience of British and other European armies in favour of the mule has been corroborated by that of the United States. In the quartermaster -general s report for 1865 it is stated: &quot;The experience of this (secession) war has convinced all officers of this department that for the army-trains mules are much superior to horses, and of late the horses have almost entirely disappeared from the trains, being transferred to the cavalty or artillery and replaced by mules.&quot; Mules are well adapted for the sick or hospital transport of an army in the field as pack animals, being smaller, surer- footed, and shorter-paced than horses ; but they should be specially selected and trained for this purpose, animals of sufficient strength and docility being necessary. A loaded mule will walk a little more than 3 miles an hour, though the pace will much depend upon the roads. The pace is slow moving down hill, quick up lull. Mules sleep from three to four hours in the twenty-four, the soundest sleep being towards dawn. The male mule can carry more weight than the female, though the latter is steadier for work, being more docile ; male mules are often vicious and carry loads badly, so that to render them more tractable they are some times castrated. For saddle purposes those which more resemble the horse than the ass are preferable. The carrying power of the mule varies according to a variety of circumstances from 100 Ib to 300 ft&amp;gt;, the average being about 200 Ib including the pack-saddle. In a journey made in 1856 from the city of Del Norte to Chihuahua and Durango in Mexico, a distance of about 500 miles, it was found that out of a train of seventy-five mules the most it was possible for any mule to carry was 275 Ib ; not more than twenty mules could convey more than 250 R&amp;gt;, the average weight carried by the whole train being a little less than 200 ft. The distance per day was about 15 miles. In another journey it was noted that some of the very best mules, out of a very superior description specially selected, which were loaded with 300 Ib, gave out completely at the end of two weeks. In the Abyssinian expedition the load had to be reduced to 100 Ib, not including the pack-saddle. It has been stated that a good compact mule, when well trained, properly fitted and handled, will carry in ordinary field service 30 per cent, of its own weight. If the load is in proportion to the size of the animal, small mules have the advantage. A 600 Ib mule is quite as good for a 200 ffi&amp;gt; load as a 900 Ib mule is for a 270 Ib load. During the Peninsular War mules were hired by the commissariat for a Spanish dollar a day and rations for the driver. The weight of the load was fixed at 200 Ib, and the length of journey in a moun tainous country with bad roads was from 10 to 12 miles loaded, 15 to 16 unloaded. The maximum price paid for mules purchased for the Bhutan (India) expedition was 180 rupees ; those purchased at Baghdad and Bushire for the Abyssinian expedition averaged 124 rupees 8 annas, in Syria about 20. The mules purchased in the Punjab for the same expedition cost 225 rupees each ; those procured in Egypt about 26 10s. per animal. The mules purchased in New York for the Zulu war cost 42 per head, though good serviceable mules can be bought at St Louis for from 25 to 30. A firm in London at the-same time tendered to supply mules from Spain at 35 each for pack, and 37 10s for draught. The South- African mules bought during the Zulu war cost on an average 23 each. It has been observed that large mules are not so durable as medium-sized ones, especially for military service. In Algeria it was rare to find a mule over 14 hands more than fifteen years of age, and those approaching 1 5 hands died younger, while those between 13 and 14 hands were frequently more than twenty years old. The older animals were very often mares. (G. FL. ) MULHAUSEN (in French Mulhouse the chief town of a circle and the industrial centre of Upper Alsace, Germany, lies between the 111, an affluent of the Rhine, and the Rhine-Rhone Canal, about 56 miles to the south of Stras- burg and 18 to the north-west of Basel. The old town, surrounded by arms of the 111, has narrow and irregular streets, while to the south, on the canal, lie the handsome villas and fine promenades of the new town. Most of the older buildings have had to make way for manufactories, so that the town-house, dating from 1552, is an almost solitary witness to the town s mediaeval prosperity. The Roman Catholic church of St Stephen, the new Protest ant church, the building of the Societe Industrielle, and the new Musee are the most prominent modern buildings. The educational institutions include a gymnasium, modern schools, technical schools for the various handicrafts, and an academy in which designers are trained for the textile industries of the town. The most important interest of Miilhausen centres in the making of cotton and muslin goods, and calico-printing. This industry was introduced in 1746, and has since steadily prospered in the hands of several wealthy families which are closely connected by intermarriage and lend each other a firm and powerful finan cial support. From 20,000 to 24,000 hands in the town and upwards of 60,000 in the neighbourhood are engaged in textile manufactures, the products of which are exported to all parts of the world. The manufactures of machinery, locomotives and railway plant, chemicals, and hardware are also important. A very noteworthy feature connected with the rise of the commercial prosperity of the town is the attention paid by the manufacturers to the wellbeing of their workpeople. In 1853 John Dollfuss, mayor of the town, founded the &quot; workman s quarter &quot; to the north east of the old town, which now consists of about 1000 model buildings, with public bath-, wash-, and bake-houses,