Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 May 1898 — Cradle Rocked by a Mule. [ARTICLE]

Cradle Rocked by a Mule.

A traveler going through a sparsely settled section of Canada came to a lonely cabin, and, finding the door open, went in. Nobody was in sight, but in the center of the room he saw a cradle with a baby lying in it fast asleep. The cradle was rocked back and forth with great regularity, and he was puzzled to know what kept it in motion. • On examination he found a stout cord attached to a nail driven in the side of the cradle and passed through an auger hole in the side of the house. He took up the trail, which led him into a ravine where a donkey was standing and switching his tail. The mystery was explained. The other end of the cord was attached to the donkey’s tail, and the constant switching kept the cradle in motion. It was an ingenious device on the part of the mother to keep her baby asleep while she went off for a time.—Ontario Banner.