Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 220, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 September 1916 — CHAMPION MOLE PACKER OF 0. S. [ARTICLE]

CHAMPION MOLE PACKER OF 0. S.

Daly Is World’s Greatest Expert on Possibilities of Missouri * Hybrid. / #

IN CHARGE OF PACK TRAINS

Has Devised Many Improvpments in This Method of Transportation— Conducts School for Muleteers on the Border.

San Antonio,’ Tex. —H. W. Daly, chief packer of the quartermaster corps, U. S. A., the greatest expert on the possibilities of the Missouri mule on earth, is here. His duty is the organization of ten pack trains and he is conducting a school fOr muleteers. The model class of the school comprises one gray bell hor'se and a company of 64 white or gray mules —all “veterans,” for this is the pack train that crossed into Mexico with Sibley soon after the Glenn Springs raid. Here is an inventory of a pack train: Packmaster, who gets SIOO a month but no rations; “cargador,” S6O a month and rations; blacksmith or horseslioer, $75 a month, but ho rations; cook, S4O a month and rations; ten packers, SSO a month and rations. Each individual in a pack train has his own mount, so there are to be 14 riding mules and the remainder —50 animals —carry the packs. The duties of the bell horse are to lead the procession. As a general thing, each pack mule will walk away with a minimum load of 250 pounds, so that means something more than six tons of cargo to the train, and if need be the cargo can be raised to eight tons. Over in the Philippines one of Mr. Daly’s mules rambled around on mountain trails with 540 pounds aboard and the load happened to be a mountain howitzer. This mule, while not awarded a medal, was nevertheless a hero and saved the day, for the howitzer put to rout any enemy apparently untouched by mere rifle fire. When packers become proficient they should be able to load a mule in about thirty seconds. As Daly figures It, two months are required to turn out a first class pack train of the sort above criticism.

Many Years a Packer. Nowadays the “aparejo,” or pack saddle, which Daly invented for our army, Is made to conform to the mule so there is little possibility of the heavy load chafing or injuring the animal’s back. Daly’s experiences as a packer parted in the spring of 1865 when he crossed the British northwest territories from Montreal to Vancouver and was employed In bringing In supplies on mule back to the Canadian mining camps. Then he engaged as packer in many Indian campaigns of the United Statesarmy, including the operations against Geronimo. ), When the Spanish war broke out he w’as working on a railroad in Mexico. He enlisted immediately and went to Cuba. After the campaign he was called to Washington, where he devised improvements in pack-train transportation. He also went to West Point to lectqre. From 1902 to 1909 he was stationed at Fort Leavenworth and there made further improvements in field artillery, mountain and machine gun, engineer, signal, hospital and ordnance corps pack equipment. On February 13, 1903, he was made chief packer of the army. "For mountain work no substitute to take the place of the mule will ever be found,” said Daly.