It seems that Minnie whose husband James was deceased, called the vet from her farm home one evening about her mule whose name was Horace to say that he was sick . She was really upset & asked the vet to come out take a look at him. The vet said " Minnie, it's after 6 o-clock & I'm eating supper. Give him a dose of mineral oil, & if he's not ok in the morning I'll come & take a look at him.
She wanted to know how to give Horace the mineral oil & the vet said it should be administered through a funnel. Minnie protested that the mule might bite her. The vet a mite exasperated said 'Oh Minnie, you're a farm woman & sould about these things. Give it to him through the other end.' Minnie went to the barn, stood there with Horace moaning & groaning & hanging his head. She looked for a funnel, but the nearest thing she could find was her Uncle Bill's fox-hunting horn hanging on the wall. It was a beautiful gold-plated horn with gold tassels. She took the horn & nervously affixed it properly. Horace paid her no attention.
Then she reached up on the high shelf where the animal meds were kept. Instead of the mineral oil she grabbed a bottle of turpentine by mistake & poured a liberal dose into the horn. Horace raised his head with a jerk, let out a bray that could have been heard mile down the road. He reared upon his hind legs, brought his front legs down, knocked out one side of the barn, cleared a 5-foot-high fence, & headed down the road at a mad gallop & ever few strides he made, the horn would blow.
All the dogs in the neighborhood knew
that when that horn blew there was going to be a fox-hunt. So out on the road they went barking & following close on Horaces' heels.
People who witnessed the chase said later that it was an unforgettable site.
First Horace running at top speed with a horn in
a most unusual place, the mellow notes issuing from it, the gold tassels waving & the dogs barking joyously.
They passed by the home of old man Dickson who was sitting in a rocker on his front porch. It was said that he had not breathed a sober breath in 15 yrs. He was so fascinated & amazed at the sight, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Incidentally he is now the head man of AAA in that state.
By this time it is getting dark & Horace & the dogs are approaching a bridge. The bridge tender heard the horn blowing & thinking a boat
was on the way. He hurried out & cranked up the bridge.
Horace went overboard & drowned. The dogs went into the water, but they all swam safely to shore.
Now it happened that the bridge tender was the favorite candidate to upseat the sherrif of that county, but he only got 7 votes & those were from kinfolks. Those who took the time to analyze the election
results said the people figured that any man who didn't know the difference between a mule with a horn up his caboose & a boat coming down the river wasn't fit to hold any public office in the county.
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