Cryptic Trench Art Round; Mules, Flowers, March 14, 1898-1915

Host is a Navy 6-pounder round (57mm) by UMC, Bridgeport, dated 12/1897. It was made into a 3-arm lamp but as with many trench-art lamps, arms are gone. Most unusual feature is pair of mules, sensitively rendered even to the point of having detailed and different faces. What kind of flowers, please? Dates given: March 14, 1898-1915. Projectile very tightly seated in brass case or I’d have removed it immediately to verify inertness and whether anything is inside case (maybe a note explaining it all!). I shoulda peeked in the primer hole while I had the base apart; I can get in there again. Maybe this person was an enlisted man who worked closely with pack mules? Does the date range show his time in service? Does the Navy rapid-fire gun cartridge indicate he was a Marine?

I started googling but how to narrow the search escapes me. For example I get hits like the one at thumbnail above which has the dates and mules but not exact-enough dates.

 

Date is just prior to the Spanish American war so maybe something to do with it. The donkeys would fit with this idea. Maybe some kind of war reunion event that occurred in 1915? The flowers look like nasturtiums to me.

 

I agree on nasturtiums. You can see a leaf in the right-hand image in the first set of 2 closeup images.

Beyond that, I don't even know where to start. Odd that the dates are 17 years apart.

It is very nicely done!

 

Nasturtiums, hmm, my botanical knowledge is microscopic, unfortunately. Mr. Google sez they are edible; maybe they were the mules’ favorite treat or something. I’m still thinking this individual’s occupation may have had him working with mules, perhaps as a teamster, wagoneer, or something, I’ll have to look up the enlisted specialties that would have involved mules.

 

Hi,
I LOVE Nasturtiums. They are so peppery and look great in a salad. If you like pepper you will like the flowers. Now back to your sponsor.
greg

 

I cross-posted on the Company of Military Historians forum to see if anyone who studies the Span-Am War period can help us figure this out.

http://military-historians.org/cgi-bin/member/forum.pl?page=1;md=read;id=14384

 

I wonder if there were a team of mules within that timespan special enough to warrant something like this? (When was the first West Point mule mascot foaled?)

 

That struck me too. Maybe the time the person was in the service?

 

I’ve written to the Mule Museum asking their opinion. I’m not sure West Point would figure in simply due to the fact that a US Navy munition was used. The well-established interservice rivalry would have, I think, caused Army ammo to have been used were this a West Point product.

 

More info? I decided to not to ignore Army possibilities because the vast majority of service people associated with mules would have served in the Army, specifically the “Wagoner” specialty. Also if our man had decided to make a trench art LAMP, not just a decorated case, he’d want a much-harder-to-find complete round (case and projectile.). He likely would have ordered one from Francis Bannerman & Son in NYC, and the 3-pounder round was a nice size for a table lamp. In fact, Bannerman probably had ready-made ammo-lamps, I have yet to check my old and repro Bannerman catalogs, but they sold a lot of creations of that type. When I disassembled the two-piece wood base, I could tell it was made by someone who had all the proper tools and hardware available (brass machine screws, taps, etc) as opposed to a more typical, slightly sloppy home basement rendering.

So a quick search for anyone enlisting on 3/14/1898 gave one hit, and if anyone can find additional info on this man I’d greatly appreciate it. I have little hope that he’s the one, but with the additional info I can eliminte him and move on. A wild guess at the number of 3/14/1898 inductees I’ll have to check is one or two dozen, and of course I’ll check anyone identified as a “wagoner” first.

 

Quick check of my reprinted Bannerman’s 1925 catalog proves they sold complete Navy 6-pounder rounds, via the insertion labeled “No. 30” on pp. 162. That catalog does have ready-made trench art, but what I found were only much smaller items, typically one-pounder (37mm) rounds made into cigar cutters. So “Muleman” could have purchased a complete round for $7.50, as the canvas for his artwork. So, my take on all this is that Muleman could have been an enlisted man in the Army, Marine Corps, or maybe even National Guard.



Here’s full page FYI

 

Well, Spring, I tried, but the only Albert Waller I could find enlistment record for in March 1898 at Albany, NY into the 11th Infantry as a Musician with the rank of Private was an Albert E (for Ernest) Waller, born 19 Jun 1881 in London, Ontario, Canada. Living in Rochester, NY at the time. But he enlisted on the 9th, not the 13th. Served for 3 years, always in the band including some time in San Juan, PR. Discharged honorably on March 9, 1901 at expiration of service in Washington, DC. Married a month later in Alexandria, VA and took his bride back to NY, where in 1910 he's living in Brooklyn, working as a "musician in a theatre." No evidence that he ever reenlisted.

I'm afraid you're going to have to go back to the list.

 

Thanks again Ms. B! I can be sure he’s not Muleman then. I guess there’s still a chance for Albert C. Waller unless that web list had multiple xcription errors. I may have to make another subway trip down to the Archives, but I’ll make a long list of questions before I go, that pretty much takes a whole day out of my life.

 

Transcription errors are the bane my existence.

 

One thing I like about riding the subway occasionally is that it freezes busy people for a few moments so you can learn things about complete strangers, if you look and think. For example, took this photo on maybe my last ride to the Archives. This lady is fully engrossed in texting, probably listening to music, is on her way to her office, has office key on finger already, and has salad lunch ready-to-eat. Maybe she always sits right next to that emergency button, so she’s 100% prepared for anything!

 

I somehow got the idea that the mules might be symbolic, not actual, so looked up on familysearch site ant Span-Am War vets named Mules. Charles F. Mules from Baltimore was in the 5th Maryland Infantry as a private, per one of the documents. I need to find his actual dates of enlistment and discharge to see if he’s a match to the trench art piece.

 

Dates from his Interment Card - 25 Apr 1898 - 22 Oct 1898.

 

I need to be off for a bit, in case you need anything else.

 

Thanks! Every bit helps. (My Erroneous info deleted.)

 

"don't agree with any dates I have" You have other dates for his service?