"Deacon", Black Army Mule, Heads Stadium March of 1200 Cadets Today-Is Not Subject to Stage-fright Before Crowds

Blanketed and heavily chaperoned, the Army mule will make its-first appearance on Soldiers Field this afternoon. The Missouri mascot has been conveyed to Cambridge in a special box car, the first time he has been taken so far afield.

The mule owes its status as the cadet mascot to the tenacity and endurance it displays under fire. "If the mule kicks, he cannot pull; if he pulls, he cannot kick" was the catchword of artillerists during the war. The saying has been taken up by the West Pointers as being applicable to their disciplined four years of routine.

The mule will head the cadet parade on to the Stadium field. Whether he will be introduced to the Harvard squad's Great Dane, as he generally is to the Navy goat, has not yet been determined. During playing time, the mule will be escorted into temporary retirement by his two cadet guardians.

In preparation for the Crimson contest. "Deacon", as the Army mule is known to his acquaintances, has been fattened, groomed, and clipped. His keeper admitted yesterday that "Deacon" was 12 pounds overweight. "It improves his disposition," he affirmed.

In color the mule is a jet black. He has seen several years of service with a machine-gun company and as a result is not dismayed by noise of any sort. At football games he has been accustomed to kick and rear when led into view for the first time.

"It's not stage-fright," explained his keeper. "He's just showing off."