MULES GET IN GEAR FOR SPOTLIGHT; WAGON TEAM TO STRUT STUFF IN PASADENA.Byline: Greg Botonis Daily News Staff Writer The 20-mule team from U.S. Borax borax or sodium tetraborate decahydrate (sō`dēəm tĕ'trəbôr`āt dĕk'əhī`drāt), chemical compound, Na2B4O7·10H2O; sp. gr. 1. traipsed down the streets around the Auto Mall, warming up for their New Year's Day New Year's Day, among ancient peoples the first day of the year frequently corresponded to the vernal or autumnal equinox, or to the summer or winter solstice. In the Middle Ages it was celebrated among Christians usually on Mar. 25. appearance as the second entry in the 110th Tournament of Roses parade The Tournament of Roses Parade was established, and first held, on January 1,1890, in Pasadena, California, eight miles (13 km) northeast of Downtown Los Angeles. Rooted in tradition, this parade is broadcast on multiple television networks, watched by upwards of one . Making only their second appearance in the Rose Parade - the first was in 1917 - the borax wagons will carry parade President Dick Ratliff and four generations of his family in the final Rose Parade of the 1900s. Ian L. White-Thomson, the retiring chairman and chief executive officer of Valencia-based U.S. Borax, and Senior Vice President Preston Chiaro, his designated successor, will ride on horseback on the back of a horse; mounted or riding on a horse or horses; in the saddle. See also: Horseback next to the wagons. ``The team and the wagons are a good way to bring the company's history back to life, at least for a short time,'' said Chiaro, who proposed having the mule mule, in zoology mule, hybrid offspring of a male donkey (see ass) and a female horse, bred as a work animal. The name is also sometimes applied to the hinny, the offspring of a male horse and female donkey; hinnies are considered inferior to mules. team appear in the parade. ``They represent the struggle against the Wild West and man's ability to overcome obstacles,'' Chiaro said. ``They are a good symbol of our company because they work together as a team and so do we.'' The wagons have been restored, painted their signature powder-blue color, and temporarily fitted with boat seats to accommodate the parade passengers. Each of the two wagons weighs about 7,800 pounds and the water wagon, which is pulled behind, weighs nearly 1,200 pounds. The wagons and mules were first used in the 1880s to haul unrefined borax, scraped from the bottom of dry lake beds, through the harsh terrain of Death Valley and the Mojave Desert Mojave or Mohave Desert, c.15,000 sq mi (38,850 sq km), region of low, barren mountains and flat valleys, 2,000 to 5,000 ft (610–1,524 m) high, S Calif.; part of the Great Basin of the United States. to the U.S. Borax processing plant in Boron boron (bōr`ŏn) [New Gr. from borax], chemical element; symbol B; at. no. 5; at. wt. 10.81; m.p. about 2,300°C;; sublimation point about 2,550°C;; sp. gr. 2.3 at 25°C;; valence +3. . The 165-mile trek was the company's only way to transport the mineral, and five sets of wagons and their mule teams repeated the journey countless times between 1883 and 1888, when the borax supply played out. A new source and form of transporting the borax was later found, and the mule team was used to haul it from Calico to the railroad railroad or railway, form of transportation most commonly consisting of steel rails, called tracks, on which freight cars, passenger cars, and other rolling stock are drawn by one locomotive or more. at Daggett. Since then, they've played a promotional role for U.S. Borax, walking in Woodrow Wilson's second inaugural parade in 1917, and hauling the first ceremonial load of borax in 1958 when the Boron mine went from underground to open pit. Once their trip down the 5-1/2-mile parade route is complete, the mule team will be retired to the U.S. Borax Visitors Center in the High Desert town of Boron. ``It's a tribute to Ian,'' Chiaro said of the mule team's final public appearance. ``It's a great way for him to go out.'' CAPTION(S): 3 Photos, Map PHOTO (1--Ran in Valley and SAC Sac: see Sac and Fox. SAC - 1. An early system on the Datatron 200 series. [Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959)]. Editions only) A 20-mule borax wagon team trains for the Tournament of Roses parade with a trip through the streets of Palmdale on Tuesday. (2--Color in AV Edition only) Mules and drivers wear 19th-century gear in practice for their appearance as the second entry in the 110th Rose Parade. (3--Ran in SAC and AV Editions--Color in AV Edition only) A member of the mule team gets in shape Tuesday for the parade performance. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News MAP: (Ran in Valley Edition only) FLOAT DECORATION / FLOAT VIEWING SITES |
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