The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1879-06-05

And kill him they will If the herders do.
not stop the pursuit.
After lesson of this kind the bully
is a marvel of gentleness and consider
alton. A calf could whip him. Once
1 left my herd for an hour. On my re-
turn was surprised to find the cattle
punched around a deep pool in the
ravine. They were evidently greatly
excited; the constant believing, the
lashing OF their tails; their craned
necks as they looked over the banks of
the pond, all indicated that something
was wrong. Running my horse and
swinging q heavy whip, was soon
among the cattle. They gave way for
me. I rode up to the pool. There,
standing in deep water, was the SUBJ
dued bully, ring of exc'ssd steers and
COWS standing around him, but unable
to reach him. put stop to the fun,
and left the bully in the water to cool
off. l did. not see him for week.
Then he joined the herd as private
If an animal in the herd gets badly
wounded, it will be killed by the others
if great care is not exercised. The
sound animals turn ruthlessIy on the
sick or wounded ones. 1t looks hard,
and the unthinking observer remarks
on the cruelty shown toward one an-
other by dumb animals. 1t is simply
an expression of the instinct of the
animals, by which they expect to ward
of attacks of wolves, and to prevent
their prowling around the herd, by re-
moving the inducement to it. The
animal is wounded, badly wounded;
the wolves smell him, and, from far
and near, gather about him. The cat
tie, in their wild state, constantly
moved up and down the water COURSES,
so. when they killed the sick animal,
they left the body behind. Now they
kill the sick one for the same reason,
and daily feed about his carcass.
In July the herd is fat; calves are do
ing well, and are full of play; grass is
plenty, and the herd, as whole, feel
splendidly. They are easily amused,
too. Jack rabbits are plenty in Kan
sas, and are never-failing source of
amusement to the cattle. Accustomed
to the rabbits from their childhood up,
it is simply absurd to see the actions
of the animals. A calf finds a big
jack rabbit, and, very naturally, is in
terested in looking at this wild beast.
Cautiously approaching him, she gazes
open-eyed at the small monster. An
other calf joins her, and they each re-
gard the animal. Beginning to caper
about it, the attention of the herd is
attracted. and they all come to have a
look at the jack. He is made to get
up and jump quantity off. The cattle
all follow; the rabbit sits down, again
to be forced up; and when he again
jumps off they caper around him, or,
with pretended alarm, they below and
run away.
Many men who came to Kansas in
1869 went into the cattle business,
bringing Eastern ideas with them..
They very naturally built sheds to pro-
tect their cattle from the cold storms
of the winter. l did this, and made
mistake. The reason why sheds are
not good is that the cattle stand under
them when the cold winds blow, and
refuse to leave the shelter to feed or
drink; and when weakened by this
lack Of food they lose vitality and hud-
die together for warmth. This hud-
ding is very dangerous. The outside
cattle want to be on the inside, and
they pile up on each other. This pill
ing is called stacking" and, when
once begun. some cattle are sure to
lose their lives. Out of one " stack" L
took twelve dead steers one morning.
A neighbor of mine took thirty-six
dead teeves out of one "stack." After
losing the twelve steers, took down
my sheds, and that ended the trouble.
When the cattle of Texas are weak
ened by starvation and lack of water,
they are unable to get up without help.
Then the herders are obliged to tail''
them. This consists in taking hold of
the tail and yelling at the animal.
When it struggles to arise, the herder
lifts ON the tail, and so helps the feeble
brute up. He is rewarded for his kind
intention by having the animal lower
its head, and, with weak below of
rage, stagger at him, intent to kill him.
A Texas COW that has 10 be tailed is
about as good as dead; few ever get
over it. Again, when cattle are weak,
they will deliberately commit suicide.
have seen steer walk into the deep
est place in creek, throw himself
down, and never make an effort to get
out. If pulled out with ropes and set
on his feet, he first chases the herders,
then coolly turns around and walks
into the creek again. Of all the cattle
l have helped out of the water, re-
member but two who did not return to
it on the first opportunity and die in it.
l believe they do it with the intelligent
purpose to take their lives. They are
weak, sick, discouraged, have the blues,
and life is burden to them; so they,
just as many men do under the same
circumstances, commit suicide.
What do the herders do during the
long summer days? l have known a
herder to put number of cents into
each pocket of his pantaloons, and
while on duty play seven-up," one
pocket against the other. If the right
pocket won the game, five cents would
be taken from the left and placed in it;
if lost, the reverse.
In passing through Western Kansas,
the traveller sees small towers, built of
stone. on the tops of the highest hills.
Asking what these towers are for, he is
told that they are Indian watch-towers.
This sounds well, but it is not true.
These stones have been piled up bv the
herders; they think if the hills were
little higher they could see over swell
in the prairie, or into a ravine, and
would thus be saved riding there to see
if their cattle had strayed.-M Y. Su''.
Good Examples for Employers.
The Messrs. Coke, coal miners,
Drifton, Pa. will hereafter pay men
injured in their works $500, and boys
$3.50 per week, during the term of
their disability. The Messrs. Coke are
the most liberal of employers.-Coal
Trade Journal.
Up to within two or three years past