The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-05-25
did not see him for week. Then he joined

did not see him for week. Then he Joined
the herd as private.
Ut an animal In the herd gets badly wounded.
1t will be killed by the others II great care -
not exercised. The sound animals turn ruth
lsssly on the sick or wounded ones. Ii looks
hard, and the ,lnthinking observer remarks
on the cruelty shown against one another OK
dumb animals. It is simply an expression 81
the instinct Of the animals. ~ Whlcn lney eh-
pect TO ward off attacks Of wolves, ana 20 pre-
moving their inducemsnt to It, The animal u
wounded, badly wounded. the wolves smell
him, and. from far and near. gather about
him. The cattle, In their. Wild state con.
stanty moved up and down the .h., ~,
10. when they killed the sick animal, they le1t
tho body behind. Now they kill the SICK one
for The same reason, and daily feed about MS
carcass. a,;n,.
well and are full q play; grass p plenhhy, an 20
easily amused, too. Jack-rabbits are plenty.
In Kansas. and are d nevsr-fafling source Of
amusement to the cattle. Accustomed 70 elIe
rabbits from their calfhood UP, 1t - simply
calf finds q big jack rabbit, and, very natur-
alsy is Interested In looking at the wild beast.
Cautiously approaching him, she gazes open.
eyed Mt the small monster announcer ch,l
Joins her, and they each regard Ing HnillaI
beginning to capsr about 1t, the attention Of
the herd ID attracted, and they oil come up 20
have a look al the jack. He Is made to get up
md iump a1alntly off The cattle oil follow:
the rabbit sits down. again TO pc forced up !,
and whom he again jumps OF ~ Ihey c tL
around him, or, with pretendeu alhrIh. hhey
below and run away.
MANY men who cHme to Kansas In 1869 went
into the cattle business, bringing Eastern
ideas with them. They very naturally built
storms of the winter. did this, and made q
mistake. The reason why sheds are not good
liz that the cattle stand under them when the
cold winds blow and refuse to leave the shell
ter to feed or drink and when weakened Dy
this lack OF food they lose vitality aud huddle
together for warmth. This huddling is very
dangerous. The outside cattle want to be on
the inside, and they pile UP on each other.
This pllng is called stacking, and when
once begun some cattle are sure to lose their
steers one morning. A neighbor Of mine took
thlrty-six dead beeves out 81 one stack.
After losing the twelve steers took down my
sheds, and that ended the trouble.
When the cattle Of Texas are weakened by
starvation and lack Of water they are unable
to get up without help. Then the herders are
obliged TO tall them. This consists In taking
hold OF the tail and yelling at the animal
When II struggles to arise, the herder l1fts On
the talI and 90 helps the feeble brute up. lie
ID rewarded for his kind intention by having
the animal lower its head and, with o weak
below Of rage, stagger at him. with intent TO
kill him. A Texas COW that has to be tailed is
about as good as dead; few ever get over It,
Again, when cattle are weak they will de-
Iiherately commit suicide. ! haveseen steer
walk into the deepest place In % creek, throw
himself down and never make an effort TO get
out. Ii pulled out with ropes and set on his
feet, he first chases the herders, then cody
turns around and walks into the creek again
or all the cattle / have helped out OF the
water. / remember but two who did not re-
turn to it the first opportunity and die In It.
] believe they do 1t with the intelligent pur-
pose to take their lives. They are weak, sick,
discouraged, have the blues, and life is bur-
den to them; 50 they, just as many men do
under the came circumstances commit
suicide.
What do the herders do during the long.
summer days2 / have known D herder to
put number of cents into each pocket of his
pantaloons, and while on duty play Seven
up, one pocket against the other. II the
right pocket won the game. five cents would
be taken from the left and placed In 1T; II it
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
those towers are for, he is told that they are
Indian watch-towers. This sounds well, but
1t is not true. These stones have been piled
up by the herders; they think II the hill
were little higher they could see over Q
swell Id the prairie or into ravine, and
would thus be saved riding there to soc II
their cattle had strayed.