The Red Cloud chief., 1880-01-22

~e went TO rurnmsge their lamp. All
ere found vas s few pixies without heads.
a parcel OF empty bottles filed with ws-
ter, and n bundle Of blank French COM
missions alled up wi.h Irish names.
Troops are nov stationed round, which
exactly squares with NV IDEAS u securi.
". Adieu: I have only time 10 add
tha. I am.yours in haste. h. n.
r. S.-h you do not receive this. Of
course IL has misearried; therefore
beg you write and Jet me know.-nsm-
krs'b Jour.a'.
The Colorado Shepherd.
Our shepherd must purchase his sheep
and here come in 4 good many honest
differences Of opinion rs to the kind
which viii give the hes. results. some
will buy cheap '.Mexieans." expecting
Ia breed 4 better quality Of lambs. and
then dispose Of the original purchase.
Others affect the California stock. which,
Of late years, has come into favor in
some quarters. The weight Of opinion.
however, would undoubtedly incline our
enterprising young ranchero To buy
sheep IN the spot in good condition. and.
what Is very important. thoroughly ac-
clima,ed. His bucks" (say about
three TO each hundred ewes) viii gen
orally be Merinos. In the autumn. we
will say, then, he begins operation.
under favorable auspices. His cabin i
very plainly furnished, and his "cor-
rails" or yards and sheds, properly
constructed and in readiness. For feed
ing in stormy weather he has enough
hay safely stored away; and after due
care and inquiry, he has secured an eX-
perienced and competent herder-bct,er,
an American. At daylight all hands
are called Ia breakfast, and soon after
the bleaiing flock are moving over the
range, and the herder, with his canteen
slung over his shoulder, and probably a
book in his pocket, has whistled to his
shepherd dog and started after them.
During the whole day they Craze on the
short grass, going once In water; and
afternoon sees them brought back near
To the corrals, in which, later on, they
are again confined for the night. Day
after day. week after week, month after
month. pass in monotonous round; and
then the cold weather comes, and the
herder puts on a thicker coat, and reads
less, and walks about rapidly, and
stamps his feet for warmth. And then
some day, when he is far away from the
ranch, there comes on that dreaded
enemy of sheep raising-a prairie snow.
storm. With but little warning the
clouds have gathered, and the snow is
falling in thick and heavy flakes. The
sheep h~urriedly huddle together,
and no power a make them
move. The herder may have had time
to get them into q gulch, or under a
bank; failing in this, there is nothing
for it but To stay with them, sometimes
a day and a night, and trust to getting
them home when the storm is over.
Not far from Colorado Springs is n
gulch called the Big Corral, in which
more than N thousand sheep were lost
a year or two ago, having followed each
other up To the brink, and fallen over
into the deep snow. Nor did the Mexi-
can herder ever return To tell the tale,
for he shared their fate. Ii is with the
snow-storm, indeed, that the dark side
Of the Colorado shepherds life is ASSOC
ciated, and the great tempest Of the
spring Of 1873 left a sorrowful record
behind it. 1t must be mentioned that
sheds are an innovation, hat some
ranches have none even now, and that
before they were built the sheep were
exposed, eve i'm the corrals, to the fury
of the elements. Per contra, it should
be said that no such storm as that of
March, 1873. has been known since there
were any sheep in this part of the coun-
try. On this occasion thousands of sheep
persisted. The snow was eleven feet
deep in the ~corrals, and sheep were dug
out aiire after being buried for two and
even three weeks! Their vitality seems
very great, and many perish. not fromthe
pressure of the snow, but from suffoca-
ton caused by others falling or crOwding
upon them. Ii is asserted thatthey some
times, while still buried. work their way
down to the grass, and feed thereon.
But our shepherd has taken care to have
plenty Of sheds, and he knows, too, that
by the doctrine of chances he need moi
count on such n storm more than once
in ten years, and he faces the winter
with a stout heart. Whenever it is pos
sible to send the sheep out, the herder
takes them, despite the weather; but
when that is impossible or indiscreet,
they are fed at home.
In May comes "lambing," and the
extra hands are busily occupied in TAX
ing care of the young lambs. With
their mothers, they are separated from
the rest of the flock, first in small
Z" lunches" her in larger ones: and in
October they are weaned. In June
comes shearing-an easy and simple
operation; and, if need be, "dipping,"
or immersing the stock in great troughs
containing a solution of tobacco OF lime,
cures the "scab," and completes the
years programme. Our shepherd sells
his wool, counts the increase Of his flock
after weaving, and if, as is to be hoped,
he is a good boOk-keeper, he sits down
and makes up his accounts for the year.
1t is hard to picture a greater contrast
than that which exists between the sheep
and the cattle business, the freedom and
excitement of the latter bearing about
the same relation to the humdrum rou-
tine Of the former as does toe appear
of the great herd of often noble
looking animals widely scattered Over
the plains, and roaming sometimes for
by themselves, to that of the
timid flock bleating in the corral, and
frightened at the waving of q piece of
white paper. And then to think of the
difference between the life of the 90 cow
puncher" Gas he calls himself), riding
his spirited horse in the company of his
fellows, and that of the herder, on foot
and in solitude, is enough to make US
wonder how men can be found for the
one, while there is the slightest chance
of securing the other.-Hdrper's.
Taking the Chances.
A. tom o.clooE raSfarday noruipO q