Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1882-11-09
No. 81.
CATTLE RAISING.
Why Wyoming man Quit the Busi-
ness.

Il shall never handle cattle any more
said Patrick Healy, the other day while talk
ing with Wyoming stock man. II got dis
couraged a good many years ago | had
heard that cattle would yield all the way from
seventy-five to ninety per cent. profit, so l
got 500 head and let nature take her course.
The following spring | started to brand my
calves and count up my profits. My style
of branding was laborious and unsatistac
tory. I would catch calf, throw him down,
build sage brush fire. heat my branding
iron, brand him and start after another. This
consumed half an hour to the animal, the
best could do, and it looked as though it
would take till about Christmas to brand my
calves. However, the number didn't hold
out by one-half and as l was just closing the
branding, meanwhile cussing my luck in the
stock business. / one day noticed, with my
field glass, several miles away on the plains,
a cowboy, who acted so strangely that | re-
solved to get behind a little knoll and watch
him. AS he got nearer discovered tnat he
had a little charcoal stove attached to his
saddle behind, and also that he had brand
ing iron secured to 2OO-foot lariat, which he
threw with wonderful accuracy. The cow
boy was an employe of Mr.. Tinnier. neigh
Dor OF mine who had very large herd of
cattle and made the raising of cattle very
prosperous business.
Instead of building sage brush fire and
and going through the tedious process of
throwing down an animal to brand him, he
just heated the branding iron in the little
timers stove as he rode along and when
within 100 feet or so of calf, just threw it
with that deadly aim of his and Mr.. Tinnier
was ahead $15 animal.
Il decided right there that l would not
raise any more cattle. Science had the bulge
on nature. Natural increase is all right
where it does not have to compete with
science
I just went to Mr.. Tinnier and said:
Look here, Mr.. Tinnier, want to sell you
my little bunch of cattle at fair figure. l
want to see you have them because you de-
serve them. A man who can bring science
to his aid the way you can ought to have
this herd, and believe you will ultimately
have the outfit anyhow. Things seem to
point that way now, and 1 want to facili-
tate matters by selling you the bunch before
it is everlastingly too late.
my cows feel just the same as do about
it. They are willing to do everything they
can that is honorable in order to forward the
cattle interests of the country, but they can't
compete with your craftsmanship. They
feel hurt and very much depressed by it, and
so do I. Ijust want to hasten the result by
letting you have the cattle before they got
too much reduced.
He saw that 1 was feeling very unhappy
over my cattle deal, and he kindly took them
off my hands. have never owned any cat
lie since that. I have seen many of my
neighbors accumulate large herds and big
fortunes, but it had no temptation for me. I
know that with nothing to start with but
the wreck of bull-train and one of those
self-registering branding-irons, men who
didn't know the difference between maver-
ick and the Venus of Milo have become
millionaires, but that don't affect me any l
just squeeze along the best can and raise
sheep at a profit of thirty-fve to forty per
cent. 1t is not SO rapid, of course, as the
cattle business under careful management,
but man feels better when he meets the
vigilance committee"