The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1888-08-02
IN NEW MEXICO.
a PICTURESQUE FEATURE OF soJTH.
WESTERN SHEEP RAISING.

AO4AOWS dL OuCG The
Navajos shear but once a year. but
nearly all other sheep owners TWEEN
May and September The shearing is the
most picturesque feature of southwestern
sheep raising. 1t would fairly paralyze
an eastern wool grower, whose men Law
their subjects on table and shear thirty
to forty head day per man, to watch
the operation in New Mexico It is light
ming thrice fabricated Each man shears
from 10 to $50 head a day, and it is of
record that III contest single man has
sheared over 200 sheep between sunrise
ana sunset The shearing point is chosen
usually as near the railroad as possible
to save carriage. it being much cheaper
and easier to transport wool on the hoof
thanSin the sack corral about 10 feet
high is built of railroad ties or cedar
posts; the army of shearers comes trudp-
ing in from all quarters of the compass
Mexicans, Pueblos and few Navaios;
the first flock is brought down from the
hills, and the fun commences. With
shouts and carajoes and flying sticks, the
flock is turned in toward the corral, the
little band of goats serving as an advance
guard and pilot Fat, rotund and woolly,
they jam into the corral, from which they
are to emerge in few hours the shorn
and shabby shadow of their former selves,
and likely patched with many a crimson
nick. Within the Enclosure are from fifty
to eighty shearers. each with his own par
ticular station at the inside of the fence.
And now the $500 sheep are in. the gap is
closed and the ball opens
Three-Quarters of the area of the corral
Is one dense mass of huddled wool 1t
seems impossible that living creatures
hn aly ~ A
upon their backs would have to run on
wool to the other side of the corral before
he could reach the ground Unable to
move more than their heads, with inglo,
rious unanimity of tail turned toward the
common foe. trembling and breathless,
the timid creatures await their fate
There is a grand rush of the shearers
Each man grabs sheep by the hind legs
or by the wool-if he be ambitious he
takes one in each hand-and runs to his
place dragging his reluctant victim back
ward behind him. Then he throws the
sheep upon it's side, gathers it's four little
feet into bunch and ties them with ii
soft, coarse cord or thong. Then he is
rushed back to the bunch for more, and
so on until he has as big row of captives
as he can lay out without crowding his
neighbors on either hand. Then, grasping
bunch of legs in his left hand and the
keen sheep shears in his right, he wades
in 1t is pretty sight to see an expert
shearer at work. With lightning rapidity
and marvellous dexterity he drives the
heavy shears down through the dense and
matted wool. rolling it down from the
sides as If it were a solid fabric which
one might pick up entire; sliding the
razor like blades unhesitatingly over the
angles and into the hollows, hidden by
their thick coat. but seldom nicking the
skin The current wages for shearers are
two cents per head for common sheep.
three cents for improved sheep, and board.
A good shearer. therefore. makes good
money for this country. as he will shear
125 sheep day.
Slowly around the corral PAGES the
scorer In his right hand is a pencil; in
his left is piece of cardboard, with num-
bers from one up to the aggregate of the
shearers running down it's left hand edge.
and each number commanding a line of
its own across the card Every few sec
onds comes q cry from some part of the
corral ''Viente-unol'' "Cuarante-seisl"
"Numero cincol" as the case may be, each
yell delivered with that emphatic JUNCTION
which seems indigenous here Each man
receives number at the commencement
of the shearing season. and it serves him
as name until its close The yell. there
fore, means merely that Jesus Romero
temporarily dubbed No. 21-has finished
shearing a sheep, and the scorer tallies
one to his credit accordingly.
Saving wood-an occupation which in
the east has some notoriety as a spine
sprainer-is a simple nap as compared to
the New Mexican fashion of sheep shear
ing, which is. perhaps, the most fatiguing
work in the world The sheep is on the
ground, the shearer is on his feet, bent
till his hands are within three inches to
foot from the ground, and in this attitude
working twelve hours with half an hours
intermission for dinner
In an incredibly short time the shearer
has done with his six eight first victims
and unties them all They go skipping
back to their companions. looking and
possibly feeling something like a boy
whose clothes have been stolen while he
was swimming 1t is pretty safe prop.
osition that the world doesn't contain a
sorrier. forlorner specimen than a shorn
sheep. And at our New Mexican attitudes
from 5000 to 5000 feet above the sea
level-the dwindled wool wearers are
doubtless anxious for that proverbial tenn
pGTluS VI Ll0 Wtuu
Having sharpened his shears on a fat
sandstone, the shearer collars another
batch of recalcitrant victims and goes on
with his breakback job. Meanwhile a
stunted laborer gathers up the feeces in
big piece of burlap and carries his bundle
to the corral. Here, upon four tall. strong
posts. set firmly in the ground and framed
in with boards at the top hangs huge
burlap sack from whose neck project the
head and shoulders of man, who is busy
tramping the wool down with his feet
His companion, perched upon the boards
above. takes the feeces from the gatherer
and dumps them into the bag When the
sack is full it is sewed up and rolled aside
its place on the hooks being taken by an
empty one. All day long two little pals
amos are trotting about inside the corral
armed with wisps of greasewood. with
which they sweep into the corners each
stray lock of wool. which would otherwise
be lost
Meanwhile the sacks have been weighed,
and upon each has been marked it's weight
averaging 225 pounds-with the initials
or brand marks of the owner, and bloodier
but equally important work has been
going on little way from the corral, at a
stout post, The shearers must eat. and