The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-09-10
| SHIPPING CATTLE.
THE WAY BE,EVES EMBARK FOR
A TRANSATLANTIC VOYAGE.
The Operation of Transferring the
', Unruly Steers From Transport
BarSes to the Cattle Steamer
A Typical Embarkment.


hard work, vast amount of patience,
many skirmishes and hand to horn or
hand to tail conflicts and no end of
profanity. The first part of the work is
the simplest. The cattle shippers pro-
vide their own superintcndents, who
hire the men to go with the freight to
Europe and who supervise the work Of
putting the beevcs on shipboard. The
favorite hours for loading cattle are late
m the afternoon or early in the morning.
The first barge load usually leaves the
stock yards before daybreak, and by the
time the sun is beginning to make itself
uncomfortable the last bullock is in his
place and ready for the voyage.
The work of letting the cattle out of
their pens, where they have been fed and
watered since their long trip from the
West, is comparatively an easy task.
Superintendent Flynn, two collie dogs
and two old men armed with long sticks
constitute the force, and unless a steer is
particularly unruly and makes trouble
the trip only lasts ten minutes. The
work begins when the cattle are forced
into the pens at the end of the covered
pier. The gangway leading to the barge
opens invitingly, but it always requires
more or less urging to induce the first
bullock to make the journey over it, In
cases of this sort the crew of the barge
give chorus of wild yells, intended to
be encouraging, the superinter dent
;whacks the steer over the fanks with his
prod and the task is generally over. The
Test of tne bunch follow the leader with
out much persuasion. From the moment
The barge leaves the slip the cattle are
solely in the agents hands.
The Exeter City loaded one day re-
Gently from her pier instead of from the
upper Bay, where most cattle ships take
on their living freight. This made the
work slow and laborious. The vessel was
not ready, there were lighters and tugs
in the way, and the loading of the regu-
lar cargo was not entirely finished. This
led to endless annoyance between the
two sets of laborers and greatly height
ened the confusion.
As the barge slowed up and made fast
to the steamer while the gangways were
being run out, the cattle had an oppor-
tunity of viewing for the first time their
quarters for the coming fortnight during
their first and last ocean voyage. twas
not an inviting spectacle. The day was
hot. The longshoremen had shed such
of their garments as could be spared ,and
were carrying on their backs the bales of
hay to be used as fodder. These were
dumped on the deck between the cattle
pens, where a large, square space was
filed with the odds and ends of the
cargo, fresh meat and vegetables, strong
boxes and barrels not yet slowed away in
place.
The pens were half bedded down with
hay, and the men under direction of the
second officer were busy taking down thu
whitewashed bars that separated them
one from the other. Altogether it was
as hot spot as could be found along the
river front, and the long days wait had
not put the men in special good humor
with themselves or with their work.
At last the pens were ready and Super
intendent Hirsh and Foreman Bradley,
who with six underhands were to go with
the cargo to the other side, began load
ing. AS the barge hands went below and
opened the first pen the cattle realized
that they were about to have another cx-
perience and in an instant the place was
noisy with their complaints. Some of
kha froD oDfsnnc cfaaro l. ysol-aI o,l ,oroI
ded each other with their horns, while
others contented themselves with hud-
ding in the most distant corners cf the
pen, to the intense disgust of the men.
'tHere there, not so fastp'
-Four fat bullocks were wedged in the
gangway.
"Hi, Jim; stir him up"
The gangway has a railing on each
side and offers every chance for the sue
cessful stirring up of refractory steers.
A minute later several young men who
had been sitting on the side of the steamer,
heavy and stuL1 with the heat, awoke
with the most surprising activity, and
arming themselves with sticks proceeded
to make the frightened bullocks wild
with fear and pain.
"Stop that. 1 didn't ask you to kill
him. Just start him up"
Two men left their work at this point
and showed at once the superiority of
skilled over the improvised apd unlearned
labor. They hourished their arms and
sticks before the bullocks' eyes and sue
ceeded in driving them back. Then, as
the foremost bullock started on wild
dash, one of the men caught him by the
tail and acting as ruddcr stccred him
neatly into port at the further end of the
ship.
After this experience the work went
on rapidly and with less friction. When
pen was flied the bars were put up.
Only certain number can go into pen,
as the ships rules are that each bullock
must have at least eight feet by two feet,
eight inches space.
At the end OF two hours the task was
ended and the cattle were safely housed
for the voyage.
This was typical embarimcnt. Some
times the cattle are more obstinate than
they were on the Exeter City, and some
times the conditions are no: so pleasant.
Hoading early in the morning, before
idaybreak, in midstrcam and in cold
weather, tries the patience of the men
and temper of the cattle to the utmost.
In the winter when the wind comes up
the bay, tingling the face and benumb-
ing the hands, and the cattle are forcei