Telegram-herald., 1890-06-01
THE EFFECTS OF LOCO.
a Weed That Makes Horses Had
ana Practically Worthless
What CAlf0ral2 Colonel Knows Ae03s
Rattle Weed aDd ISs Victims "est-
era Cattle Nsa .n4 Their
Hatred ~ sheep.

ANloAtl Juan ~, Mo- aftd1f ~ Ne-i-
foruia, sat alone Il table Il the Hon
man House cafe yesterday nervously
lingering tie big quartz links % his
watehcAain aud wondering What had
become Of all the men of his Acqnaint-
ance. lie wanted somebody 70 hear
hin talk. says the New York sun, and
be was Just about 20 send FOR Billy
Edwards and ask hin 20 bring somebody
In by main force when his eye fell upon
a man who was knowa 10 him as good
listener The Colonel showed his slouch
back. made his glass ring By hlliPing II
with his nail and cheerily said, Hi
theret Then nc sdded: You're just
The man wanted 10 see.
Did you ever see a loooed horse?"
said the Colonel "Of course you never
did. It's a subject that causes mos
argument and row among the stookmsn
OF California than the price of beef ever
did. a loc0ed horse is the worst
piece OF property d man can own,
next 10 4 corner lot In an sddi-
tion 10 burSted boom town. You
never can tell what the crittcr will do
nor when he will DO it. lie behaves as
though he were half asleep most Of the
time. but just when he ought 70 be
asleep he'll do more fool things than
You can keep cases on. IL you stake
him out near camp he'll wind himself
oil up in the stake ropo until he can't
walk, and then bcll suddenly pretend
that something has frightened him and
begin 70 kick and snort and turn solner-
saults. The racket awakens you. and sup
posing that panther has Jumped tho
horse you rush out 20 help him. IL
takes you ten minutes 70 untangle tho
horse, and as soon a. be gets upon his
feet he kicks at you or knocks you down
with his stupid old head. And then
you're sorry panther hadn't tackled
him.
Tho lococd horse may have been
used under saddle all his lie. but some
day when you want 70 saddle him he
will discover that the blanket IS raw
enous monster that wants 20 devour
him. and you can't get anywhere near
the brute. II he's tied up. you have 70
cut the rope 10 save him from dislocat-
ing his neck in his efforts TO escape
from that bloodthirsty saddle blanket.
Such tricks as lying down in tho middle
Of creok or tumbling heels over head
into bunch of cactus you've got 70 be
prepared for at any time.
~ remember locoed horse that Sam
BeachaIa had when we were prospecting
on the Castac. Sam thought that plug
was q Jim dandy, and wouldn't admit
that he was locood. Billy had tho
meanest gait you ever saw, something
between Looping and pacing. and he
snortcd with every breath he drew. II
you tried TO lead him he'd fall down IN
more ways than circus clown could
think OF. and. sometimes when be stuck
his nose into pan OF barley, his lurid
Imagination would transform each grain
into q sea serpent or roaring woggly-
bob, and away he'd 60, snorting like a
locomotive and tumbling down Hill over
his own feet.
"You want to know tho c3;-Sc OF loco2
Well, that's what tho stoclmen quarrel
about. Most people believe that tho
loco plant is responsible for the dis
case. II IS low plant that grows in
plenty all over tho scmi-barrcn land oi
OF tho West II bears pods that become
very dry IN the summer. and rattle
when the wind moves them. I don't
know Tho botanical name. but one Of
tho popular names is rattle weed II
is not good forage, but stock Will eat il
when feed Is scarce.
Some stockmcn declare that this
rattle weed viii mako a horse crazy,
give him tho jim-jams. so % speak, bat
Others scout the idea and protest that
the loco property n tho rsttling pod IS
all superstition. 4 csttleman in South
ern California assured mo that BIS
horses bad eaten rattle weed for twenty
five years. or az loast had bad free OF
po~tgnitv 20 cat IL. bu' he never rad a
locood horse on the range until after tho
sheep began feeding over the country In
big band. His theory was that the
shecp-tick crawlcd IN the horses ears,
burrowed ard laid eggs. and affected
the animals 80 as a spider might affect
8 man hv crawling into his cor and
waltzing around on his tyTnp pauum II
vou havc ever had a bug in your car vou
knov bow that feols And. bv tbe -av,
81 bug ever gets into yosr car. WHISKY
viii fetch hira Cock your head over y
one side. and fll your car Vlth the
iiquor. and ont comes tho bug. as dead
as civil-service rcforu. always carry
whisky whom G. into the mountains