Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-03-19
THE VACOUERO.
ae Is Often WrongfuIly Oon1ounded
 with the Cowboy.
rhe Former Is But . Breaker of Wild Horses, While tho Latter's Occu- patton Is Indicated by
 His Name.

difference between the men known by these names is that of locality of the country in which they work; in other words, that a man working with range cattle is a cowboy in the North and vacquero in the South. Such mistake, however, is only made by people unac- luainted with range work, because as a matter of fact there is a vast difference between the occupations in which these men are engaged. It i- truo every vac luero may become cowboy; but every cowboy can not possibly become vac quero.
 The name and the occupation it de- notes are both of Spanish origin says Chambers Journal. It is a matter of history that the first horses brought to America were from Spain md tho cow ponies used in Texas and Old and New Mexico are to-day mongrel descendants from the pure-bred Barbs landed on the shores of the fluff of Noxi o over 8 century since. Ire same is true of the vaoquero, for ho is invariably 8 Mex lean, sometimes the descendant from pur" Castilian family; but m re often 8 ''Greaser' or half-breed, having he blood of the Castilian and Indian mixed In j. veins. His occupation is hand ling and breaking wild horses, and while he inherits the hot-tempered, inn petuous disposition, together with the reckless bravery of his Spanish ances- try, he has also coupled with it the cum hing and treachery of his Indian fore fathers in as noted degree as the wild descendants of those pure-bred Spanish palfreys have inherited their high spir- its, speed and endurance.
 In his dress the vacquero gives the strongest outward evidence of his an cestry and occupation. The heavy, broad-brimmed sombrero, ornamented with gold or silver braid and cord; the fancifully-decorated and embroidered 7elveteen jacket and trousers with buck skin shirt and gaily-colored sash, long ;ogged boots and big spurs, form invari- ably the dress adopted by him, no mat ter how poor he may be or how old and worn his garments.
 i In choosing his outfit, his saddle and bridle, he is moro careful than the ordi- nary cowboy, and gives less thought to | the expense; especially so is this the case with regard to the trappings of his saddle, which are often fastened in place with silver-headed rivets, the heads being fre- quently as largo as a crown piece, and l or any other device which may catch his fancy. His bridle is usually of his own manufacture, of plaited horse-hair of different colorS so combined as to give evidence of his natural artistic taste. It differs from the ordinary bridle in being so constructed as to be adapted for use With or without bits and when used in the latter shape is called q l stl. IT, :,s l. .1~a :. quero invariably uses it the first time he saddles and mounts a wild horse, be- cause then the bits are useless, and only irritate the animal; the first lesson the vacquero desires to teach it being to go ahead without any regard to direction, the hair-cord, which passes around the nose and jaws being sufficiently strong to stop it's wild race, if such cours. is necessary. The lasso or lariat used by the vacquero is, like the cowboys, made from plaited raw-hide or horse-hair, about thirty feet in length, and so heavy that none but very strong wind is able to alter the course of the moose when thrown at fleeing animal.
 The outfit entire is often worth hum dreds of dollars, and represents the vac- quero's stock in trade, being as indis- pensable as lawyers or physicians li- brary. We have often seen such an out fit girthed, or ''sinched" as they say, on a horse not worth more cents than the outfit was dollars. The vacquero takes more pride in the completeness and quality of his outfit than the ordinary cowboy.
 Rarely do you ever see the vacquere change his occupation; he is apparently
 born in the saddle, reared in the saddle, and not unfrequently falls dead from the saddle. He is moro ac- complished with the lasso than the
 cowboy, and no vacquero is considered a thoroughly competent lasso-thrower
 or roper, unless he can catch horse running at it's utmost speed by any one of its four feet, or it's two front or hind feet Merely to be able to throw lasso over the horses head is no qualification for 8 vacquero. Then, too, an efficient vaceue understands thoroughly the art of braiding horse-hair or raw-hide and making therefrom brides, riding= whips or ''querts," and lassos or lariats. Of course, the main difference be- tween tho vacquero and cowboy is that the former is employed exclusively with range-horses, while the latter's charges are horned creatures. Besides this, the thorough vacquero is rarely seen in the North. In other respects, however, his life and habits are very similar to those of the cowboy; but he is better paid, and actually his life is in greater danger; for while the cowboy may have occasionally to break broncho or half-wild horse, that is the yacquero's regular occupation, and he
 may be called on to ride five pr six < day for weeks at a time.
 | A Machine to Butter Bread.
 The latest and most unique invention is a machine for buttering bread. It is used in connection with a great patent