Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1891-10-09
TERRIBLE SUFFERING.
MANNER OF ABUSING CATTLE
ON SHIP BOARD.
The Torture Very Injurious to the Quail
lily of the Meat-Bad Treatment
of Man and Beast-A Cruel
Practice.

III llt IDNApi
sides OF the beasts We're belabOred With
stones and repeatedly punched witt
'orks until they were bloody. They
we're beaten ~ iie face with hatchets.
To make sick cattle get up. the tobac-
20 trek was resort cd to several times.
This consists OF pulling the lid of the
eye back against the forehead and
splitting tobacco juice into the eye OF
the beast. The nose, another tender
spot is also operated upon. Forks
are jabbed into it and ropes tied around
and twisted with stick lever until
the excruciating agony forces the
brute to make the effort required of
him. and get on his feet.
During this beating with hatchets
the horns of the beast are often broken
and shattered into splinters. Three
bullocks died on the voyage that had
been treated in this cruel Mariner.
The 362 bullocks shipped were fat and
sleek looking when driven aboard at
Philadelphia. When they We're un-
loaded from the ship at Deptford they
were thin and emaciated, dirty and
rough-coated, and altogether sorry
looking beasts. Handling cattle in
this manner must be very injurious to
the quality Of their meat. One of the
dead cattle was cut open by the boss
cattleman. and found TO be rotten
within few minutes after the life had
left it. The cattle Jared badly but
the men Jared little better. We
found the very first day that we were
expected TO do nearly al the work.
and the most ordinary facilities for its
performance We're denied Us. We
were obliged to clean alleys and pens
with our bare hands, and even warm
water was refused us TO remove from
our hands the stain OF cattle dung,
&c, after cur days work was finished.
A bucket Of sea- water had, of course,
little effect on our skins. save TO rem
der more acute the pain of the broken
blisters.
We had usually for breakfast kind
of hash. made mostly with potatoes,
few rotten onions and shreds Of beef
which often stunk. The tea was of the
weakest. Dinner was the most palat-
able meal we got-boiled beef and po-
tatoes. We were given enough but
terine at time TO serve our mess sew
eral meals, but having no clean, dry
place to keep the supplies they got so
dirty that they were useless. A small
loaf of sour bread was given each man
daily, but it was gone by supper time
and we had to fall back on "hard
tack" too hard to eat with any salts
faction. The boss cattlemen messed
in the cabin. Throughout the entire
voyage no notice was taken OF us or OF
our treatment by the captain or ships
officers.
The work was very hard, and some
times it was impossible for "a green
hand to do what he was ordered to do
while a heavy sea was rolling. 1t was
almost impossible for landsman un-
der such circumstances to safely carry
sack of corn weighing 1jO pounds
along the fore and aft bridge, but no
excuse was accepted for IA slip. We
had TO crawl over and dive under the
unhappy cattle in the performance Of
our work, twisting their tails, prodding
them with pitchforks and beating them
into position. The slightest remon-
STRANGE entailed on us Il SINH ar punish
ment to that the poor brutes suffered.
One unfortunate man Of less than
average strength was provided with Il
truck TO move some forage one day, he
not being able to carry it as ot lers
did. On one OF these trips from the
hold the ship gave an unusually alb
rupt plunge. The man lost his bal
ance, the truck was jerked from his
hands and rolled over the hatch. nearly
falling on the ships carpenter, who
was working below. One OF the cattle
men caught hold Of the man, shouting:
IL told you the - was unlucky.
He'll kill somebody yet Let's chuck
the -- overheard And ! think he
would have tried to do it if an officer
had not cried TO him, with laugh, TO
let him alone.
The voyage took sixteen days, six
teen days Of acute misery for US,
working a free passage-siXteen days
of utter torture for the unhappy cattle.
We were not forced on the trip. al
though circumstances made il neces-
sary. The cattle poor brutes, were
more helpless than we. For them
whenever | think or talk of that voy-
age, my warmest Indignation against
their masters and owners is aroused:
each one we threw overheard | looked
on as the victim OF murderous brutal
ity; every ounce of flesh they lost,
every drop OF blood that ran from
their wounds, ! have no doubt is
charged against the account their ty-
rants shall have 10 settle.
| was ragged, unwashed, foul my
self, when | left that ship behind an
object for disgust and pity, but these
poor, scrawny, ill-kempt brutes, whose
wholesome flesh was discolorel and
rotting on their yet living bones-no
amount OF soap and water would help
them. hope speedily TO see the day
when this horrible mode OF shipping
dumb animals is dispensed with.
Vaccination Statistics.