Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-01-16
CATTLE ON THE OCEAN.
EULLOCkS SHIPPED THOUSANDS OF
MILES ON LAND AND SEA.

10 slaughter House the J
Creatures Are Well Cared For-AnimaIs
Are Like Human Beings on Shipboard |
and Feel the Approach of Danger.
/ It is only within the last few years that |
the shipping of cattle from this country to !
England has become such an enormous
and profitable enterprise. Before the bust /
ness became what it is steamship owners
often found it problem to find use for
their vessels. Now hundreds of steamships
have been converted into cattle carving
ships, and large fleets leave this city and
Boston weekly with hundreds of head of
cattle for the slaughter houses of London
and Liverpool /
OF late the business has not been so GOOD
: because of the weak marx ct in England
! English dealers have combined against ,
their common foe and competitor. the
| American cattle raiser, and have strained
the market until very little more money is
| TO be made over there than on this side of
| the water. Then dealers here take many
risks when shipping cattle to the other
side. Besides the chance OF an even greater
decline in the market, there is the risk of
| the voyage across the ocean
Scarcely Il day passes bat one hears of
the loss overheard of hundreds of head of
cattle from transatlantic steamships. This
| is n dead loss to the raisers, who also lose
tEe money paid by them to the shippers
and the money paid to the railroads for
| transporting the cattle from the west.
Beasts shipped from this city to Europe
are ali bullocks. Men employed by tina
owners IN the west look after them all the
way from the plains TO the stockyar,ls on
the other side. Each ma 4 has the care of
thirty head of cattle. Much could be
/ written al . hoe Il.
| hardships, their desperate predicaments.
Wonderful stories they tell to any person
who will listen to them. They are all
hardy fellows and are mostly from the
| west. They work their way to New York
| with the cattle, then across the ocean, back
TO New York and across the continent To
the plains. They are always on the 90.
never have any money and generally die
with their boots on.
! GOING ABOARD.
Upon reaching Jersey City from the
| west the cattle are taken from the close
cars into an immense boxIike pasture
! Here they are allowed to roam at will for
| twenty -four hours. This gives them eyer-
else and a chance to breathe They are
well watered, well fed and examined by n
| specialist upon the diseases Of cattle, who
| weeds out the unhealthy ones.
After this first TIVE lty- four hours the
cattle are driven upon barges, but back
into the box cars or aboard railroad floats
The floats are taken in tow by powerful
tugboats and towed down the Hudson into
the East river 10 the dock of the steamship
which Is to carry them to England. The
floats are tied 10 the eamshp with stout
| ropes and then the work Of transferring
the animals begins.
Broad gang planks with high ratings on
either side are set in place over the ships
side. These planks ire ribbed" to keep
the cattle from slipping down Aboard
the steamer the cattle are driven to their
compartments. These are large enough To
hold three ana on some vessels four bul-
locks abreast
The cattle are carried on the spar. main
and steeraGe decks. \ large steamship
like those now used carries from 900 to
800 head. The compartments are Just
large enough 10 let the animals lie down
or roll about little. The beasts are tied
in these Immediately they are driven
aboard from the fiOa1. \ stout rope is put
about the animals horns, then passed
through IA hole in a 3-inch board at the
head of the stall aud knotted on the other
side. Fresh straw is put into the stalls
every day, and the animals are well fed
and well watered during the voyage.
SbME SEASlth, OTIEIS GOOD SAILORS.
at is amusing" said the captain of one
! of the vessels the other day, Ito watch the
cattle during an ocean voyage. Like hu-
man beings, some of them seem to enjoy
the trip and the salt air Others appear to
be timid and frightened. Some of them
| get deathly seaSick, others are good sailors.
The creatures seem to he able to scent Il
storm from afar, just Us they do out on
I he plains. Their terrified belIowings dur
ing q gale are enough to try the best OF
nerves. The animals seem to know when
the ship gets the worst of it in a gale and
to understand and appreciate its danger
and their own. [ have never been on a
wrecked cattle ship, but friends of mine
who have say that when they abandon the
ship the cattle set up terrible believing.
Some break from their stalls, plunge'into
the ocean and follow the ships boats,
swimming until they become exhausted.
| despite contrary reports the cattle are
very well protected during the trip from
the elements Iron decks are raised over
their bodies, but even these offer but little
resistance to the furious seas that often
sweep over the steamer carrying decks,
fittings and hundreds of head of cattle
Overheard.
Disease among the cattle while at sea
is difficult to attend to. 1t is next to i'm
possible to separate the diseased from the
healthy. The on thing to do is to shoot
down those afflicted. Pleuro-pneumona
kills of great many ut sea.
JEALOUS ENGLISHStEN.
at is ridiculous in the Englishmen to
declare. however that ali American cattle
are diseased; that they have pleuro-pneu-
mOnia and all the other diseases to which
cattle are subject. The American cattle
are just as healthy as, if not healthier
than, the English.
"When the cattle reach the other side
: they have but t'yenty-four hours to live.