The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-08-05

other should have finished his various du
ties and gone to bed. He then opened the
gate intending TO let a little water pass
down with the charitable idea OF giving
the intruder bath. He was more than
successful, for when he raised the gate
the slides that held it in place gave way
and the water rushed down with roar,
filing the fume, and he had neither the
means nor, it is to be feared, the wish to
stop it. Among the fraternity this vas
considered a very unkind trick 10 play on
a compatriot and it aroused considerable
Indignation. They believed that 1t was
carving joke too far, even though it was
a good one, for there was real danger In
giving sheepherder bath without due
warning and preparation.
No one thinks of the herder as having
the business ability of the average laborer,
though he gets better wages, has fewer ex-
penses and is less supervised. Against
these advantages is, of course, the loneli-
ness, but to this they soon grow accus-
toned. Not infreQuently shee pherder
develops into the prosperous sheep-owner,
but far oftener goes to the nearest town,
when money is due, and has an uproariOus
good time and then departs for camp again
with no other object in life than to repeat
the experience. But however they may
lack the money-making trait as class, an
individual crops up now and then who is
quite able to compete, even with sheep
man. There was one who had his head
quarters in the metropolis Of the Sage
brush State who made his own terms with
his employers. He was to have $50
month and the number of sheep given him
to herd was to be returned at the eXpira-
ton of his term. For all sheep returned
in excess of the number given him he was
to receive dollar and half a head. and
he agreed to forfeit like sum in the event
of being short the number after deducting
a certain ratio for winter losses.
1t is, of course, no reflection OF sheep
men that this herder was always in
demand and made good wages. His skill
was attested by the CELEBRITY with which
any man who had been a fOrmor employer
of his moved camp when he came into the
neighborhood. His grandmother's flock
would not escape him. and there was even
rumOr to the effect that the only thing
! inSuring the safety OF lambs on gravestones
was the fact that they were constructed in
| such manner as to render it we'll nigh
| i'm possible to get a crook around the leg
without too much chseling. Though he
| was the most expert hand in his line of
which the State could boast his fidelity to
! his EMPLOYERS interest was not to be
doubted, and be avoided getting mixed in
his ideas of the real ownership of sheep by
| simply assuming that all to be obtained by
| hook or crook legitimately belonged to his
| latest employer.
! Owing to keen appreciation OF the
| beverage known as "sheepherder's de-
light" which is synonym for the worst
whisky, he sometimes changed EN- DlOyers
rather often in his immediate neighDor-
hood, and one of the noticeable results of
| his methods was that mutilation of the
ear SOON ceased to De Distinguishing
| mark in proving the ownership of sheep.
| Particularly was this the case when few
imitatOrs of his methods sprang up and
swapping became general. Then if a man
was nimble enough TO catch his property
as it was rushed into the Shearing pen he
might claim il; but when it came out slim,
clean and white. with huge black brand
| of paint on it, he could sigh, grind his
! teeth and register a vow to get even, but
| that was ALL for investigations In ear
marks were likely to lead to dlmlnutlon
| in numbers in his own band.
Although this man drank as but few are
| able to do he never became maudlin and
| confidential, and therefore never got eth er
| himself or his employer in trouble. In
stead of the confidential habit he INDUCED
in the storytelling habit, and in this line
was also a pronounced success. He has
! been heard to tell about $50 stories in as
many minutes and all of them warrant ted
to shock a tenderfoot. However, he has
been known to spend an hour while wet,
| cold and hungry, In searching through a
| flock of sheep after they were corraled at
| night for The mother of weak, chilled
/ ing under his coat for half a day. AS a
man he certainly had his faults. but 10 his
profession" proudly held himself with
| out peer.
Taking him all in all. the sheep