The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-15

Compounueo-S some OF Ine TYPES TO
Be Seen--They Receive Penny a
Head.
From the Chicago Times.
London, June 3O.-The methods pur-
sued by the beers of South Africa in Sc
curing a wool crop are shown by the fol-
lowing advices Just received from Cape
Town. The lazy kafir is shown up in a
new life. The story runs as follows:
The sheep-shearer of the cape has no
kinship with the. union man of the Aus
tralian station. Theone is an Ethiopian,
the other European. The Australian is
a lank, lantern awed, bony; resolute man
wearing wide hat and having wide
opinions on politics and religion, addicted
TO betting, devoted to his union, knowing
the value of organization Our sheep
shearer is raw kaffir. He usually halls
from the locations Of the Transkei, and
hunger, or the hut tax, or ii may be a ro-
mantle passion for maid wives in the
Transkei being only obtainable with cat
tie or their equivalent in CASH has COM
PEELED him to come out and seek shear
ing" He will not work for works sake
Labor of any kind is beneath him Dire
necessity alone drives him out OF the loca-
ton. He never comes out singly, but in
gangs.
Toward the month Of October, when
the merinos are sleek and "zwart" with
the grease of a winters fleece, and the
weld is getting green on those parts which
were burned in August, the sheep shear
ers come along. They are motley crowd.
There may be fifty in the troop, or less,
but whatever their number, depend On it
you will find variety in their attire
LIn..g 10 l.. ILL l.
aged overall, which has palpably seen
military service One side of the coat
IS torn away, and you behold the shapely
limb and rounded hip of the wearer, who
carries his shears and his water bottle
and his knapsack, made Of goat skin, on
the end of a stout "kerrie," and feels as
happy as the day is long.
WEAR ONLY ONE TRoUsER.
There is another in a crushed white tile
which has descended from some respec-
table merchant on the coast, which is
now worn by the kafir slightly on the
side of his woolly black head He has
got on one trouser-the other leg free as
the air, and his red and blue blanket falls
from his shoulders with the easy grace of
an Arabs robe. A third looks radiant in
a suit of many oolored rags. Sartorially
speaking, he is completely equipped, he
has the jacket, the vest, and the unmen-
biDAdOlGS4 cdCil u u ulueT6QL nue., anu
ventilation guaranteed In every quarter
Rags may really look picturesque, but
you must see them on a katfrarian sheep
Sbearer. Others, again, have only
blanket and loin cloth, with perhaps a
pair of boots, which, however, they do
not wear, but carry on their shoulders
with the shears. In rags or blankets, in
cast-off military uniforms, or in the uni
forms of nature, the colored sheep
ahaaFarE nm ha fray oil
always pleased with themselves and with
the world of their environment.
On the march, though sent out by hun
ger and the hut tax, they are in the main
well behaved-much more peaceful than
| gang of West of Ireland IPishmen
Should boer going to market ride
through them, rising in his stirrups and
| fiourishing his 'sjambok Che is more
likely TO do this returning from the
"dorp'), the sheep-shearers will scatter
like herd of angoras, and will only draw
together again when the "baas" and his
nag have receded in the dusty perspective,
when they will have fearful fit of laugh
ing, and the whole gang will squat and or
gantze big smoke over it. AT nightfall
If they know their bearings, they may
lump" or in legal phraseology, they may
steal and theftuously away take one Of
that boer's sheep and bury the skin and
entrails, and have the remainder of the
| said sheep digested before the boer can
overtake them In the morning.
THEY GET JOB.
On arriving at a homestead their de-
meanor is reverentially respectful. The
headman, who is usually the man with
the best tongue, is put forward as spokes-
man. The rest gather round and crane
their necks and look with great sheepish
eyes at the boer, who is standing on his
ct lilo a
with his hands in his pockets. The con
versation is in Dutch, which three
fourths of the kafirs don't understand.
They confide in their headman. Some
thing like this would be faithful trans
lation Of the interviews
Boer-What's brought you herel
You'll be after sheep shearingl I've no
sheep to shear.
Headman-We were told at die ander
plaas that the baas wanted help.
Boer-Van der Walt does not know me
and don't know Van der Walt Come.
now, you are telling lies. I will have YOU
all shut up in the stable and set the dogs
on you.
Headman-The baas won't do that; the
baas needs help.
Boer--Well, what's brought you here
at this time of day. l can't begin till To-
morrow morning. Hungry dogs. YOU
would eat the old boer up. Go round to
the back and the vrouw will see that you
get your supper. Every man of YOU must
be up at sunrise tomorrow.
Headman withdrawing reverentially)
-Danke baas-danke, baas- danke,
baas
The sheep shearers are engaged. This
Is the beers ywn peculiar style of engag-
ing them. He makes it pretty well
known 10 them (thongh he las been
tidgeting for days to get on with the
shearing) that in employing them he is
putting himself TO great inconvenience
and comforting no inconsiderable charity
on the katfirs.
GET PENNY A SHEEP.
AT dayoreak the shearers are up and
about. The sheep have to be brought in
drafts of fifty or 100 from the large kraal
to the small kraal beside the cart
house. The cart house has been cleared
of the great old family wagon, the go-to-
market spider, and the buggy, which are
now drawn up on the outside, where the
children ind no end of amusement in
driving imaginary teams and crawling in
and out of the vehicles.
Then the shearers prepare for work.
Blankets, rags, trousers, shirtS-if they
have them-are piled in a heap at the back
OF the cart house, and each man, naked.
with only glrdle to his waist and a purse
IN which TO put his counters, walks up to
the kraal and makes a grab at a merino.
The boer provides shears for those who
DO not have them, and Of course deducts