Evening star., 1895-01-12
A BI G STAN P EDE
The Mad Flight of Four Thousand Texas
Steers.
Seven Times in ms Many Nights the
and denominations Rcsorted To.
Texas Correspondence Globe-Democrat.

|
outside the city limits of Belcherville
went on a stampede. They had done
so the night before and the night be-
fore that and the night before that
for seven consecutive nights. This may
| not mean much to some people, but
| to a man who has lived a near neighbor
to that large herd, it will mean enough
to make his blood tingle. To such a man it
| will suggest sudden alarms, hair-breadth
escapes, the maddened trampling of six
teen thousand feet and the cool and un-
pretentious daring of the brave men who
kept the catastrophe from being any worse
than it was. 1t will suggest the loss of
thousands of dollars and the imperiling of
scores of lives.
It all started the night of 18th of Deem
ber, during the severe thunder storm that
visited Montague county at that time.
Some climates might not be able to pro-
duce a good thunder storm at any time in
| the dead of winter, but the Texas climate
| can. At midnight on the 14th the sky over
| Belcherville was perfectly clear, and the
men going home at that hour from the
session of the Masonic lodge talked about
| the beauty of the moon and of the night,
| and about how bad they were needing rain.
| Not cloud was in sight at midnight, but
| two hours later these same men were
| awakened by the crashing and booming OF
| thunder. The lightning was cleaning in
| long Zigzag streaks ard flashing in huge
| wide-Spreading sheets. Some few of the
| timid people got up and went to their
storm houses, the practical ones got up to
| see that the windows and doors were well
| fastened, the pious ones Sleepily thanked
| God for the much-needed rain that was
| coming, while the sleepieSt ones of all
merely turned over, did nothing at all and
then went back to sleep again. Suddenly.
| just as the storm was at its worst, there
came noise that could be heard above
the thunder. 1t was prolonged, vibrat-
| ing that made the earth trembie
| Crash! whirr! boom! Many of the citizens
thought cyclone had struck the town
and they were right 1t was a living cy-
| clone, and it's passage was quick. For
about two minutes there was the ponderous
| pound, pound of four times four thousand
| hoofs; then a gradual diminutior in its
volume; then people began to be aware
again of the fact that a thunder storm was
| raging.
| Getting the Cattle Back.
| Storm storm, Mr.. Belcher and all
| lis men had to get up to see what had hap
pened. 1t may not be very pleasant to get
up in the pouring rain in the middle Of
winters night. but then one has it to do
sometimes. When a fortune of nearly
100000 is galloping wildly all over the
| country, cutting itself wire fences,
breaking its legs in bitches, shaking off
| loose dollars every mile it travels and get
| ting out of ones reach as fast as its mad
| dened fury can take it, the best thing one
| can do is to go after it and bring it back.
| Within half an hour of the time the herd
| stampeded, about thirty men on horses had
collected at the feed pens-or, rather, where
the feed pens had formerly been. The
scene revealed by the lightning that still
| flashed through the pouring rain one
| of desolation and destruc ction. The huge
| nine-wire fence, with its high oaken posts,
| had been swept away as nothing. The
| n roo tod m u
| timbers, had been smashed almost into
kindling wood. There were only twenty or
| thirty steers in sight-and these were the
dead and dying ones that had been tram
| pied and left behind in the first mad
rush. There was nothing to suggest def
nitely the cause of the original scare.
| Perhaps the lightning had struck the fence
and killed some of the cattle; perhaps the
| thunder frightened them; perhaps the devil
| took possession of them, as he did of the
herd of swine mentioned in the Scripture.
However, the men that had gathered at
| the pens in the cold and darkness of the
| winters rain did not pause to theoriZe
| to the origin of the scare. They went after
| their steers, found them-or at least a part
of them-and then came back with what
they could find. One force of men was put
ting up the fence again, while another was
bringing in the cattle. BY noon the fence
was completed and a large part of the herd
was in the pens once more. 1t was Sunday,
and that morping Mr.. Belcher failed to
| come to Sunday school, for once. However,
phoricaiy speaking, and was engaged at
Sunday school time in pulling them out,
| suppose the Lord excused him.
Steers Having Fun.
That morning one little group of about
400 steers found its way to Nocona, a flour
ishing little town seven miles east of Belch-
erville. One citizen of the town, surprised
at the army that had so unceremonously
invaded the village in the quiet of the Sab
bath morning, thought he ought to utter a
protest. Standing on his front doorstep. he
Uttered his protest in the form of a vocifer-
Gus "Hey!'
The steers had been walking along quiet
ly enough before, but at this sudden chal-
lenge, they bolted. Crash! they went over
the fence that surrounded one of the neat
est little residences in the town. The rea-
son they killed no one was that there was
no one in the yard to kill They stayed
around NacOna for perhaps half an hour.
1emolishing fences. running yards and max
ing things lively to their hearts content.
Then the strange Coxey army of COWS took
Its unlamented departure.
Possibly seven-eighths of the whole herd
weSe in the pens at Belcherville by night
fall. Several men stood guard over them
that night, but before morning the whole
herd was out again. The program of the
night before was repeated with incidental
variation. There was the same hard work
in getting them back again, the same
trouble and expense in repairing the dam
age they had done.
The next night Mr.. Beloher introduced
the plan of sitting up with the herd. To
begin with. he secured about 100 lanterns,
lighted them and hung them on the fence
posts of the pens. He did this not because
he wanted to give the cattle light to see to
run by, but because the cattle are generally
afraid of fire. and he thought the lights
would scare them away from the fences.
The lights. when seen from distance.
looked as if a new quarter of the town had
suddenly come into existence and was be-
ing Illuminated for spectacular purposes.
The guard was Increased to ten. All this
was very kind of Mr.. Belcher, and the cat
tie showed ungrateful hearts in not appre-
ciating it any better than they did To-
ward morning, a large part of them broke
away again, and the program had to be
repeated once more.
The next night Mr.. Belcher ordered music
to his features in the entertainment of his
cattle He also doubled his guard. The
citizens of the town stood their back
porches and listened to the inspiring tunes
of Jesus, Lover Of My Soul and Nearer.
My God, to Thee" as they rolled from a
score of vociferous throats. I am not quite
sure whether the music was intended to
soothe the herd into restfulness. or to scare
it into keeping away from the fences But